Basic Terminology in Enterprise Computing

The prime purpose of enterprise computing is to achieve the goals of an enterprise. Enterprise computing is a computing model, in which all people in the enterprise are connected by a network, and share the information and resources stored with them to perform the operations.

Enterprise software has some terms that might be new or not clear to many of us. In this article, we will discuss some commonly used terms and their applications in enterprise computing.

Enterprise: Any organization or business or venture with a specific set of goals.

Enterprise computing: Computing model with group of servers and other systems, where data is stored and resources are shared among the business people to perform enterprise operations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Artificial intelligence is computer intelligence or application of human intelligence on computers.

Business process automation (BPA): This is the process of exchanging information among the applications of the business. A set of software looks after business process automation and helps reduce human intervention in the process.

Data center: It is a group of servers or networks where critical data is stored and managed.

Data warehouse: Location where entire data related to business is stored.

Interoperability: Ability to share information over different networks.

Information system: It could be hardware, software, data or person that can generate or provide information to the computer.

Management information system: It provides decision-makers or employees with valid data to take critical decisions in order to manage business effectively.

Virtual Private Network (VPN): As the name suggests, Virtual Private Network is a virtual network, and acts as a mediator to connect the remote user with the company’s network server.

Web services: A web service is a set of software or instructions that help organization in developing projects and interact with others.

Work flow application: It is a program that tracks all the activities from start to finish in a business process.

Scalability: It is a quality that measure how a software or hardware or an information system could grow to meet the growing needs of businesses/organizations.

Redundant components: It is a kind of back up system, that a computer utilizes in case of failure of similar component.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks): Many independent hard disks combined or integrated to behave like one disk.

High-availability system: The system that is always active.

Legacy system: Old and most important system in an organization, that still serves the needs, and is highly reliable.

Network attached storage: Network attached storage is server that is attached to the network for the purpose of storing data.

Enterprise storage system: Computer storage designed to handle data and heavy work loads. Data stored here is highly available, reliable and secured.

Thin client: An electronic device that relies on the server for data. A computer can be also called as a thin client.

These are some terms that are closely associated and commonly used in enterprise computing.