Exam 2 Key Terms Flashcards
Network Effects definition
Also known as Metcalfe’s Law, or network externalities. When the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands.
What are Complementary Benefits?
Products or services that add additional value to the primary product or service that makes up a network
What is TCO [Total Cost Of Ownership]
An economic measure of the full cost of owning a product (typically computing hardware and/or software). TCO includes direct costs such as purchase price, plus indirect costs such as training, support, and maintenance.
What are Platforms?
Products and services that allow for the development and integration of software products and other complementary goods. Windows, the iPhone, the Wii, and the standards that allow users to create Facebook apps are all platforms.
What is staying power?
The long-term viability of a product or service.
What are switching costs?
The cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another. It can involve actual money spent (e.g., buying a new product) as well as investments in time, any data loss, and so forth.
Cross-Side Exchange Benefit
When an increase in the number of users on one side of the market (console owners, for example) creates a rise in the other side (software developers).
One-Sided Market
A market that derives most of its value from a single class of users (e.g., instant messaging).
Same-Side Exchange Benefits
Benefits derived by interaction among members of a single class of participant (e.g., the exchange value when increasing numbers of IM users gain the ability to message each other).
Two-Sided Market
Network markets comprised of two distinct categories of participant, both of which that are needed to deliver value for the network to work (e.g., video game console owners and developers of video games).
Monopoly
A market where there are many buyers but only one dominant seller
Oligopoly
A market dominated by a small number of powerful sellers.
Technological Leapfrogging
Competing by offering a new technology that is so superior to existing offerings that the value overcomes the total resistance that older technologies might enjoy via exchange, switching cost, and complementary benefits.
The Osborne Effect
When a firm preannounces a forthcoming product or service and experiences a sharp and detrimental drop in sales of current offerings as users wait for the new item.
Adaptor
A product that allows a firm to tap into the complementary products, data, or user base of another product or service.
Backward Compatibility
The ability to take advantage of complementary products developed for a prior generation of technology.
Blue Ocean Strategy
An approach where firms seek to create and compete in uncontested “blue ocean” market spaces, rather than competing in spaces and ways that have attracted many, similar rivals.
Congestion Effects
When increasing numbers of users lower the value of a product or service.
Convergence
When two or more markets, once considered distinctly separate, begin to offer features and capabilities. As an example: the markets for mobile phones and media players are converging.
Envelopment
When one market attempts to conquer a new market by making it a subset, component, or feature of its primary offering.
Web 2.0
A term broadly referring to Internet services that foster collaboration and information sharing; characteristics that distinctly set “Web 2.0” efforts apart from the static, transaction-oriented Web sites of “Web 1.0.” The term is often applied to Web sites and Internet services that foster social media or other sorts of peer production.
Collaborative Consumption
When participants share access to products and services rather than having ownership. Shared resources can be owned by a central service provider (e.g., ZipCar) or provided by a community that pools available resources (e.g., Airbnb, Uber).
Peer Production
When users collaboratively work to create content, products, and services. Includes social media sites, open source software, and peer-produced services, such as Skype and BitTorrent, where the participation of users provides the infrastructure and computational resources that enable the service.
Blogs
Online journal entries, usually made in a reverse chronological order. Blogs typically provide comment mechanisms where users can post feedback for authors and other readers.
Earned Media
Promotions that are not paid for or owned but rather grow organically from customer efforts or other favorable publicity. Social media, word of mouth, and unsolicited positive press mentions are all examples of earned media.
Inbound Marketing
Leveraging online channels to draw consumers to the firm with compelling content rather than conventional forms of promotion such as advertising, e-mail marketing, traditional mailings, and sales calls.
Owned Media
Communication channels that an organization controls. These can include firm-run blogs, Web sites, apps, and organization accounts on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Paid Media
Refers to efforts where an organization pays to leverage a channel or promote a message. Paid media efforts include things such as advertisement and sponsorships.
