MASTERING MANAGEMENT Do You Know Your "Geek-Speak"? DIAMOND BAR, CA - Technology marches forward, and business owners need to speak the language of their technology experts if they are going to understand how to stay abreast of the latest changes. The Specialty Equipment Market Association recently released its "Geek-Speak eGlossary" to assist those of us who are dazzled by the newest alphabet soup of computer acronyms: 1Sync (formerly the UCCNet): As a non-profit subsidiary of GS1 US (developers of the UPC code), 1Sync provides a global repository where enterprises can register item data and share standardized, synchronized supply-chain information. AAIA Legacy Standard: The original AAIA electronic catalog standard for vehicle make, model and year. This original eCat standard has been dubbed "legacy" subsequent to the introduction of the ACES standard. Aftermarket Council on Electronic Commerce (ACEC): This organization was set up by SEMA, MEMA and AAIA to further cooperation in the creation of product information standards. AAIA Catalog Enhanced Standard (ACES): Current electronic cataloging standard for make, model and year. ANSI: American National Standards Institute ANSI X-12: A set of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards developed by the American National Standards Institute to standardize EDI forms for U.S. business-to-business electronic transactions. Advanced Ship Notice (ASN): An EDI document used to notify a customer which orders will ship and when. Application service provider (ASP): A service that hosts, supports and operates a software application or applications for companies that pay for the service. B2B: Business to business. B2C: Business to consumer. Backend: Geek-speak for the software applications that manage internal business processes. Includes applications such as accounting and production management software. Bandwidth: How much stuff you can send through a connection, usually measured in bits-per-second (bps). Bit: Short for "binary digit," this is a single-digit number in base-2. In other words, either a one (1) or a zero. As the smallest unit of computerized data, its bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second. Bits-per-second (bps): A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 56K modem can move about 57,000 bps. Byte: A set of bits that represent a single character. Usually there are eight bits in a byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made. Data audit certification (DAC): A certification of PIES data offered by AAIA to companies whose data has been independently audited and determined to be compliant with the PIES data standard. Data synchronization: Product information that is expressed in precisely the same terms, such that data can be shared across different systems and companies without having to be translated. Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL): A method for moving data at a high speed over regular phone lines. Also known as Digital Subscriber Line. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Standard format for sending and receiving business information and invoices. Enterprise system: The hardware/software package that is used to run a business. Exchanges: See hub. Extensible Mark-up Language (XML): A specification that allows Web designers to create tags that define and validate data and facilitate transmission and interpretation of data between applications and organizations. Firewall: A combination of hardware and security software that can protect your business or personal computer network from outside attacks, such as viruses. Flat file: A data table that stores information without accessing additional tables. A spreadsheet is an example of a flat file. See relational database. Frontend: Geek-speak for the software applications that are seen and used by customers. File transfer protocol (FTP): A very common method of moving files from one computer to another using the Internet. FTP was invented and in wide use long before the advent of the World Wide Web. GS1 US (formerly the Uniform Code Council): The organization that administers UPC and other retail standards. Graphical user interface (GUI, pronounced "Gooey"): A mixture of text, images and links that are displayed on a computer screen to present information to a user. Hub: A third-party service that provides interoperability among businesses where information is exchanged. Hubs allow companies to interconnect with a variety of services, suppliers and data providers in order to conduct commerce. Sometimes referred to as "exchanges" or "portals." Interoperability: The ability for disparate computer systems to share information with one another. Internet Parts Ordering (IPO): A standard created by AAIA to increase the speed and efficiency of part-availability inquiries and associated special order transactions. Internet service provider (ISP): An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money (such as AOL, Cox, Qwest, Bell South or Level 3). Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG): JPEG is most commonly mentioned as a format for image files on the internet. Local area network (LAN): A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building. Legacy system: Geek-speak for the existing system currently in use by a business. Software manufacturers strive to develop applications that are built to interface with these existing systems. Map: The process of "pointing" one data field in one data set to its corresponding mate in another. Open Applications Group Inc. (OAGI): A not-for-profit industry consortium whose purpose is to promote interoperability among business software applications through a standardized data exchange methodology. Automotive Aftermarket Standards efforts have used the
OAGI model. Product Information Exchange Standards (PIES): Descriptions of product information in a standardized format. Various fields for information are included, such as part number, product description, price, weight and size. Portal: See hub. Relational database: A database that pulls information from multiple data tables or flat files. Server: A computer or a software package that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a Web server, or to the machine on which the software is running.
("Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out.") Structured Query Language (SQL): A specialized language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller databases can be addressed using SQL. T-1: An extremely fast connection capable of carrying large amounts of data. T-1 lines are commonly used to connect large LANs to the Internet. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): Communication standards used to connect systems on networks and the Internet. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF): The most widely supported file format for storing graphics on computers. Uniform Resource Locator (URL): It is essentially the address of a site on the Web, commonly expressed as http://www.website.com. Value-added network (VAN): A specialized application service provider (ASP) that acts as an intermediary between trading partners sharing data or business processes. Virtual private network (VPN): Usually refers to a network in which some of the parts are connected using the public Internet, but the data sent across the Internet is encrypted, so the entire network is "virtually" private. Web services: A cost-effective means for businesses to communicate computer-to-computer without knowledge of each other's backend systems using Internet-based software. As an example, a Web service is used by IPO (Internet Parts Ordering) to quickly provide part availability between companies placing orders and their suppliers. (Source: SEMA)
