Glossary

Welcome to the initial version of the EITBOK wiki. Like all wikis, it is a work in progress and may contain errors. We welcome feedback, edits, and real-world examples. Click here for instructions about how to send us feedback.

 

Term	Definition
acceptable	Meeting stakeholder expectations that can be shown to be reasonable or merited (Source: ISO/IEC Std. 38500:2008, Corporate governance of information technology, ISO/IEC, 2008)
acceptance criteria	(1) The criteria that a system or component must satisfy in order to be accepted by a user, customer, or other authorized entity (Source: ISO/IEC/IEEE Std. 24765:2010, Systems and software engineering—Vocabulary, ISO/IEC/IEEE, 2010) (2) Those criteria, including performance requirements and essential conditions, which must be met before project deliverables are accepted (Source: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK[R] Guide]—Fourth Edition)
acquisition	(1) The process of obtaining a system, product, or service and ensuring its successful implementation. Acquisition also includes ensuring that proper mechanisms are in place to monitor the supplier's/vendors' performance in providing support and fulfilling other contractual obligations. Original to EITBOK. (2) The process of obtaining a system or software product (Source: IEEE Std. 1062-1998, IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Acquisition, IEEE, 1998) (3) The process of obtaining a system, software product or software service (Source: ISO/IEC 12207:2008, Systems and software engineering—Software lifecycle processes, 4.2) (4) The process of obtaining a system product or service (Source: ISO/IEC 15288:2008, Systems and software engineering—System lifecycle processes, 4.2)
acquisition strategy	A specific approach to acquiring products and services that is based on considerations of supply sources, acquisition methods, requirements specification types, contract or agreement types, and related acquisition risks (Source: ISO/IEC 24765:2009, Systems and software engineering vocabulary)
ADKAR model	A goal-oriented change management model that allows change management teams to focus their activities on specific business results. The model has its origins in aligning traditional change management activities to a given result or goal. (Source: http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-adkar-overview-mod1.htm)
ADMS	The Asset Description Metadata Schema (ADMS) is a common metadata vocabulary to describe standards, so-called interoperability assets, on the Web.
AoA	The Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) is a cornerstone of the Military Acquisition policy, that of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It ensures that at least three feasible alternatives are analyzed prior to making costly investment decisions. The AoA establishes and benchmarks metrics for cost, schedule, performance (CSP) and risk (CSPR) depending on military "needs" derived from the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System process.
API	In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications.
BCA	Business case analysis (BCA) is a decision support and planning tool that projects the likely financial results and other business consequences of an action.
BCP	A business continuity plan (BCP) is a plan to continue operations if a place of business is affected by different levels of disaster, which can be localized short term disasters, to days-long, building-wide problems, or to a permanent loss of a building.
BIA	Business impact analysis (BIA) is a systematic process to determine and evaluate the potential effects of an interruption to critical business operations as a result of a disaster, accident, or emergency.
BIAT	Business, information, architecture, and technology (BIAT) architectures. The BIAT model helped system architects organize information and the structure of the systems, and also helped them understand the requirements that flow between these layers.
BMM	The business motivation model (BMM) in enterprise architecture provides a scheme and structure for developing, communicating, and managing business plans in an organized manner. For one example of a BMM spec, see http://www.omg.org/spec/BMM/1.3/.
BU	Business unit (BU) refers to a division, facility, or department of an organization. Examples of business units include retail outlets and human resource department.
business capability map	"Business-capability mapping is the process of modeling what a business does to reach its objectives (its capabilities), instead of how it does it (its business processes)." ~ Denise Cook "A business capability is a particular ability or capacity that a business may possess or exchange to achieve a specific purpose or outcome. A capability describes what the business does (outcomes and service levels) that creates value for customers; for example, pay employee or ship product. A business capability abstracts and encapsulates the people, process/procedures, technology, and information into the essential building blocks needed to facilitate performance improvement and redesign analysis." ~ Ulrich Homann "Business capability is the expression or the articulation of the capacity, materials and expertise an organization needs in order to perform core functions. Enterprise architects use business capabilities to illustrate the over-arching needs of the business in order to better strategize EIT solutions that meet those business needs." ~ Margaret Rouse
BYOD	Bring your own device (BYOD), also called bring your own technology (BYOT), bring your own phone (BYOP), and bring your own PC (BYOPC), refers to the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace, and to use those devices to access privileged company information and applications. The phenomenon is commonly referred to as EIT consumerization.