Trackbacks
Links in a blog post that refer readers back to cited sources. Trackbacks allow a blogger to see which and how many other bloggers are referring to their content. A “trackback” field is supported by most blog software and while it’s not required to enter a trackback when citing another post, it’s considered good “netiquette” to do so.
Blog Rolls
A list of a blogger’s favorite blogs. While not all blogs include blog rolls, those that do are often displayed on the right or left column of a blog’s main page.
Long Tail
refers to an extremely large selection of content or products. The long tail is a phenomenon whereby firms can make money by offering a near-limitless selection.
Griefers
Internet vandal and mischief maker; also sometimes referred to as a troll.
Neutral Point Of View (NPOV)
An editorial style that is free of bias and opinion. Wikipedia norms dictate that all articles must be written in NPOV.
Roll Back
The ability to revert a wiki page to a prior version. This is useful for restoring earlier work in the event of a posting error, inaccuracy, or vandalism.
What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)
A phrase used to describe graphical editing tools, such as those found in a wiki, page layout program, or other design tool.
Wiki
A Web site that can be modified by anyone, from directly within a Web browser (provided that user is granted edit access).
Wikimasters
Individuals often employed by organizations to review community content in order to delete excessive posts, move commentary to the best location, and edit as necessary.
Social Networks
An online community that allows users to establish a personal profile and communicate with others. Large public social networks include MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google’s Orkut.
Viral
In this context, information or applications that spread rapidly between users.
API (Application Programming Interface)
Programming hooks, or guidelines, published by firms that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task such as send or receive data. For example, Amazon.com provides APIs to let developers write their own applications and Web sites that can send the firm orders.
Free Rider Problem
When others take advantage of a user or service without providing any sort of reciprocal benefit.
Hash Tags
A method for organizing tweets where keywords are preceded by the # character.
Microblogging
A type of short-message blogging, often made via mobile device. Microblogs are designed to provide rapid notification to their readership (e.g., a news flash, an update on one’s activities), rather than detailed or in-depth comments. Twitter is the most popular microblogging service.
Tweets
A Twitter post, limited to 140 characters.
Prediction Market
Polling a diverse crowd and aggregating opinions in order to form a forecast of an eventual outcome.
Wisdom Of Crowds
The idea that a group of individuals (the crowd), often consisting of untrained amateurs, will collectively have more insight than a single or small group of trained professionals.
Crowdsourcing
The act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined generally large group of people in the form of an open call.
SMART
The social media awareness and response team. A group tasked with creating policies and providing support, training, guidance, and development expertise for and monitoring of a firm’s social media efforts.
Astroturfing
Engineering the posting of positive comments and reviews of a firm’s product and services (or negative ones of a firm’s competitors). Many ratings sites will penalize firms that offer incentives for positive feedback posts.
Embassy
In the context of social media, an established online presence where customers can reach and interact with the firm. An effective embassy approach uses a consistent firm name in all its social media properties.
Online Reputation Management
The process of tracking and responding to online mentions of a product, organization, or individual. Services supporting online reputation management range from free Google Alerts to more sophisticated services that blend computer-based and human monitoring of multiple media channel
Sock Puppets
A fake online persona created to promote a particular point of view, often in praise of a firm, product, or individual. Be aware that the use of undisclosed relationships in endorsements is a violation of U.S. Federal Trade Commission rules.
Short
Short selling is an attempt to profit from a falling stock price. Short sellers sell shares they don’t own with an obligation of later repayment. They do so in the hope that the price of sold shares will fall. They then repay share debt with shares purchased at a lower price and pocket the difference (spread) between initial share price and repayment price.
Cloud
A collection of resources available for access over the Internet.
Content Delivery Networks (CDN)
Systems distributed throughout the Internet (or other network) that help to improve the delivery (and hence loading) speeds of Web pages and other media, typically by spreading access across multiple sites located closer to users. Akamai is the largest CDN, helping firms like CNN and MTV quickly deliver photos, video, and other media worldwide.
Dark Web
Internet content that can’t be indexed by Google and other search engines.
Network Effect
Also known as Metcalfe’s Law, or network externalities. When the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands.
