Software applications

Definitions related to software applications, including tech terms about software programs for vertical industries and words and phrases about software development, use and management.

12-factor app - Twelve-factor app is a methodology for building distributed applications that run in the cloud and are delivered as a service.
accountability - Accountability is an assurance that an individual or an organization is evaluated on its performance or behavior related to something for which it is responsible.
accountable care organization (ACO) - An accountable care organization (ACO) is an association of hospitals, healthcare providers and insurers in which all parties voluntarily assume financial and medical responsibility for Medicare patients.
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is a server role in Active Directory that allows admins to manage and store information about resources from a network, as well as application data, in a distributed database.
advanced planning and scheduling (APS) - Advanced planning and scheduling (APS) is a type of system that tracks costs based on the activities that are responsible for driving costs in the production of manufactured goods.
adware - Adware is any software application in which an advertising banner or other advertising material displays or downloads while a program is running.
AIDA marketing model - The AIDA marketing model is a framework that describes a buyer's journey through four key stages: Attention, Interest, Decision and Action.
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) - AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a technique aimed at creating better and faster interactive web apps by combining several programming tools including JavaScript, dynamic HTML (DHTML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
alert fatigue - Alert fatigue, also called alarm fatigue, is an instance where an overwhelming number of alerts causes an individual to become desensitized to them.
Allscripts - Allscripts is a vendor of electronic health record systems for physician practices, hospitals and healthcare systems.
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web-based service that enables businesses to run application programs in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) - Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service.
ambulatory medical record (AMR) - An ambulatory medical record (AMR) is an electronically stored file of a patient’s outpatient medical records, which includes all surgeries and care that do not involve being admitted to a hospital.
Amdahl's law - Amdahl's law -- also known as Amdahl's argument -- is an intuitive observation and an associated formula.
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) - The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is a professional organization that promotes the business and clinical uses of electronic and paper-based medical information.
American Medical Association (AMA) - The American Medical Association (AMA) is a physician group that works for healthcare reform and publishes a collection of medical journals.
Anaplan - Anaplan is a web-based enterprise platform for business planning.
Android OS - Android OS is a Linux-based mobile operating system that primarily runs on smartphones and tablets.
anti-money laundering software (AML) - Anti-laundering software is a type of computer program used by financial institutions to analyze customer data and detect suspicious transactions.
anti-spyware software - Anti-spyware software is a type of program designed to prevent and detect unwanted spyware program installations and to remove those programs if installed.
API gateway (application programming interface gateway) - An API gateway is a software pattern that sits in front of an application programming interface (API) or group of microservices to facilitate requests and delivery of data and services.
API key - An API key is a unique identifier used to connect to, or perform, an API call.
app - 'App' is an abbreviated form of the word 'application.
app wrapping (application wrapping) - App wrapping (application wrapping) is applying a management layer to an existing mobile app.
Apple AirDrop - Apple AirDrop is a native feature in iOS and macOS that lets users share data from one device to another on the same Wi-Fi network.
Apple Automated Device Enrollment - The Apple Automated Device Enrollment program, formerly known as the Device Enrollment Program (DEP), is a device enrollment service that's included with Apple Business Manager (ABM) and Apple School Manager (ASM).
applet - An applet is a small computer program that performs a specific task.
applicant tracking system (ATS) - An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that manages the recruiting and hiring process, including job postings and job applications.
application architecture - An application architecture is a structural map of how a software application is assembled and how applications interact with each other to meet business or user requirements.
application lifecycle management (ALM) - Application lifecycle management (ALM) is an integrated system of people, tools and processes that supervise a software application from its initial planning and development, through testing and maintenance, and into decommissioning and retirement.
application manager (app manager) - An application manager (app manager) is programming for overseeing the installation, patching and updating and perhaps access of software applications.
application portfolio management (APM) - Application portfolio management (APM) is a framework for managing enterprise IT software applications and software-based services.
application sandboxing - Application sandboxing, also called application containerization, is an approach to software development and management and mobile application management (MAM) that limits the environments in which certain code can execute.
application service provider (ASP) - An application service provider (ASP) is a company that offers individuals or enterprises access to applications and related services over the internet.
