Glossary of IT terms

The specific measures or expected behaviours necessary to prove or accept a product as fit-for-purpose.        

Accessibility is a measure of how easy your website* is to use and its inclusiveness & performance in all circumstances and conditions, including, but not limited to; noisy environments, reduced visibility, sight or motor impairment & colour-blindness. *Of course, accessibility has a wider meaning for other things in the real world, such as buildings and shops, public & private services etc.

A movement and set of principles for more efficient software development, offered as an alternative to the traditional  waterfall  method. Agile values,  ‘Working software over comprehensive documentation’. See this comparison of different approaches.

An algorithm is a set of rules or a formula applied in mathematics or computing to solve a problem, make a calculation, or carry out some structured step-by-step instructions (coding).

Real world measurements and related technologies that use or represent a continuously variable quantity or value. The opposite of digital.

In computing, as opposed to archaeological terms, a document or demonstrable outcome of a  project, not necessarily the final product or service.

Here is my definition, expounded and explained in a post  here:

The appearance of independent thought, action or re-action in a man-made artefact

A formal record of changes in an accounting transaction or significant updates to stored data or a file - normally includes some indication of who carried out the change, what changed, and a date- or date-time stamp. As the name suggests it is often an audit requirement to trace the history of changes in cases of unauthorised, false or other fraudulent activity.

Augmented Reality, or 'AR', is some view of the real physical world enhanced - or augmented - with computed-generated features, such as text, graphics, sound. See also Virtual Reality. Update: recently other hybrid variants have emerged in the tech press, such as Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (XR) ... but the nuances and differences between each needs a longer description.

A backlog is essentially an ordered, i.e. ranked or prioritised, list of tasks, issues or work items to be undertaken. In Agile software development a Product-  or a Sprint- backlog provides a list of needs, requirements or project tasks. Addendum: I saw the acronym PRL recently (Prioritised Requirements List), which is a project scoping artefact, I assume used as a precursor to a backlog if required.  Ref. Agile Business Consortium

The complementary concept of forward compatibility is a harder thing to achieve, allowing a current product to be usable in future, but it can be achievable in the short-term with a clear roadmap of standards and products.

A band (range) of frequencies available to use, for example for your broadband internet connection or TV and radio signals. It can also mean individual or team's mental capability, capacity or resources, but beware jargon alert!

A standard or reference point used for comparison, used a lot in IT systems as a measure of performance.

Bitcoin is a type of digital or virtual currency, meaning it doesn't physically exist and is not controlled by any country or bank(s). Bitcoin currency is generated, traded (transferring ownership) and regulated electronically via encryption and independent verifiers. This nice little video from weusecoins explains more.

The word is shortened from web-log A blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. However, they are increasingly used as a corporate social media tool, and may not even be written...for example in podcasts and video blogs 'vlogs'.  

A bug is a generic term for some error or defect encountered in a computer program, recalling the pioneering days of computing when insects might cause computers to malfunction.

A Business Model can be simply a description of what your business does - or plans to do - to be successful. It should include what you will do (i.e. products and services), how you will make money (financing, revenue and profit), and who your target customers are. More detail is possible in financial & graphical models, i.e. business modelling.  

A description, in the form of a story, telling your staff and the wider community what your organisation does and why it does it. Good positive narratives are a way to engage audiences and help promote desired values and behaviours.

Business Rules capture the explicit knowledge about how an organisation functions; they provide specific constraints  alongside generalized processes, i.e. what is allowed and not allowed and under what circumstances. Business Rules can be written as pseudo-code, such as, ‘if  <criteria met> then do this, otherwise do this’.

CAPTCHA is a [computer] program or system intended to distinguish human from machine input, typically as a way of preventing spam and stopping automated 'bots'. They typically ask for a response that only a real person can answer, hence the derivation:

Completely Automated Public  Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

In 2009 Google acquired the technology and improved and rebranding it as ReCAPTCHA.

Certified Business Analysis Professional This is a professional certification for individuals with extensive business analysis experience.      

Certification of Competency in Business Analysis This is a professional certification for business analysis practitioners who want to be formally recognized for their expertise and skills.

This is normally a formal process to ensure that any changes to a product or interim document, such as requirements or a design specification, are visible and controlled effectively. A change is anything significant in terms of revised scope, complexity, cost or length of time to build, with respect to the artefact under change control.