Open Source Software (OSS)
Software that is free and whose code can be accessed and potentially modified by anyone.
Social Graph
The global mapping of users and organizations and how they are connected.
Switching Costs
The cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another. It can involve actual money spent (e.g., buying a new product) as well as investments in time, any data loss, and so forth.
Content Adjacency
Concern that an advertisement will run near offensive material, embarrassing an advertiser and/or degrading their products or brands.
Localization
Adapting products and services for different languages and regional differences.
Walled Garden
A closed network or single set of services controlled by one dominant firm
Applications
Includes desktop applications, enterprise software, utilities, and other programs that perform specific tasks for users and organizations.
Computing Hardware
The physical components of information technology, which can include the computer itself plus peripherals such as storage devices, input devices like the mouse and keyboard, output devices like monitors and printers, networking equipment, and so on.
Operating System
The software that controls the computer hardware and establishes standards for developing and executing applications.
Software
A computer program or a collection of programs. It is a precise set of instructions that tells hardware what to do.
Embedded Systems
Special-purpose software designed and included inside physical products (often on firmware). Embedded systems help make devices “smarter,” sharing usage information, helping diagnose problems, indicating maintenance schedules, providing alerts, or enabling devices to take orders from other systems.
Firmware
Software stored on nonvolatile memory chips (as opposed to being stored on devices such as hard drives or removable discs). Despite the seemingly permanent nature of firmware, many products allow for firmware to be upgraded online or by connecting to another device.
User Interface (UI)
The mechanism through which users interact with a computing device. The UI includes elements of the graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced “gooey”), such as windows, scroll bars, buttons, menus, and dialogue boxes; and can also include other forms of interaction, such as touch screens, motion sensing controllers, or tactile devices used by the visually impaired.
Desktop Software
Applications installed on a personal computer, typically supporting tasks performed by a single user.
Enterprise Software
Applications that address the needs of multiple users throughout an organization or work group.
Business Intelligence (BI) Systems
Systems that use data created by other systems to provide reporting and analysis for organizational decision making.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Systems used to support customer-related sales and marketing activities.
Database Management System (DBMS)
Sometimes referred to as database software; software for creating, maintaining, and manipulating data.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
A software package that integrates the many functions (accounting, finance, inventory management, human resources, etc.) of a business.
Platform
Products and services that allow for the development and integration of software products and other complementary goods. Windows, iOS, Android, and the standards that allow users to create Facebook apps are all platforms.
Software Package
A software product offered commercially by a third party.
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Systems that can help a firm manage aspects of its value chain, from the flow of raw materials into the firm, through delivery of finished products and services at the point-of-consumption.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
A set of standards for exchanging messages containing formatted data between computer applications.
Web Services
Small pieces of code that are accessed via the application server which permit interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.
Application Server
Software that houses and serves business logic for use (and reuse) by multiple applications.
Client
A software program that makes requests of a server program.
Distributed Computing
A form of computing where systems in different locations communicate and collaborate to complete a task.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
A tagging language that can be used to identify data fields made available for use by other applications. Most APIs and Web services send messages where the data exchanged is wrapped in identifying XML tags.
Server
A program that fulfills the requests of a client.
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
A robust set of Web services built around an organizations processes and procedures.
Java
A programming language, initially developed by Sun Microsystems, designed to provide true platform independence (“write once, run anywhere”) for application developers. In most cases, Java apps are developed to be executed by a Java Virtual Machine—an interpreting layer that translates code as it executes, into the format required by the operating system and microprocessor. Without Java, application developers have to write and compile software to execute natively by a specific operating system / microprocessor combination (e.g., Windows/Intel, Linux PowerPC, Mac/Intel, Linux/Intel).
Scripting Languages
Programming tool that executes within an application. Scripting languages are interpreted within their applications, rather than compiled to run directly by a microprocessor.
Compile
Step in which program code written in a language that humans can more easily understand, is then converted into a form (expressed in patterns of ones and zeros) that can be understood and executed by a microprocessor. Programmers using conventional programming languages must compile their software before making it available for execution.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
An application that includes an editor (a sort of programmer’s word processor), debugger, and compiler, among other tools.
