CIO Definitions

This glossary explains the meaning of key words and phrases that information technology (IT) and business professionals use when discussing CIO strategy and related software products. You can find additional definitions by visiting WhatIs.com or using the search box below.

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  • P

    product development (new product development)

    Product development -- also called new product management -- is a series of steps that includes the conceptualization, design, development and marketing of newly created or rebranded goods and services.

  • project charter

    A project charter is a formal short document that states a project exists and provides project managers with written authority to begin work.

  • project management

    Project management is the discipline of using established principles, procedures and policies to guide a project from conception through completion.

  • Project planning: What it is and 5 steps to create a plan

    Project planning is a project management discipline that addresses how to complete a project in a certain time frame, usually with clearly defined stages, milestones and designated resources.

  • Project portfolio management: A beginner's guide

    Project portfolio management is a formal approach used by organizations to identify, prioritize, coordinate and monitor projects that align with their strategy and goals.

  • project post-mortem

    A project post-mortem is a business process that lets the project team, project management, and other stakeholders review and evaluate the results at the end of a project or after the resolution of an incident.

  • project scope

    Project scope is the part of project planning that involves determining and documenting a list of specific project goals, deliverables, tasks, costs and deadlines.

  • proof of concept (POC)

    A proof of concept (POC) is a demonstration of a product in which work is focused on determining whether an idea can be turned into a reality.

  • prototyping model

    The prototyping model is a systems development method in which a prototype is built, tested and then reworked as necessary until an acceptable outcome is achieved from which the complete system or product can be developed.

  • public data

    Public data is information that can be shared, used, reused and redistributed without restriction.

  • What is a PMO (project management office)?

    A project management office (PMO) is a group, agency or department that defines and maintains the standards of project management for a company.

  • Q

    What is qualitative data?

    Qualitative data is descriptive information that focuses on concepts and characteristics, rather than numbers and statistics.

  • R

    radical innovation

    Radical innovation is an invention that destroys or supplants an existing business model.

  • rainmaker

    A rainmaker is an individual who generates an unusually high amount of revenue for an organization by bringing new clients and new business to the company.

  • Reddit

    Reddit is a social news website and forum where content is socially curated and promoted by site members through voting.

  • Regulation SCI (Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity)

    Regulation SCI (Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity) is a set of rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to monitor the security and capabilities of U.S. securities markets' technology infrastructure.

  • regulatory compliance

    Regulatory compliance is an organization's adherence to laws, regulations, guidelines and specifications relevant to its business processes.

  • reshoring

    Reshoring is the process of bringing back manufacturing or production operations to their country of origin or a nearby region.

  • resource allocation

    Resource allocation is the process of assigning and managing assets in a manner that supports an organization's strategic planning goals.

  • risk assessment framework (RAF)

    A risk assessment framework (RAF) is a strategy for prioritizing and sharing information about the security risks to an information technology (IT) infrastructure.

  • Risk Management Framework (RMF)

    The Risk Management Framework (RMF) is a template and guideline used by companies to identify, eliminate and minimize risks.

  • risk management specialist

    A risk management specialist is a role appointed within organizations to identify potential risks that might negatively affect the business.

  • robotic process automation (RPA)

    Robotic process automation (RPA) is a technology that mimics the way humans interact with software to perform high-volume, repeatable tasks.

  • What is ROI? How to calculate return on investment

    Return on investment (ROI) is a crucial financial metric investors and businesses use to evaluate an investment's efficiency or compare the efficiencies of several different investments.

  • S

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a federal law that established sweeping auditing and financial regulations for public companies.

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Section 404

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Section 404 mandates that all publicly traded companies must establish internal controls and procedures for financial reporting and must document, test, and maintain those controls and procedures to ensure their effectiveness.

  • security audit

    A security audit is a systematic evaluation of the security of a company's information system by measuring how well it conforms to an established set of criteria.

  • Semantic Web

    The Semantic Web is a vision for linking data across webpages, applications and files.

  • servant leadership

    Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy built on the belief that the most effective leaders strive to serve others, rather than accrue power or take control.

  • shared services

    Shared services is a delivery model organizations use to consolidate similar business functions into a single unit that supports the entire organization.

  • sharing economy

    The sharing economy, also known as collaborative consumption or peer-to-peer-based sharing, is a concept that highlights the ability -- and perhaps the preference -- of individuals to rent or borrow goods rather than buy and own them.

  • SIPOC (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers) diagram

    A SIPOC (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers) diagram is a visual tool for documenting a business process from beginning to end prior to implementation.

  • Six Sigma

    Six Sigma is a business methodology for quality improvement that measures how many defects there are in a current process and seeks to systematically eliminate them.

  • skunkworks project (Skunk Works)

    A skunkworks project, also known as Skunk Works, is an innovative undertaking, involving a small group of people, that is outside the normal research and development (R&D) channels within an organization.

  • SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud)

    SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) is the concept that the convergence of four technologies is currently driving business innovation.

  • smart machines

    A smart machine is a device embedded with machine-to-machine and/or cognitive computing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) or deep learning, all of which it uses to reason, solve problems, make decisions and even take action.

  • social network

    A social network is a website or app that lets people connect with each other on a common platform.

  • soft skills

    A soft skill is a personal attribute that supports situational awareness and enhances an individual's ability to get a job done.

  • spatial computing

    Spatial computing broadly characterizes the processes and tools used to capture, process and interact with three-dimensional (3D) data.

  • spoliation

    Spoliation is the destruction, alteration, or mutilation of evidence that may pertain to legal action. (Continued)

  • stakeholder

    A stakeholder is a person, group or organization with a vested interest, or stake, in the decision-making and activities of a business, organization or project.