Milestones or checkpoints both relate to distinct points in a project where something needs to happen, such as a decision or a review of the quality of the product (work in progress) or some other artefact.

Similar to the Turing Test but designed to explore Natural Language Processing ('NLP') and prove - theoretically at least - that rule-based translation can simulate intelligence. In the experiment a human agent uses a book of rules to interpret Chinese symbols so that a native Chinese speaker believes that they are fluent in the language, but without any real understanding of what the questions or answers mean.

A slice of silicon etched with electronic components, otherwise known as an integrated circuit. The powerful low-energy heart of all computer processing and embedded devices.

A shorthand for program code, the 'coded' instructions written in a programming language that can be translated into machine-readable form.

A code list - or codelist - is a predefined set of related concepts/meanings and their coded values. There are used extensively in IT systems, eCommerce and Management Information/reporting to ensure that all parties use the same basis for sharing and interpreting data. Examples include 'RGB' colour codes, allowable vehicle makes and models (insurance), payment types (accounting systems) etc.

A compiler is a sophisticated piece of software that translates high level English-like structured language statements into machine-readable 'executable' instructions or other intermediate lower-level compiled code.

Any defined and managed assembly of parts, including software. A configuration item is normally subject to formal processes to create/build, integrate and subsequent change the item.

A simple definition is…a person who gives expert advice or services for a fee… See also this handy blog post for more details.

The text, images and other media contained in a website (for example), borrowed from the world of publishing. Excluding the enabling software or hardware. It's important stuff, as Bill Gates famously said, 'Content is king'!

This is a shorthand umbrella term for aspirational rapid iterative development and delivery/implementation/deployment of software versions or releases. Although never truly 'continuous' as it still requires cycles of coding, testing, integration of code (Continuous Integration), albeit quicker than in traditional waterfall projects, CD and CI make use of Agile techniques, close collaboration between development and operations (DevOps) and automated tools . See also IT element Operations.

A subset of  Continuous Development; see related keyword.

Shorthand for something mass-produced or lacking any distinguishing characteristic, sometimes used in IT and consultancy to refer to an off-the-shelf approach or solution to a problem.

A sequence of activities that forms a pathway through a project plan, for example, that will not allow any missed targets or late deliverables without impacting the overall project outcomes.

Customer Relationship Management (or Marketing) is both an idea, a process, and a family of software products. Organisations use 'CRM' to help them understand their leads/prospects and customers and engage with them throughout the entire customer lifecycle. At a deeper level, the underlying process is about creating and sustaining Customer relationships to increase loyalty and value, which informs marketing strategies, marketing activity, [Customer] support, servicing, pricing, and employee training etc.

Crowd funding is a non-traditional web-based means for small businesses, social entrepreneurs and individuals to get funding for their projects or product development. The contributors don't own a stake or any equity in the outcomes, but in the case of reward funding may hope for some incentive or reward for their support.

A CSA is a broad classification of tools and techniques used to analyze an organization's internal and external environment to understand its capabilities, customers, and business environment. For example, carrying out a SWOT analysis to feed into a business proposal, bid, product development opportunity or reorganisation etc. Modelling is also undertaken at a lower project or team level to understand the so-called problem domain before determining what changes are needed.

Cyberspace is a general term for the online world of computer networks and the internet ... although it seems to have fallen out of fashion and general use somewhat in the age of the smart phone. The phrase was invented by SciFi writer William Gibson in 1982 in a short story 'Burning Chrome'. In Gibson's own words, '... it sounded like it meant something while still being essentially hollow'.

The facts, quantities and statistics collected and stored in a computer, or otherwise manipulated, aggregated, analysed or used to derive more data! See also Information.

Database is a generic term - although not particularly meaningful today - meaning the organisation and/or physical storage of data. Groups or sets of data can also be referred to as records, data marts and data warehouses. See more information in the 'Data 101' primer.

A class of programming languages which consist of factual statements or assertions from which conclusions (and other facts) can be inferred. For example, a variable belongs in a particular class or has particular properties (attributes), if A and B are true then C is true etc. See also  Procedural Programming Language

Splitting a complex whole into a series of smaller parts, possible the scope of a project, a requirement or a process.

Anything that can be delivered, used as a shorthand in technology and change projects for finished products, software, key documents or other artefacts. There is normally some active managed design and development effort rather than, say, buying a product off-the-shelf.