Interpreted
Languages where each line of written code is converted (by a software program, called an “interpreter”) for execution at run-time. Most scripting languages are interpreted languages. Many programmers also write Java applications to be interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine.
Programming Language
Provides the standards, syntax, statements, and instructions for writing computer software.
Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
A process-improvement approach (useful for but not limited to software engineering projects) that can assist in assessing the maturity, quality, and development of certain organizational business processes, and suggest steps for their improvement.
Compliance
Ensuring that an organization’s systems operate within required legal constraints, and industry and organizational obligations
Total Cost Of Ownership (TCO)
All of the costs associated with the design, development, testing, implementation, documentation, training and maintenance of a software system.
Open Source Software (OSS)
Software that is free and where anyone can look at and potentially modify the code
Cloud Computing
Replacing computing resources—either an organization’s or individual’s hardware or software—with services provided over the Internet.
Marginal Cost
The cost of producing one more unit of a product.
Software As A Service (SaaS)
A form of cloud computing where a firm subscribes to a third-party software and receives a service that is delivered online.
Virtualization
A type of software that allows a single computer (or cluster of connected computers) to function as if it were several different computers, each running its own operating system and software. Virtualization software underpins most cloud computing efforts, and can make computing more efficient, cost-effective, and scalable.
LAMP
An acronym standing for Linux, the Apache Web server software, the MySQL database, and any of several programming languages that start with P (e.g., Perl, Python, or PHP).
Linux
An open source software operating system.
N00b
Written with two zeros, pronounced “newb.” Geek-slang (leet speak) derogatory term for an uninformed or unskilled person.
Scalability
Ability to either handle increasing workloads or to be easily expanded to manage workload increases. In a software context, systems that aren’t scalable often require significant rewrites or the purchase or development of entirely new systems.
Security-Focused
Also known as “hardened.” Term used to describe technology products that contain particularly strong security features.
Total Cost Of Ownership (TCO)
All of the costs associated with the design, development, testing, implementation, documentation, training and maintenance of a software system
Private Clouds
Pools of computing resources that reside inside an organization and that can be served up for specific tasks as need arrives.
Utility Computing
A form of cloud computing where a firm develops its own software, and then runs it over the Internet on a service provider’s computers.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A negotiated agreement between the customer and the vendor. The SLA may specify the levels of availability, serviceability, performance, operation, or other commitment requirements.
Vertical Niches
Sometimes referred to as vertical markets. Products and services designed to target a specific industry (e.g., pharmaceutical, legal, apparel retail).
Black Swans
Unpredicted, but highly impactful events. Scalable computing resources can help a firm deal with spiking impact from Black Swan events. The phrase entered the managerial lexicon from the 2007 book of the same name by Nassim Taleb.
Cloudbursting
Describes the use of cloud computing to provide excess capacity during periods of spiking demand. Cloudbursting is a scalability solution that is usually provided as an overflow service, kicking in as needed.
Infrastructure As A Service (IaaS)
Where cloud providers offer services that include running the remote hardware, storage, and networking (i.e., the infrastructure), but client firms can choose software used (which may include operating systems, programming languages, databases, and other software packages). In this scenario the cloud firm usually manages the infrastructure (keeping the hardware and networking running), while the client has control over most other things (operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and perhaps even security and networking features like firewalls and security systems).
Platform As A Service (PaaS)
Where cloud providers offer services that include the hardware, operating system, development tools, testing and hosting (i.e., the platform) that its customers use to build their own applications on the provider’s infrastructure. In this scenario the cloud firm usually manages the platform (hosting, hardware, and supporting software), while the client has control over the creation and deployment of their application.
Server Farm
A massive network of computer servers running software to coordinate their collective use. Server farms provide the infrastructure backbone to SaaS and hardware cloud efforts, as well as many large-scale Internet services.