  • standard business reporting (SBR)

    Standard business reporting (SBR) is a group of frameworks adopted by governments to promote standardization in reporting business data.

  • startup culture

    A startup culture is a workplace environment that values creative problem-solving, open communication and a flat hierarchy.

  • steering committee

    A steering committee comprises a group of high-ranking IT professionals who provide guidance and strategic direction to an organization or organizational segment.

  • strategic leadership

    Strategic leadership is a practice in which executives, using different styles of management, develop a vision for their organization that enables it to adapt to or remain competitive in a changing economic and technological climate.

  • strategic management

    Strategic management is the ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all necessities an organization needs to meet its goals and objectives.

  • strategic planning

    Strategic planning is a process in which an organization's leaders define their vision for the future and identify their organization's goals and objectives.

  • subscription management

    Subscription management is the process of overseeing and controlling all aspects of products and services sold repeatedly through a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription-based pricing model.

  • Superdome

    Superdome is a high-end 64-bit, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) PA-8600 processor-based UNIX server designed for e-commerce customers using very large databases.

  • sustainability risk management (SRM)

    Sustainability risk management (SRM) is a business strategy that aligns profit goals with a company's environmental, social and governance (ESG).

  • SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis)

    SWOT analysis is a framework for identifying and analyzing an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

  • Systems Modeling Language (SysML)

    Systems Modeling Language (SysML) helps teams design, develop, test and deploy complex physical systems.

  • systems thinking

    Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems.

  • What are systems of engagement?

    Systems of engagement are decentralized IT components that incorporate technologies such as social media and the cloud to encourage and enable peer interaction.

  • What is a smart contract?

    A smart contract is a self-executing computer program that automatically executes the terms of a contract without the involvement of third parties.

  • What is a software license?

    A software license is a document that provides legally binding guidelines for the use and distribution of software.

  • What is a startup accelerator?

    A startup accelerator, sometimes referred to as a seed accelerator, is a business program that supports early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship and financing.

  • What is a startup company?

    A startup company is a newly formed business with particular momentum behind it based on perceived demand for its product or service.

  • What is strategic innovation?

    Strategic innovation is an organization's process of reinventing or redesigning its corporate strategy to drive business growth, generate value for the company and its customers, and create competitive advantage.

  • What is synthetic data? Examples, use cases and benefits

    Synthetic data is information that's artificially manufactured rather than generated by real-world events.

  • T

    cyber threat hunter (cybersecurity threat analyst)

    A cyber threat hunter, also called a cybersecurity threat analyst, proactively identifies security incidents that may go undetected by automated security tools such as malware detectors and firewalls.

  • technology addiction

    Technology addiction is an impulse control disorder that involves the obsessive use of mobile devices, the internet or video games, despite the negative consequences to the technology user.

  • technology adoption lifecycle

    The technology adoption lifecycle describes how different customers accept and adopt new technology, with early adopters enthusiastically embracing new products and services, and later adopters taking longer to make a purchase decision.

  • think tank

    A think tank is an organization that gathers a group of interdisciplinary scholars to perform research around particular policies, issues or ideas.

  • three lines model

    The three lines model is a risk management approach to help organizations identify and manage risks effectively by creating three distinct lines of defense.

  • Total Quality Management (TQM)

    Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management framework based on the belief that an organization can build long-term success by having all its members -- from low-level workers to its highest-ranking executives -- focus on improving quality and, thus, delivering customer satisfaction.

  • transaction

    In computing, a transaction is a set of related tasks treated as a single action.

  • transactional leadership

    Transactional leadership, also known as managerial leadership, is a leadership style where leaders rely on rewards and punishments to achieve optimal job performance from their subordinates.

  • What is transfer learning?

    Transfer learning is a machine learning (ML) technique where an already developed ML model is reused in another task.

  • What is transformational leadership?

    Transformational leadership is a leadership style that focuses on inspiring and motivating employees to innovate and find new ways to drive the organization's success.

  • U

    Universal Process Notation (UPN)

    Universal Process Notation is a method for illustrating the steps in a business process.

  • user experience

    User experience (UX) design is the process and practice used to design and implement a product that will provide positive and relevant interactions with users.

  • What is user-generated content and why is it important?

    User-generated content (UGC) is published information that an unpaid contributor provides to a website.

  • V

    value chain

    A value chain is a concept describing the full chain of a business's activities in creating a product or service -- from initial receipt of materials through its delivery to market.

  • value proposition

    A value proposition is a statement that clearly identifies the benefits a company's products and services will deliver to its customers.

  • value stream management

    Value stream management is an emerging business process intended to gauge the flow of value into business resources and activities, as well as the flow of value back into the business.

  • vertical SaaS (software as a service)

    Vertical SaaS describes a type of software as a service solution created for a specific industry, such as retail, financial services, insurance, healthcare or manufacturing.

  • What is value-sensitive design?

    Value-sensitive design is a concept that advocates the consideration of human principles and standards when planning technology.

  • W

    Whistleblower Protection Act

    The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 is a law that protects federal government employees in the United States from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government organization.

  • workflow

    Workflow is the series of activities that are necessary to complete a task.

  • workflow management

    Workflow management is the discipline of creating, documenting, monitoring and improving upon the series of steps, or workflow, that is required to complete a specific task.

  • X

    XACML (Extensible Access Control Markup Language)

    XACML (Extensible Access Control Markup Language) is an attribute-based access control policy language (ABAC) or XML-based language, designed to express security policies and access requests to information.

  • Y

    Yammer

    Yammer is a private microblogging and collaboration platform for enterprise social networking. Unlike public social media platforms such as Twitter,Yammer only allows members to connect with other members who belong to the same email domain.