A DoS attack is a type of cyber attack which tries to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. This temporary or indefinite disruption of a service, for example between a host and the internet, typically floods the targeted machine or resource with superfluous requests in an attempt to overload systems and prevent legitimate requests from being fulfilled.

A specification - in words and/or pictures - of the solution that meets the requirements.

In software and computing terms, a developer writes [program] code or is responsible for the design and integration of existing components. This is becoming a generic term for a programmer or coder.

Combining development and operations (you guessed!), DevOps is an extension of the agile approach to software development that includes maintenance and business-as-usual (BAU), QA/testing and release management disciplines to promote greater communication, collaboration and more efficient use of resources. See also IT element Operations.  

Digital refers to electronic signals or data expressed as series of the digits 0 and 1 (binary). As all modern computers and technology are electronic, so digital is sometimes used  as a shorthand for tech and related industries and roles. See also  analogue.

Digital Literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies - essentially the internet - to find, evaluate, utilise, create, share, and communicate information. Some equivalent 'offline' skills can help, i.e. reading, processing information, communicating ideas etc. but the technology medium adds different dimensions and challenges, such as data privacy, accessibility, and ever-changing industry buzzwords & jargon.

This is a general term that refers to the way that organisations and social structures operate to maintain power. In business and technology this can block open communication, restrict the adoption of new ideas and constructs and prevent positive change.

A specific sphere of activity or knowledge, often with a common language and accepted ways of working. Domain - or domain name - also refers to the main part of a website address with the extension. If you own a domain (registered with the appropriate authority) such as ITelementaryschool.com you can build and publish a website, create email accounts and do lots of other whizzy digital and eCommerce stuff. This is your domain.

A drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that can be used for recreational purposes (taking photographs or filming) or commercial or military purposes. There is a longer description in this IT short from the IT elementary school.

The 'e' prefix in eCommerce, eGovernment and Email - for example - means 'electronic', but is more likely to imply a digital, online, automated and integrated version of an existing thing. See post Do you want 'e' with that?

Any device or node that forms part of a networking solution or peer-to-peer communication, recognised as the source or the receiver (recipient) of a message or request.

Somewhere between  software and  hardware, the coded instructions that make computers and related devices work, normally working in the background rather than the applications and websites that provide the obvious end-user features and functionality. Firmware includes Operating Systems, device drivers (printers, monitors/screens etc.), networking & communications and software embedded in all electronic and digital devices.

Unlike other consumers and socio-economic groups such as baby-boomers, X and Y generations (etc.) Gen C should not defined by age. The members of this tribe of digital natives are connected, are informed users of technology, they seek to create and curate authentic content and take part in online communities.

A specific measurable outcome from some work, such as a transient project task or operational process. See also objective.

The Global Positioning System provides a position (and time) anywhere in the world if you have a GPS receiver in line-of-sight to one of a network of satellites developed and maintained by the USA. GPS has a wide range of commercial, military and civil uses - include games such as Pokemon Go!

Hard copy normally refers to printed materials, as opposed to 'soft' copy which are electronic/digital equivalents. The world is not paperless - yet - although the tide is turning. Printed newspapers, manuals, books etc. whether available in different formats or not are disparaging called 'Dead Tree Editions'

The tangible devices and equipment used in Information Technology, such as computers, servers, printers and phones. See also software.

The place (actual or virtual) where your program code, IT systems or databases are kept, i.e. 'hosted'.

HyperText Markup Language is one of a set of simple tagging languages that power the web and related web-based services. Scratch the surface of any web page and you will still find the familiar pairs of tags that tell your browser (IE/Chrome/Firefox etc.) how to display the content of web files, essentially documents, a concept <i>borrowed</i> from the <b>publishing industry</b>. (this description first appeared in the post A to Z of programming languages - part 1)

The World Wide Web was original built to link documents and pieces of information together. The link may be to another reference point in the same document, or to a different file or resource (URL) anywhere in the world - the internet and web doesn't care. An underlined piece of text, or hypertext,  like this which acts as a jumping-off point from the source to access the target material.

Hypertext is a way of structuring and accessing information, including text, documents, images, sound & video files, as simple links. The 'h' in http and HTML, these are two of the most important technologies that make the world wide web function. As a web user or browser you are probably most familiar with hypertext as the underlined or otherwise high-lighted clickable  hyperlinks, otherwise known as the anchor text.

