e
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Electronic. Increasingly this means web based, but that is not always
the case.
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e-commerce
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The term used to describe selling over a network. Today that network
is usually the Internet. It is a somewhat passé term. People usually talk
about e-business.
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e-business
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Any business activity conducted over the Internet. E-commerce can be
thought of as a subset of e-business.
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e-Content Management
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A mechanism for storing unstructured data such as files and reports.
It can be thought of as a type of database, though databases store structured
data such as that associated with a customer, trade or product.
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e-CRM
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Customer Relationship Management conducted via the Internet.
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e-government
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An initiative for making communication between government departments
web based. The term can also embrace a government’s communication with its
citizens (or netizens) and suppliers.
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e-HR
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Electronic Human Resources. HR functions conducted over the web.
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e-learning
|
Both structured and unstructured education delivered via the web. Best
suited to knowledge based education.
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e-marketing
|
Electronic marketing. Marketing activity conducted via the web.
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e-money
|
Money that is held digitally on a user device, eg. smart card or
phone, or on the web, eg. through a service such as PayPal.
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e-procurement
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See e-purchasing.
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e-purchasing
|
Electronic purchasing. Purchasing via the web. A term often associated
with supply chain management.
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e-purse
|
The mechanism for storing e-money. Not to be confused with an
e-wallet. Modern men carry e-purses.
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e-security
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Electronic security. Increasingly important as cyber crime becomes
more popular.
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e-wallet
|
A term used to describe the mechanism for storing personal information
online such that, for example, one’s credit card details can be accessed when
making a purchase. Initially designed to save customers having to fill out
online forms. E-wallets can be server or client device based.
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EAI
|
Enterprise Application Integration. A systems integration term that
relates to software designed to link incompatible pieces of software
together.
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EbXML
|
Electronic Business using XML. This is a family of specifications used
to promote the global use of e-business. It can be though of as the successor
to EDI.
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ECM
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See e-Content Management.
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Edge
|
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution. A faster version of GSM. Think
of it as an interim technology whilst we waited for 3G.
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EDI
|
A pre-web standard for conducting business electronically. Still used
in some sectors.
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EIP
|
Enterprise Information Portal. This alludes to a web site that enables
staff in an organisation to access corporate information through one single
web site. It can also refer to a gateway that enables customers and suppliers
to access corporate information. A somewhat passé term. Today usually
referred to as an Enterprise Portal.
|
EIS
|
Enterprise Information Systems. A type of decision support tool. Today
these tools are better known as Business Intelligence Tools.
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EJB
|
Enterprise Java Beans. A type of middleware developed by Sun
Microsystems.
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Email
|
This is an application that allows users to send messages to each
other. Today it is Internet based,
but this has not always been the case.
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Embedded System
|
An IT system that is embedded within another system. Eg. A car
management system embedded in a car. Or a call management system embedded in
a phone.
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EMS
|
Electronic Meeting System. A
generic term associated with groupware products. It enables people to conduct meetings electronically. The fact
that attendees can contribute anonymously is seen as a bonus.
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Encapsulation
|
A term associated with Object Orientation. It is closely associated
with the maintainability of software.
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Engineer
|
In IT it is a reference to anybody involved in hardware and software
development.
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Enterprise applications
|
It was a collective term for applications that span global companies.
Today it equally applies to smaller companies. The most popular are ERP, CRM and increasingly SCM
applications.
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Enterprise Java Beans
|
See EJB.
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Enterprise Portal
|
See EIP.
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ERP
|
Enterprise Resource Planning.
This term encapsulates a market where the vendors sell enterprise
applications. The ERP vendors sell a
range of modules, which cover major aspects of business such as human
resources and finance.
These modules cover around 80% of the needs of any company. Being sold at 20% of the price it would
cost to have them tailor-made is attractive to customers.
The ERP vendors also provide consultancy to give the client the
remaining 20% of functionality that is peculiar to that business. Sadly, the cost of this is at least 80% of
the cost of taking the tailored approach.
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Ethernet
|
A very popular networking protocol created by Xerox, but now available
from many vendors. Conforms to the IEEE 802.3 standard. Most local area
networks today will use Ethernet.
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ETL
|
See Extraction, Transformation and Loading.
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Exchange
|
Microsoft’s messaging and collaborative working solution. Very
popular.
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Extraction, Transformation and Loading
|
A term associated with data warehousing. It is a reference to the
software that extracts the data from the operational databases, then cleans
it up and finally stores it in the central repository. In days of yore it was more commonly known
as data scrubbing software.
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Extranet
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An intranet that allows restricted access to the outside world, eg to
suppliers and clients.
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Extreme Programming
|
Extreme programming is an approach to software development based on
the Agile philosophy. There is a strong focus on user involvement, speed of
delivery and quality of the software.
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