Handy IT Acronyms to Understand

It is pretty apparent that there are a lot (a lot) of acronyms used when discussing IT. In fact, that itself is an acronym for information technology. They can all get pretty confusing if you don’t necessarily think about these things every day. Considering this, we’ve put together a list of terms for you to know that we think may be handy to have.

-aaS

-as-a-Service
Businesses of all kinds are starting to outsource various responsibilities and needs to external providers. When you see something-or-other offered “as-a-Service,” it basically expresses that this opportunity is being offered. By getting something as-a-Service, a business is able to scale that responsibility to your needs and budgetary abilities. 

BI

Business Intelligence
Business intelligence is the use of assorted business metrics in tracking and projecting outcomes, allowing for better decisions to be made.

BYOD (and MDM)

Bring Your Own Device (and Mobile Device Management)
Bring Your Own Device is an approach that many businesses are adopting because of its cost-saving and productivity-boosting potential. Rather than investing in company-owned devices, a business can use a BYOD strategy to enable employees to use their own, with the support and administrative capabilities that Mobile Device Management solutions provide to them to ensure compliance to industry best practices.

DoS

Denial-of-Service
A Denial-of-Service attack, and its variant, a DDoS/Distributed-Denial-of-Service attack, are methods that cybercriminals use to interrupt a business’ network. Using an army of infiltrated devices, the attacker directs enough traffic to a business’ network to overwhelm its defenses.

EOL

End-of-Life
When a software is retired, it is known as its “End-of-Life.” This designation means that the software will no longer receive any support from the developer, leaving it vulnerable to any future attacks and thereby unfit for use as a privacy and security risk.

IoT

Internet of Things
The Internet of Things refers to the vast variety of Internet-connected devices (often referred to as “smart” devices) that connect to the Internet to function. While these devices can be useful, there are commonly poor security measures associated with them, which means you need to be more prepared than ever to mitigate the threats they could facilitate.

LAN

Local Area Network
This is the network that exists within your business and connects your hardware together. This network covers your workstations and servers, as well as all the peripherals that are connected to them.

MFA/2FA

Multi-Factor Authentication/Two-Factor Authentication
With security becoming a bigger and bigger concern, you need to be sure that your files and other software assets are as protected as they can be. MFA helps to facilitate this by adding another layer of security to the typical username identifier and password authentication measure. WIth another factor required to authenticate an identity, access is restricted to the person who has that factor.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer
This is a protocol used to protect data sent and received from websites. Because it protects this data, SSL is essential for online commerce, and can be spotted by seeing HTTPS in the address bar of a website.

UPS

Uninterruptible Power Supply
Power surges can seriously damage your IT components, and sudden power loss will definitely lead to data loss as well as damage to your devices on your network. A UPS device is handy, in that it can keep your equipment running long enough with a stored energy reserve to properly shut the components down.

VM

Virtual Machine
A virtual machine allows a business to use their existing hardware to accomplish more by creating a digital replica of a solution. As a result, businesses that use virtual machines can see their computing costs reduced substantially, without losing opportunities.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol
VoIP is an approach to telephony that offers far more features, greater flexibility, and significant cost savings over the traditional phone service. By using an Internet connection to receive and deliver call information, VoIP allows businesses to stretch their Internet investments further while gaining an assortment of valuable business tools.

VPN

Virtual Private Network
By using a Virtual Private Network, you can securely use any Internet connection because the data that you are transmitting is shielded by encryption. That way, even if the data is intercepted, decrypting it is more trouble to the hacker than it is worth.

WAN

Wide-Area Network
A wide-area network is similar to a LAN, except that it operates on a much larger scale. Rather than connecting different devices to one another, a WAN connects various smaller networks into one big one. This is useful to businesses that have multiple locations to manage.

If you want to know more about any of these terms, or the other solutions that we offer, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! Call TaylorWorks to speak to our professionals today at 407-478-6600.