Carry out work on small sub-sets of the problem, either serially or in parallel with other parts. The parts can be added or connected together later or used to progressively build up the whole. Increments are often used in software development Projects.

The value to be derived from data when used, for example, in analysis, reporting, decision-making or process control, literally 'to inform'. See also Data.

The basic systems and facilities that are needed to ensure that your organisation - and your home, town & country(!) - operates. In IT terms, that means light and power, but also the physical hardware, the buildings, security (physical and data), and the software that makes it all work.

Recognition of the ownership and rights of the creative endeavours of an individual or organisation, including software, website content and blog posts, that may or may not be protected by copyright or trademark laws.

A means to progressively solve a complex problem by carrying out some work, reviewing the quality or completeness of the solution, and then refining the problem. Iterations will continue until some agreed end state is reached. Iterations are often used in software development projects.

Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a set of best practices used by organisations to manage their IT services (IT Service Management). There are two main drivers are; to ensure that IT is aligned with the business needs and priorities, and to provide a visible means to demonstrate compliance and quality standards.

Now a favourite of Agile software developers, but original pioneered by Toyota engineers as a means to increase production line efficiency and throughput - just in time manufacturing. Kanban means 'billboard' or 'visual signal' in Japanese. It relies heavily on a visual representation of tasks (such as backlog work items) as them flow through a system from left-to-right in different states or responsibilities, such as To Do, In Progress and Done. The IT element  Agile explains more.

This is a very important phrase to learn when confronted by an alien who is hell-bent on destroying you and/or the earth! First used in the 1951 film 'The day the earth stood still' it has popped up regularly ever since in SciFi and other games films and genre where nerds congregate. More correctly the phrase 'Gort, Klaatu barada nikto' allegedly tells robot Gort to desist, find the dead humanoid robot (Klaatu) and return to their alien ship.

Key Performance Indicators or 'Kay-pea-eyes' are measurable values that organisations use to monitor quality, progress against objectives or as indicators of success based on particular criteria. However, KPIs should not be confused with [Critical] Success Criteria or CSFs, which is the difference between why you succeed and how that you know that you're being successful!

In computing terms, the stages of a project notionally from the ‘birth’ or an idea to the ‘delivery’ of the solution or finished product! A slightly different life cycle models the growth, maturity and decline of a product in the marketplace.

The big central computers that organisations use to carry out critical and large-scale functions. Now more likely to be distributed on a number of physical and virtual 'machines' and servers not the large cabinet (frame) of early computing history.

A website that combines data, content, [web] services, apps/programs from different sources and providers...borrowed from the world of music mixing two or more songs together

A prescribed way of working, a set of instructions or a framework.

A type of software that sits in the middle, between users and applications and the hardware, such as operating systems, device controllers, and network communication & translation routines.

See checkpoint.

The generation reaching adulthood in the early C20th - although dates vary - the children of Generation X parents (therefore also call 'Generation Y'). Millennials have only ever known the internet and mobile era, which informs their relationship to technology...amongst other behaviours.

A formal declaration of values and goals, normally part of an organisation’s purpose on sets the direction from some strategic aim

A representation or view of some aspect of the real world, typically used in IT projects to illustrate or test a proposal, requirements or design features. See also prototype and the IT Element Models.

A music file sharing service that offered an early example of peer-to-peer 'shareware', although it clashed with music publishers and artists over copyright infringements.

The expected outcomes or desires of some work, normally a precursor to establishing specific measurable goals or formally documented requirements

An operating system is a complex piece of software that all general purpose computers or devices have to carry out low level tasks relating to the machine hardware and operation and to manage system resources, low level tasks, memory and peripherals (basically inputs and outputs) ... most of the bits that you as a User don't want to worry about, such as in a business application. Operating Systems have to be closely linked to the hardware, for example Mac OS and Microsoft Windows; the latter evolved from the earlier non-graphical MS-DOS (Disk Operating System).

This has 3 distinct meanings related to IT elementary school: (1) Operations (also Ops or IT Ops) is an organisations function that manages and maintain its IT systems and infrastructure to support and enable its business goals. See IT element  Operations (2) In wider business terms, Operations are the day-to-day, non-project, things that an organisation does to create products and provide services. Notionally these are tasks that add value by transforming resources or data into the outputs, goods or services that a Customer desires. (3) In maths, operations act on numbers or variables to transform them, e.g. division, addition or exponentiation

A major shift in thinking, doing, working or the use of technology. Often over-used in the world of IT but difficult to truly predict or recognise...choose any or all from the web, mobile, self-service, internet-of-thing, Big Data, VR, eMoney, electric cars etc. etc.