CAB	A change advisory board (CAB) delivers support to a change management team by approving requested changes and assisting in the assessment and prioritization of changes.
canonical data model	A design pattern used to communicate between different data formats. A form of enterprise application integration, it is intended to reduce costs and standardize on agreed data definitions associated with integrating business systems.
CBA	A cost-benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes called benefit-cost analysis (BCA), is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives that satisfy transactions, activities or functional requirements for a business.
change agent	A person from inside or outside an organization who helps the organization transform itself by focusing on such matters as organizational effectiveness, improvement, and development. (Source: study.com/academy/lesson/change-agent-definition-role-quiz.html)
CIA	Cost impact analysis (CIA) estimates the cost of the project from all perspectives, including the engineering cost of the transition along with training, certifications, licenses, network appliances, hardware upgrades, and datacenter fees.
CIE	cost impact estimation
CIO	A chief information officer (CIO), or EIT director, is typically the senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals.
CMDB	A configuration management database (CMDB) is a repository that acts as a data warehouse for EIT organizations.
CMMI	Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement training and appraisal program and service administered and marketed by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and required by many DoD and US government contracts, especially in software development.
CMMI-ACQ	CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ), product and service acquisition
CMMI-DEV	CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV), product and service development
CMMI-DMM	CMMI for Data Management Maturity, data process improvement across business lines
CMMI-SVC	CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC), service establishment and management
COBIT	Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) is a framework created by ISACA for EIT management and EIT governance. It is a supporting toolset that allows managers to bridge the gap between control requirements, technical issues, and business risks.
conceptual design	Describes the proposed solution in a functional manner that could be easily understood by a future user, including what the solution will look like and how it will behave.
ConOps	A concept of operations document. A ConOps is a user-oriented document that describes system characteristics for a proposed system from the users' viewpoint. The ConOps document is used to communicate overall quantitative and qualitative system characteristics to the user, buyer, developer, and other organizational elements (for example, training, facilities, staffing, and maintenance). It is used to describe the user organizations, missions, and organizational objectives from an integrated systems point of view.
constraint	(1) An externally imposed limitation on system requirements, design, or implementation or on the process used to develop or modify a system (IEEE Std. 29148-2011, Systems and software engineering—Life cycle processes—Requirements engineering, IEEE, 2011) (2) A statement that expresses measurable bounds for an element or function of the system (IEEE Std. 29148-2011, Systems and software engineering—Life cycle processes—Requirements engineering, IEEE, 2011)
contract	A binding agreement between two parties, especially enforceable by law, or a similar internal agreement wholly within an organization (Source: ISO/IEC 12207:2008, Systems and software engineering—Software life cycle processes, ISO/IEC, 2008)
control	The approval process for requested changes to a system, including defect fixes, evolution of third-party components, and in-house enhancements.
COTS	In the United States, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) is a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) term for commercial items, including services, available in the commercial marketplace that can be bought and used under government contract.
CP	A consolidated platform (CP) is a single, optimized platform that IT organizations can use to centralize the management of IT resources, consolidate systems, increase resource usage rates, and lower costs.
CRM	Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to practices, strategies, and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth.
CSP and CSPR	The AoA establishes and benchmarks metrics for cost, schedule, performance (CSP) and risk (CSPR) depending on military "needs" derived from the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System process.