Virtual Desktops
When a firm runs an instance of a PC’s software on another machine and simply delivers the image of what’s executing to the remote device. Using virtualization, a single server can run dozens of PCs, simplifying backup, upgrade, security, and administration.
Analytics
A term describing the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions.
Big Data
Big data is a general term used to describe the massive amount of data available to today’s managers. Big data are often unstructured and are too big and costly to easily work through use of conventional databases, but new tools are making these massive datasets available for analysis and insight
Business Intelligence (BI)
A term combining aspects of reporting, data exploration and ad hoc queries, and sophisticated data modeling and analysis.
Data
Raw facts and figures.
Structured Query Language (SQL)
A language used to create and manipulate databases.
Column Or Field
A column in a database table. Columns represent each category of data contained in a record (e.g., first name, last name, ID number, date of birth).
Database Administrator (DBA)
Job title focused on directing, performing, or overseeing activities associated with a database or set of databases. These may include (but not necessarily be limited to): database design, creation, implementation, maintenance, backup and recovery, policy setting and enforcement, and security.
Database
A single table or a collection of related tables
Information
Data presented in a context so that it can answer a question or support decision making.
Knowledge
Insight derived from experience and expertise.
Relational Databases
The most common standard for expressing databases, whereby tables (files) are related based on common keys.
Row Or Record
A row in a database table. Records represent a single instance of whatever the table keeps track of (e.g., student, faculty, course title).
Table Or File
A list of data, arranged in columns (fields) and rows (records).
Artificial Intelligence
Computer software that seeks to reproduce or mimic (perhaps with improvements) human thought, decision making, or brain functions.
Data Aggregators
Firms that collect and resell data.
Loyalty Card
Systems that provide rewards and usage incentives, typically in exchange for a method that provides a more detailed tracking and recording of customer activity. In addition to enhancing data collection, loyalty cards can represent a significant switching cost.
Transaction
Some kind of business exchange.
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
Systems that record a transaction (some form of business-related exchange), such as a cash register sale, ATM withdrawal, or product return.
Legacy Systems
Older information systems that are often incompatible with other systems, technologies, and ways of conducting business. Incompatible legacy systems can be a major roadblock to turning data into information, and they can inhibit firm agility, holding back operational and strategic initiatives.
E-Discovery
The process of identifying and retrieving relevant electronic information to support litigation efforts.
Data Mart
A database or databases focused on addressing the concerns of a specific problem (e.g., increasing customer retention, improving product quality) or business unit (e.g., marketing, engineering).
Data Warehouse
A set of databases designed to support decision making in an organization.
Canned Reports
Reports that provide regular summaries of information in a predetermined format.
Dashboards
A heads-up display of critical indicators that allow managers to get a graphical glance at key performance metrics
Data Mining
The process of using computers to identify hidden patterns in, and to build models from, large data sets.
Expert Systems
AI systems that leverage rules or examples to perform a task in a way that mimics applied human expertise.
Genetic Algorithms
Model building techniques where computers examine many potential solutions to a problem, iteratively modifying (mutating) various mathematical models, and comparing the mutated models to search for a best alternative.
Ad Hoc Reporting Tools
Tools that put users in control so that they can create custom reports on an as-needed basis by selecting fields, ranges, summary conditions, and other parameters.
Data Cube
A special database used to store data in OLAP reporting.
Neural Networks
An AI system that examines data and hunts down and exposes patterns, in order to build models to exploit findings.
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)
A method of querying and reporting that takes data from standard relational databases, calculates and summarizes the data, and then stores the data in a special database called a data cube.
Over-Engineer
Build a model with so many variables that the solution arrived at might only work on the subset of data you’ve used to create it.
Inventory Turnover Ratio
The ratio of a company’s annual sales to its inventory.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The present value of the likely future income stream generated by an individual purchaser.
Opt-In
Program (typically a marketing effort) that requires customer consent. This program is contrasted with opt-out programs, which enroll all customers by default.
Taken Private
The process by which a publicly held company has its outstanding shares purchased by an individual or by a small group of individuals who wish to obtain complete ownership and control.