The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept. (Oxford English/Lexico) This is not really an IT word, but when it comes to eLearning, and the study of educational design, learner behaviour, assessment, and effectiveness that is of interest to the IT elementary school, Addendum: strictly speaking pedagogy* is a child-focused teaching approach, whereas  andragogy is an adult-focused teaching approach (*Ped prefix from Greek meaning 'child', not to be confused with the Latin root meaning 'foot'!)

The rights you have to access [computer] systems, applications (software) and personal, sensitive or otherwise controlled data.

A large project or programme may be delivered or implemented in a number of separate but related releases. Each phase is likely to be split into a number of stages.

A portfolio (porto-foglio) was orginally a case for carrying loose papers (and still can be), but the term now encomposes a number of different collections of things, including financial holdings, drawings/designs, careers, and products; the latter in the sense of a suite of services or products that an orgnisation offers, or that need to be developed and managed.

PRINCE (Projects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured approach used to define tasks and manage the inputs and outputs at each stage of a linear, waterfall-type, project. See more in the IT element  methodology. It was first developed by the UK government but has now become a de facto generic project management method used widely in both the public and private sectors. PRINCE incorporates standard project practices and governance activities including; defining roles & responsibilities; planning, allocating and monitoring work [packages], and; mechanisms for managing quality, change, risks & issues.

A class of programming languages which consist of statements or procedures, that invoke an action on some data e.g. multiply numbers together, look for a letter or word in a string, test a proposition (if...then) etc. See also  Declarative Programming Language

A repeatable series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular outcome. See more detail in this dedicated IT Element Process. See also related keywords procedure & workflow.

A Product Owner ('PO') is a key role in  Agile software development. They are responsible for the inputs (such as a backlog) and the finished outputs from an Agile process, as the primary business owner or a designated proxy. A PO should be  fully committed and embedded in the way of working, rather than take a more passive part-time role as traditional stakeholders or sponsors might.

The set of coded instructions that make a computer work, the software.

A large strategic IT or other change activity in an organisation, potentially split into multiple initiatives, work streams, projects & phases. Be careful about the spelling, a 'program' is a different thing...although UK-English and US-English usage differs!

A Project is a structured means to make change happen, normally to achieve a specific goal or goals, using disciplines such as planning, work breakdown, resource allocation, monitoring, and coordinated activity within a project team.

The person assigned responsibility for Project-related tasks, although it may be combined with some other functional or team leadership role.

A set of implicit or explicit codified rules & instructions. Protocols are particularly important in the worlds of the internet and web to make sure that everyone can participate effectively in a conversation, i.e. message sharing.

A working early version of a product used to validate (test) the requirements or design. See also model.

Formerly a proxy has, '... [the] authority to represent someone else...' In computing and software development it is used widely to represent a buffer, stand-in, or virtual provider for some hard-working or otherwise hidden or unavailable person,  system or service etc. For example, a proxy Product Owner in agile software development.

Capturing an algorithm, processing logic or business rule as a structured set of declarative statements, decisions and other constructs, that looks like program code but is not executable as such.

A measure of how suitable a product or service is for its intended purpose. Quality Assurance and Quality Management are often associated with testing.

Raspberry Pis are a family of small stripped-down credit card sized computers...or rather the bits of the hardware and software that can be squeezed onto a 'system on a chip'. They have taken off in the UK as entry-level machines in schools and clubs (Raspberry Jams) to demonstrate computer science and as a safe and cheap way to build and experiment with more complex configurations and connectivity.

A Regex or Regexp is a sequence of symbols and characters expressing a string or pattern to be searched for within a longer piece of text, or to define how a piece of structured data should be stored or represented

The documented or stated needs and expectations of a project. See the dedicated IT Element 'Requirements' for more detail.

Any and all equipment, consumables, money and people needed to carry out the project work.

A retrospective is one of the more formal and crucial ceremonies for an Agile development team. Typically it is a regular scheduled event or post-sprint look back at what has gone well in the previous period and forward to see what can be done better to improve performance. A retrospective wheel like this can be a useful way to assess difference strategies.