CUPRMD	IBM's standard (pronounced "cooperMD") specifying capability, usability, performance, reliability, maintainability, and documentation as key quality vectors for product quality.
DAMA	The Data Management Association (DAMA) is a not-for-profit, vendor-independent, international association of technical and business professionals dedicated to advancing the concepts and practices of information resource management (IRM) and data resource management (DRM).
data model	A data model organizes data elements and standardizes how the data elements relate to one another. Data elements document real-life people, places, and things and the events between them, so the data model represents reality; for example a house has many windows or a cat has two eyes. Computers are used for the accounting of these real-life things and events and therefore the data model is a necessary standard to ensure exact communication between human beings. – Wikipedia
development methodology	The method that is used to structure, plan, and control the software/systems development process. There are several well-known frameworks that have been developed over the years, each with their strengths and weaknesses.
DIKW	The data-to-information-to-knowledge-to-wisdom (DIKW) transformation illustrates structural and functional relationships between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in the DIKW pyramid.
DoDAF	Department of Defense Architecture Framework, an architecture framework for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) that provides visualization infrastructure for specific stakeholders concerns through viewpoints organized by various views.
domain	A specific sphere of activity or knowledge. A domain can correspond to the boundaries of an organization, a job function, or even a particular task.
domain elicitation	Collecting the right information from SMEs, stakeholders, or consumers about how the solution should function.
DR	Disaster recovery (DR) has these definitions: 1) In computer system operations, the return to normal operation after a hardware or software failure. 2) Activities and programs designed to return the organization to an acceptable condition. The ability to respond to an interruption in services by implementing a disaster recovery plan to restore an organization's critical business functions.
DRP	A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a set of human, physical, technical, and procedural resources to recover, within a defined time and cost, an activity interrupted by an emergency or disaster.
DT	Disaster tolerance (DT) is the time gap a business can accept the non-availability of EIT facilities.
dynamic rules-based routing map	A visual that shows rules for dynamic routing (e.g., of paths for telecommunications).
EA	1) An enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. 2) An enterprise architect (EA) is the designer of an enterprise architecture.
EIF	The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is a set of recommendations that specify how administrations, businesses, and citizens communicate with each other within the EU and across member states' borders.
EIT	Enterprise information technology (EIT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, in the context of a business or other enterprise.
EHR	An electronic health record (EHR), or electronic medical record (EMR), refers to the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format.
ERP	Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business-management software (typically a suite of integrated applications) that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.
ETL	Extract, transform, and load (ETL) data conversion programs are used to move data from one structure/technology to another.
FLURPS	Functionality, localizability, usability, reliability, performance, supportability (FLURPS) is a template for building well-rounded analytic solutions.
FSM	Functional size measurement (FSM) is a technique for measuring software in terms of the functionality it delivers.
functional requirements	Functional requirements are those that describe specific behaviors or functions of the implemented solution (calculations, technical details, data manipulation and processing, and behavioral requirements).
GML	Generalized Markup Language (GML) is a set of macros that implement intent-based (procedural) markup tags for the IBM text formatter, SCRIPT. SCRIPT/VS is the main component of IBM's Document Composition Facility (DCF).
GIMM	The Government Interoperability Maturity Matrix (GIMM) aims to provide administrations with a simple self-evaluation method that can be used to assess the current status of the administrations concerning e-government interoperability and the steps that need to be taken to improve their positioning with respect to system implementation and services provision to citizens and businesses.
GSC	Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) is a conference organization that brings together the world's leading telecommunications and radio standards organizations to share information in a number of important technical areas.
Heat map	A heat map is a graphical representation of data where the individual values contained in a matrix are represented as colors.
HITSP	The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) was created in 2005 as part of the efforts by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services) to promote interoperability in health care by harmonizing health information technology standards.
IaaS	Information as a service (IaaS) is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT). It is a more expansive term (i.e., more broad in scope) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers, and necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, that enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. IaaS can be provided as either standard Internet access or as virtual private networks.
ICT	Information and communications technology (ICT) is the most basic cloud-service model that provides machines, servers, storage, network services, and even load balancing.
IEEE	The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a professional association of technical professionals. Its objectives are the educational and technical advancement of electrical and electronic engineering, telecommunications, computer engineering, and allied disciplines.
IiM	Integration in manufacturing (IiM)is the first systemic paradigm to organize humans and machines as a whole system, not only at the field level, but also at the management and corporate levels, to produce an integrated and interoperable enterprise system.
INCITS	The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) (pronounced "insights") is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization composed of EIT developers. It was formerly known as the X3 and NCITS.
Information map	Information mapping is a research-based method for writing clear and user-focused information, based on the audience's needs and the purpose of the information. The method is applied primarily to designing and developing business and technical communications. – Wikipedia
interoperability	The ability of systems (including organizations) to exchange and use exchanged information without knowledge of the characteristics or inner workings of the collaborating systems (or organizations).
IoT	The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data.
ISACA	ISACA is an international professional association focused on EIT governance. Previously known as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, ISACA now goes by its acronym only, to reflect the broad range of EIT governance professionals it serves.
ISIMM	The Information Systems Interoperability Maturity Model (ISIMM) defines the levels and degree of interoperability sophistication that an organization's information systems progress through. ISIMM focuses more on detailed technical aspects of interoperability that allows data to be exchanged and shared within an information system environment.
ISO	The International Organization for Standardization is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Note that ISO is not an acronym. The organization adopted ISO as its abbreviated name in reference to the Greek word isos, meaning equal, as its name in its three official languages would have different acronyms.
ITIL	ITIL, formerly an acronym for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a set of practices for IT service management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning EIT services with the needs of business. In its current form (known as ITIL 2011 edition), ITIL is published as a series of five core volumes, each of which covers a different ITSM lifecycle stage. ITIL® is a registered trademark of AXELOS Limited.
ITSC	The Information Technology Support Center (ITSC) is a national technical information and knowledge repository, applying best-practice solutions, approaches, and technologies, to limit risks, and increase EIT compatibility among states.
IVR	Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows a computer to interact with humans through the use of voice and dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones input via keypad.
KA	The body of knowledge is subdivided into ten software engineering knowledge areas (KAs). The KAs in the EITBOK represent areas of practice rather than areas of learning. That is, in an EIT organization, we may find specialists in security practices, disaster recovery planning, developing requirements for EIT services, or construction of those services.
KPI	A key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity in which it engages.
KTBR	keep the business running
KTLO	keep the lights on
LCCE	A lifecycle cost estimate (LCCE) is the estimated cost over its lifespan for developing, producing, deploying, maintaining, operating, and disposing of a system.
LCIM	Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM) is a framework for conceptual modeling.
lifecycle	A term used to refer to the stages (or just the duration) of things that have a beginning and an end—changing form (maturing, usually) along the way from concept; expanded into a set of requirements; to transition, then deployment, and finally retirement.
LISI	The Levels of Information Systems Interoperability (LISI) reference model presents a logical structure and a discipline or maturity model for improving interoperability incrementally between information systems. As such, LISI strengthens the ability to effectively manage information systems in context with mission effectiveness.
logical design	Defines objects, entities, their attributes, and their relationships. It also describes the business rules associated with these entities.
maintenance	Activities that ensure that a system remains operational and does not degrade over time.
NAISC	The North American Industry Classification System or NAICS (pronounced "nakes") is used by business and government to classify business establishments according to type of economic activity (process of production) in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
network model	A database model conceived as a flexible way of representing objects and their relationships. The distinguishing feature of the network model is that the schema, viewed as a graph in which object types are nodes and relationship types are arcs, is not restricted to being a hierarchy or lattice.
NIC	A network interface card (NIC) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.
NIEM	The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) is an XML-based information exchange framework from the United States. NIEM represents a collaborative partnership of agencies and organizations across all levels of government (federal, state, tribal, and local) and with private industry.