Any perceived threat to the expected outcome of a project. Risk Analysis and Risk Management (removing or otherwise reducing the impact of Risks occurring) are important activities in any organisation and particularly change initiatives.

A plan or strategy to deliver short- and long-term goals, normally used to show how elements of a technology solution will be connected together over  time. Not as formal as a Project or Programme Plan, a roadmap typically includes some graphical representation or model.

Not my definition, but very good: … machine(s) resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically. Despite more recent claims, the word robot was first used in a 1920 play "Rossum's Universal Robots" by Karel Capec, set in the future (1950!), taken from the Czech word 'robot' meaning slave or forced labour. Interestingly the robots looked like humans and were built to carry out menial tasks. However, they gain (how?) human intelligence and emotions and eventually get fed up with their masters and destroy them! See also section in the IT elementary school introduction to  Artificial Intelligence

An acronym of criteria used to assess the quality of requirements: Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

A sandbox provides a secure environment to test a system which is separated from any sensitive data or vulnerabilities. It provides a layer of protection for production systems from viruses or other malicious attacks. The term comes from the idea of a safe place for the business users, say, to undertake more informal familiarisation or play time!

Fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes. Not to be confused with fantasy which tends to have more magical and supernatural themes, imagined worlds and animals.

The area of interest, possibly that which is encompassed by a boundary, that separates items that are either in (in-scope) or outside (out-scope). The scope may be defined as an inclusive set of requirements, functions, processes or systems.

Search Engine Optimization is the process that you - or your friendly digital/internet marketeer - can follow to improve where your website appears in search engine results (ranking). Normally used in the context of free or natural results rather than paid-for ad words or similar.

Literally, a signature of the person or persons responsible for a finished project, or possibly an interim artefact, confirming that it is of the required or acceptable quality.

In a positive sense a silo can be thought of as a part of a system or data set which is separated from others for good security, data protection or contractual reasons. In a negative informal sense people operating in silos don't share or collaborate - when they could or should - to the detriment of the organisation as a whole.

Or more correctly 'No Silver Bullet' when used as a metaphor for the absence of a single straightforward answer or solution to a difficult problem. This post gives some more background  about werewolves and the software problem!

A plan 'slips' if planned events or tasks have not occurred on time. This may not be a problem if the project can be put back on track or has some tolerance. Beware of tasks on the critical path or if there is some downstream dependent activity (dependency).

Soft copy normally refers to electronic/digital materials, as opposed to 'hard' copy which are the physical printed equivalents.

The coded instructions that make computers work. As well as familiar desktop applications like Microsoft Word and web pages, software is also embedded in all electronic and digital devices. See also hardware.  

Email sent for either malicious reasons (e.g. phishing or other malware) or more innocent direct marketing purposes - although still unsolicited. And yes, Spam is named after luncheon meat by way of a famous Monty Python sketch, because it is 'ubiquitous, unavoidable and repetitive'. Repeat after me, 'Spam spam spam spam spam ...'!

This is planned effort undertaken by a team to develop new knowledge rather than new functionality in an Agile   sprint. Spikes are often used to reduce the risk or uncertainty on a story. If a team is unsure about or unfamiliar with a new technology, they may run a spike so that they can learn more about the technology.

The person or organisation paying for the project work. The roles of 'sponsor', 'project owner' and 'business lead' may be the same person or involve a number of different individuals. The Sponsor is one of the most important stakeholders.

A sprint is a fixed length cycle in an Agile development environment, typically 2 or 3 weeks duration in which a multi-disciplinary team commits to delivering against a prioritised sprint backlog.

A stage is a discrete sub-division of a project leading to a delivered product or outcome. A larger project or programme may also have multiple phases.

Anyone with an interest or 'stake' in the outcome of the project or activity. Ultimately, what you build or create, or what people buy or use (consume) comes down to Customer choice and stakeholder needs.

A general term for those small words in natural language that are stripped out by computers before or after a search. In the world of search engines and SEO this is important if you are looking for the band 'The The' or the IT ('it') elementary school!

A visual representation of a project with graphical or text elements such as User Stories, including some sense of total work, work in progress (status), and who is working on what. A typical part of an agile project toolkit.

A strawman is a metaphor often used in IT for something that is produced or demonstrated specifically to review, criticise or discuss. Originally such a 'man of straw' was typically used as a sham or easily knocked-down argument, but now has a less combative use to clarify understanding. There are other similarly exotic-sounding phrases such as aunt sally and stalking horse.