NIST	The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), is a measurement standards laboratory whose mission is to promote US innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
non-functional requirements	Non-functional requirements specify additional criteria often called qualities or just "-ilities" (execution performance, constraints, reliability goals, usability, security, testability, maintainability, extensibility, and scalability).
OCM	Organizational change management (OCM) is a framework for managing the effects of new business processes, changes in organizational structure, or cultural changes within an enterprise.
OIMM	The Organizational Interoperability Maturity Model (OIMM) defines the levels of organizational maturity that describe the ability of organizations to interoperate. Research in this area was focused on military needs, but can be applied within a supply chain business environment.
OLA	An operational level agreement (OLA) defines the interdependent relationships in support of a service level agreement (SLA). The OLA describes the responsibilities of each internal support group toward other support groups, including the process and timeframe for delivery of their services. The objective of the OLA is to present a clear, concise, and measurable description of the service provider's internal support relationships.
order management	A common function within an enterprise that includes selling goods, delivering them, and collecting payment.
OWL	The Web Ontology Language (OWL) is a family of knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies. Ontologies are a formal way to describe taxonomies and classification networks, essentially defining the structure of knowledge for various domains: the nouns representing classes of objects and the verbs representing relations between the objects.
operating model	An operating model is an abstract and ideally visual representation of how an organization delivers value to its customers or beneficiaries. An operating model breaks this system into components, showing how it works. An operating model is like the blueprint for a building. It is more dynamic than a building blueprint, with changes occurring regularly. Also, an operating model is not usually just one blueprint. There are likely to be blueprints for each element: processes, organization structure, decision making, software applications, locations and so on. There are also likely to be some integrating blueprints. It can help those making changes check that they have thought through all elements and that the whole will still work. It can help those transforming an operation coordinate all the different changes that need to happen.
organization map	An organization map shows the chain of command of owners and decision makers in the organization, presented in terms of connections between actors, or between actors and organization units showing hierarchies, communication lines, and responsibilities.
physical design	Also called the technical design. Where the conceptual and logic designs are converted to a definition of how the solution will be implemented in hardware, software, and potentially other media. The physical design is developed by the construction team, not by the requirements team.
PaaS	Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud layer that provides platforms, whether they be execution runtimes, databases, web servers, or development tools.
PMO	The project management office (PMO) is a group or department within an enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.
process model	From a theoretical point of view, meta-process modeling explains the key concepts needed to describe what happens in the development process, on what, when it happens, and why. From an operational point of view, meta-process modeling is aimed at providing guidance for method engineers and application developers. The activity of modeling a business process usually predicates a need to change processes or identify issues to be corrected. This transformation may or may not require EIT involvement, although that is a common driver for the need to model a business process.
product map	A product map (or roadmap) is a high-level visual summary that lays out the vision and direction of your product over time, communicating both the reasons and technologies behind your product strategy.
QA	Quality assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers; which ISO 9000 defines as "the part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled."
QC	Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "the part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements."
QMS	A quality management system (QMS) is a collection of business processes focused on achieving quality policy and quality objectives to meet customer requirements. It is expressed as the organizational structure, policies, procedures, processes, and resources needed to implement quality management.
RACI	A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM), or RACI matrix, describes the participation by various roles in completing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process. The four key responsibilities typically used in this matrix are responsible, accountable, consulted, informed (RACI).
RDF	The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a family of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications originally designed as a metadata data model. It has come to be used as a general method for conceptual description or modeling of information that is implemented in web resources, using a variety of syntax notations and data serialization formats. It is also used in knowledge management applications.
resource management	Identification, estimation, allocation, and monitoring of the means used to develop a product or perform a service (Source: ISO/IEC/IEEE Std. 24765:2010, Systems and software engineering—Vocabulary, ISO/IEC/IEEE, 2010).
RFI	A request for information (RFI) is a standard business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes.
RFP	A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation, often made through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service, or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals.
RFQ	1) A request for quotation (RFQ) is a standard business process whose purpose is to invite suppliers into a bidding process to bid on specific products or services. RFQ is generally the same as an invitation for bid (IFB). 2) A request for qualification (RFQ) is a document often distributed before initiation of the RFP process. It is used to gather vendor information from multiple companies to generate a pool of prospects. This eases the RFP review process by preemptively short-listing candidates which meet the desired qualifications.
RFT	A request for tenders (RFT) is a formal, structured invitation to suppliers to bid to supply products or services.
risk	Risk is a function of the probability of occurrence of a given threat and the potential adverse consequences of that threat's occurrence (Source: ISO/IEC Std. 15026-3:2011, Systems and software engineering—Systems and software assurance—Part 3: System integrity levels, ISO/IEC, 2011).
ROI	Return on investment (ROI) is the benefit to the investor resulting from an investment of some resource. A high ROI means the investment gains compare favorably to investment cost. As a performance measure, ROI is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.
RPO	The recovery point objective (RPO) is the point in time when all integrated systems are to be recovered to, taking into account sync points and data transfer points to ensure data quality and integrity.
RSM	IBM's Reference Semantic Model (RSM) is based on industry standards (centered largely on ISA-95 and ISA-88). The architecture supports the definition of an enterprise model down to assets and associated measurements. The RSM is a semantic model because it provides a real-world abstraction of the enterprise and assets in a graphical model. Through it, applications can access information from disparate systems with various access methods.
RTO	The recovery time objective (RTO) is how long it takes to return an EIT service to active duty.
SA	A solution architect (SA) in information technology is a practitioner of solution architecture. Typically part of the solution development team, the solution architect is responsible for translating the requirements created by functional analysts into the architecture for that solution and describing it through the set of architecture and design artifacts.
SaaS	Software as a service (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as "on-demand software." SaaS is typically accessed by users using a thin client via a web browser.
SAN	A storage area network (SAN) is a network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage.
SCM	In software engineering, software configuration management (SCM) is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger cross-disciplinary field of configuration management. SCM practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines.
SDD	Software design description (SDD) is a representation of a software system that is used as a medium for communicating software design information.
semantic interoperability	The ability of computer systems to exchange data with unambiguous, shared meaning. Semantic interoperability is a requirement to enable machine computable logic, inferencing, knowledge discovery, and data federation between information systems.
Semantic Web	The Semantic Web is an extension of the Web through standards by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The standards promote common data formats and exchange protocols on the Web, most fundamentally the Resource Description Framework (RDF).
service catalog	(ITIL service design) A database or structured document with information about all live EIT services, including those available for deployment. The service catalog is the only part of the ITIL service portfolio published to customers, and is used to support the sale and delivery of EIT services. The service catalog includes information about deliverables, prices, contact points, ordering, and request processes.
SFIA	Skills Framework for the Information Age (pronounced like the name Sophia) is a model for describing and managing competencies for ICT professionals for the 21st century, and is intended to help match the skills of the workforce to the needs of the business. It maps out the range of skills as a two-dimensional table, by tagging each skill with a category and responsibility level.
shadow EIT	Shadow EIT refers to information technology systems and solutions built and used inside enterprises without explicit organizational approval.
SLA	A service level agreement (SLA) is a part of a service contract where a service is formally defined. Particular aspects of the service—scope, quality, responsibilities—are agreed between the service provider and the service user. A common feature of an SLA is a contracted delivery time (of the service or performance).
SPLCP	software project lifecycle process
SME	A subject-matter expert (SME), also called a domain expert, is a person who is an authority in a particular area or topic.
SO	Service operations (SO) encompasses the day-to-day activities, processes, and infrastructure that are responsible for delivering value to the business through technology.
solution	A set of changes to the current state of an enterprise that enables the enterprise to meet a need, solve a problem, or take advantage of an opportunity.