Someone, often a project stakeholder, with expertise or in-depth knowledge in a particular area of interest for the problem (need) or solution domain

SWOT analysis is a simple tool to explore and evaluate an organisation's (or team, or project, or group of stakeholders) Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats. It can be part of a formal bid process, for example, or more informal review of the current situation both from an internal and external perspective.

A System is a set of things working together as a complex whole, including people, processes, IT hardware and software.

The government or control of society by an elite of technical experts.

A teletypewriter was an electromechanical device that was used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels. As a dumb pre-cursor to a computer terminal it connected a familiar typewriter keyboard to a local printer (no monitor) and an electrical transmission device, for example for sending telegraph messages or for early mainframe computer data entry.

The word was originally coined back in the 1970's when it became possible to work outside the office (and travel for work) with the aid of telecommunications technology, at the time using a telephone landline, a modem or possibly exotic satellite technology. Now there is a much larger and broader tribe of  remote-workers, mobile-workers, home-workers thanks to the internet, mobile and smart device technology and changing social, environmental and corporate needs. Indeed there are now a lot of 100%  virtual organisations, and of course individual  digital nomads.

A Test Case is a single usage scenario of a system or part of an application with an expected outcome, part of an overall testing approach.

Testing is used to ensure that a product or system does what is expected, normally measured against a requirement, design specification or user acceptance criteria. See also Test Case. This is a dedicated IT Element 'Testing' if you are interested in learning more.

Literally the size of your thumb nail; a small version of an image or graphic used to illustrate a larger image, for example in a photo gallery or as a selectable icon instead of downloading and showing the full picture.

A project plan may include contingency time (tolerance) so that some tasks may be late without impacting the overall project outcomes.

Tragile and wagile both refer to a fuzzy netherworld between traditional waterfall-type software development methodologies and their Agile equivalents...the difference is explained here. If there is a meaningful difference between the two portmanteau terms, Tragile is a more formal framework where the methodologies work together, whereas Wagile suggests a more hit-and-miss informal mix.

A common business practice borrowed from medicine, the assignment of degrees of urgency to patients and wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment. In business terms a large or constant (such as email) number of items requiring attention might be categorised as; deal with now, later or never.

The Turing Test is a thought experiment designed by mathematician and code-breaker Alan Turing - although not testable in his lifetime. Imagine a human and computer* communicating remotely via written questions and answers. If the human cannot distinguish whether a human or machine is at the other end, the machine is deemed to be intelligent. *Ed. actually two teletype machines in separate rooms

The URL or Uniform Resource Locator such as http://www.itelementaryschool.com/blog/ is the structured address or label of a website or constituent page, the blog in this instance. In the background the web and the internet translates this understandable description into a coded string of numbers, the IP address (Internet Protocol), which is the unique location where the code, document or other resource is physically stored.

The means by which the User interacts with a computer system or device (and the underlying software that 'drives' the device), including a keyboard, visual display/touchscreen, mouse, microphone, speaker etc.

A User Story is a simple narrative description of a required system feature or need, expressed using a template. User Stories are an important technique in agile methods for capturing requirements, managing scope and reporting status.

Unlike Augmented Reality, VR creates a completely simulated computer-generated world, which may include audio, video and other sensory stimuli which provide a fully immersive multimedia environment for the user.

A 'waterfall' is a metaphor for the traditional approach to developing software using a series of linear stages and outcomes progressing (flowing) down from top-to-bottom. A number of alternative more ‘agile’ methods provide for feedback and a more flexible iterative, incremental or spiral approach.

Internet slang for an ethical computer hacker, somethings employed to try to break into ('penetration' test) or generally prove that a system is safe from the bad guys. You guessed, the black hats!

A list of trusted people or things, used as a verb, for example to whist list email addresses and web addresses/domains that you are happy to work with. The opposite of a black list.

A small gadget or mechanical object, now applied to a small application (app), or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service.

A portmanteau word from wireless-fidelity (think hi-fi radio and music systems). Now a generic term used for any wireless access to the internet, but more specifically it is the technology and protocols (message standards) that allow a user or device 'client' to access a remote service/server.

Wordpress or 'WP' is the most popular blogging and website publishing software in the world. It has helped to power the increasing access and exploitation of the web by content providers and small business owners with limited technical ability...although it does provide free shareware and paid-for tools, plugins and widgets for more sophisticated users.