SOX	Sarbanes-Oxley, a United States federal law to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws, and for other purposes.
SPOC	A single point of contact (SPOC) is a person or a department serving as the coordinator or focal point of information concerning an activity or program.
SRS	software requirements specification
stakeholder	An individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project (source: Project Management Institute, PMBOK 5th edition, 2013, glossary).
stakeholder map	Identifying stakeholders (groups, organizations, and individuals); understanding stakeholder perspectives and interests; creating a visual map of relationships to objectives and other stakeholders.
strategy mapping	Successful strategy determination and execution needs to be based on a clear picture of the current state and capabilities of the organization as well as a 360-degree view of the environment it operates within. Strategy mapping provides a method for gaining this picture and then articulates a strategy in such a way that it can be readily interpreted and acted on.
SCM	Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services. It includes the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.
SWECOM	Software engineering competency model (formerly known as SECOM) describes competencies for software engineers who participate in the development of and modifications to software-intensive systems. The model describes general skill areas, specific skills, and work activities for each skill, with activities specified at five levels of increasing competency.
SWOT	Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) involved in a project or in a business venture (source: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK[R] Guide], Fourth Edition). See http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4245-swot-analysis.html for a discussion of use.
syntactic interoperability	If two or more systems are capable of communicating and exchanging data, they are exhibiting syntactic interoperability. Specified data formats, communication protocols, and the like are fundamental. XML or SQL standards are among the tools of syntactic interoperability. This is also true for lower-level data formats, such as ensuring alphabetical characters are stored in a same variation of ASCII or a Unicode format (for English or international text) in all the communicating systems.
SyRS	A system requirements specification (SyRS) is a structured collection of information that embodies the requirements of a system. This is abbreviated SyRS to be distinct from a software requirements specification (SRS).
TAB	An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. In this context, a technical advisory board (TAB) deals with technical issues.
TCO	Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate intended to help buyers and owners determine the direct and indirect costs of a product or system. It is a management accounting concept that can be used in full-cost accounting or even ecological economics where it includes social costs.
TDS	technical design of the solution
TIA	A technical impact analysis (TIA) is a review of the designs and source code to determine the potential impact of a change.
TM	transition manager
TOGAF	The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is a framework for enterprise architecture that provides an approach for designing, planning, implementing, and governing an Enterprise IT architecture.
TRA	transition risk analysis (TRA) document
trouble ticket	A trouble ticket (sometimes called a trouble report) is a mechanism used in an organization to track the detection, reporting, and resolution of some type of problem.
UAT	User acceptance testing (UAT) consists of a process of verifying that a solution works for the user. UAT is not system testing (ensuring software does not crash and meets documented requirements), but rather ensures that the solution will work for the user i.e., test the user accepts the solution (software vendors often refer to this as "beta testing").
UDEF	The Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF) provides the foundation for building an enterprise-wide controlled vocabulary. It is a standard way of indexing enterprise information that can produce big cost savings. UDEF simplifies information management through consistent classification and assignment of a global standard identifier to the data names and then relates them to similar data element concepts defined by other organizations. Though this approach is a small part of the overall picture, it is potentially a crucial enabler of semantic interoperability.
URI	In computing, a uniform resource identifier (URI) is a string of characters used to identify the name of a resource. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network, typically the World Wide Web, using specific protocols.
value-stream map	Value-stream mapping, also known as material- and information-flow mapping, is a lean-management method for analyzing the current state and designing a future state for the series of events that take a product or service from its beginning through to the customer.
V&V	Software verification and validation (V&V) are independent procedures that are used together for checking that software meets requirements and specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose.
vitality and renewal plan	Plan for assessing the vitality of technology components and replacing them.
VM	virtual machine
W3C	The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or W3).
XML	Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It is defined by the W3C's XML 1.0 Specification and by several other related specifications, all of which are free open standards.