application streaming - Application streaming is an on-demand software delivery model that takes advantage of the fact that most applications require only a small fraction of their total program code to run.
asset turnover ratio - The asset turnover ratio is a measurement that shows how efficiently a company is using its owned resources to generate revenue or sales.
athenahealth Inc. - athenahealth Inc.
augmented reality (AR) - Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user's environment in real time.
auto attendant (automated attendant) - An automated attendant (AA) is a telephony system that transfers incoming calls to various extensions as specified by callers, without the intervention of a human operator.
autocorrect - Autocorrect is a word processing feature that identifies misspelled words, and uses algorithms to identify the words most likely to have been intended, and edits the text accordingly.
autofill - Autofill, also called autocomplete, is a software feature that automatically inserts previously entered personal information into web form fields for the user's convenience.
automated testing - Automated testing is a software testing technique that automates the process of validating the functionality of software and ensures it meets requirements before being released into production.
Bar Coded Medication Administration (BCMA) - Bar Coded Medication Administration (BCMA) is a hospital inventory control system that uses barcodes in the distribution of prescription medications with the goal of ensuring the patient is receiving the correct medication.
batch file - A batch file is a script file that stores commands to be executed in a serial order.
beta test - In software development, a beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries out the product.
Betterworks - Betterworks is performance management software that helps workforces and organizations to improve manager effectiveness and employee performance, strengthening manager-employee relationships.
biomedical informatics - Biomedical informatics is the branch of health informatics that uses data to help clinicians, researchers and scientists improve human health and provide healthcare.
Bourne shell - The Bourne shell is the original Unix shell -- command execution program, often called a command interpreter -- that was developed in 1979 at what at the time was Bell Labs.
BSA | The Software Alliance - BSA | The Software Alliance is an advocate for public policies that foster technology innovation and drive economic growth.
business analytics - Business analytics (BA) is a set of disciplines and technologies for solving business problems using data analysis, statistical models and other quantitative methods.
business logic - In programming, business logic is the part of a software program responsible for implementing the business rules that define how data should be created, modified, transformed, communicated and in other ways managed and controlled.
business process automation (BPA) - Business process automation (BPA) is the use of advanced technology to complete business processes with minimal human intervention.
cache thrash - Cache thrash is an issue caused by an ongoing computer activity that fails to progress due to excessive use of resources or conflicts in the caching system.
CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) - CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) is a virtual reality (VR) environment consisting of a cube-shaped VR room or a room-scale area in which the walls, floors and ceilings are projection screens.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - Promoting a healthy general public and sharing data about chronic diseases are main goals of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the wing of the U.
Cerner Corp. - Cerner Corp.
challenge-response authentication - In computer security, challenge-response authentication is a set of protocols used to protect digital assets and services from unauthorized users, programs or activities.
change control - Change control includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system.
channel partner portal - A channel partner portal is a web-based application that provides a vendor's established partners (usually distributors, resellers, service providers or other strategic partners) with access to deal registration, marketing resources, pricing and sales information for products and services, as well as technical details and support that are unavailable to other end users.
Chaos Monkey - Chaos Monkey is a software tool Netflix engineers developed to test the resiliency and recoverability of their Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure.
charge-coupled device - A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a light-sensitive integrated circuit that captures images by converting photons to electrons.
Chief Health Informatics Officer (CHIO) - The Chief Health Informatics Officer (CHIO) is a strategic, executive-level position responsible for developing, managing and applying health IT, health informatics and information management strategies.
Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) - A Chief Medical Information Officer, or CMIO, essentially serves as the bridge between medical and IT departments at a healthcare organization.
CICS (Customer Information Control System) - CICS (Customer Information Control System) is middleware that sits between the z/OS IBM mainframe operating system and business applications.
citizen development - Citizen development is a business process that encourages non-IT-trained employees to become software developers, using IT-sanctioned low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms to create business applications.
Citrix XenApp - Citrix XenApp, now called Citrix Virtual Apps, was a product that extends Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as Terminal Services) desktop sessions and applications to users through the Citrix HDX protocol.
clinical data analyst - A clinical data analyst -- also referred to as a 'healthcare data analyst' -- is a healthcare information professional who verifies the validity of scientific experiments and data gathered from research.
clinical decision support system (CDSS) - A clinical decision support system (CDSS) is an application that analyzes data to help healthcare providers make decisions and improve patient care.
Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) - Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) is a markup standard created by Health Level 7 International (HL7) that defines the structure of discharge summaries, progress notes and other medical records.
clinical documentation - Clinical documentation (CD) is the creation of a digital or analog record detailing a medical treatment, medical trial or clinical test.
clinical informatics - Clinical informatics, also known as health informatics, is the study of how technology and data analytics can be used to improve patient care plans.
clinical trial - A clinical trial, also known as a clinical research study, is a protocol to evaluate the effects and efficacy of experimental medical treatments or behavioral interventions on health outcomes.
clipboard - A clipboard is a feature in an operating system or application that temporarily stores data copied or cut from a document or other location, allowing the user to transfer or duplicate it elsewhere.
cloud bursting - Cloud bursting is an application deployment technique in which an application runs in a private cloud or data center and bursts into a public cloud when the demand for computing capacity spikes.
cognitive modeling - Cognitive modeling is an area of computer science that deals with simulating human problem-solving and mental processing in a computerized model.
cold backup (offline backup) - A cold backup is a backup of an offline database.
compatibility test - A compatibility test is an assessment used to ensure a software application is properly working across different browsers, databases, operating systems (OS), mobile devices, networks and hardware.
compliance - Compliance is the state of being in accordance with established guidelines or specifications, or the process of becoming so.
computer assisted coding system (CACS) - A computer assisted coding system (CACS) is medical software that reviews healthcare forms, including electronic health records, and assigns appropriate medical codes to its findings.
computer-generated imagery (CGI) - Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the creation of still or animated visual content using imaging software.
computerized physician order entry (CPOE) - Computerized physician order entry (CPOE), also known as computerized provider order entry or computerized practitioner order entry, refers to the process of a medical professional entering and sending medication orders and treatment instructions electronically via a computer application instead of on paper charts.
content aggregator - A content aggregator is an individual, organization or tool that gathers web content and applications from different online sources for reuse.
content analytics - Content analytics, also known as content intelligence, is the process of measuring and analyzing how users interact and engage with digital content.
content delivery (content distribution, content distribution delivery, or content caching) - On the Internet, content delivery (sometimes called content distribution, content distribution delivery, or content caching) is the service of copying the pages of a Web site to geographically dispersed servers and, when a page is requested, dynamically identifying and serving page content from the closest server to the user, enabling faster delivery.
content filtering - Content filtering is a process involving the use of software or hardware to screen and/or restrict access to objectionable email, webpages, executables and other suspicious items.
content management (CM) - Content management (CM) is the process for collection, delivery, retrieval, governance and overall management of information in any format.
Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) - Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) is a specification for allowing users to share and access data across multiple content management (ECM) systems.
content marketing platform (CMP) - A content marketing platform (CMP) is a software solution that helps content marketing teams plan, envision, collaborate and create materials that successfully raise brand awareness, improve lead generation and increase revenue.
content personalization - Content personalization is a branding and marketing strategy in which webpages, email and other forms of content are tailored to match the characteristics, preferences or behaviors of individual users.
content sprawl - Content sprawl is a condition of an organization's content assets in which proliferation and unmanaged growth have led to an unwieldy mass that is difficult to manage.
context menu (right-click menu) - A context menu is a pop-up menu that provides shortcuts for actions the software developer anticipates the user might want to take.
copypasta - Copypasta is a chunk of text that is repeatedly copied and pasted until it proliferates across the Web, gaining meme status.
core banking system - A core banking system is the software that banks use to manage their most critical processes, such as customer accounts, transactions and risk management.
COSO cube - The COSO cube is a diagram that shows the relationship among all parts of an internal control system.
COTS, MOTS, GOTS and NOTS - COTS, MOTS, GOTS and NOTS are abbreviations that describe prepackaged software or -- less commonly -- hardware purchase alternatives.
CRM (customer relationship management) - Customer relationship management (CRM) is the combination of practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
CRM (customer relationship management) analytics - CRM (customer relationship management) analytics comprises all of the programming that analyzes data about customers and presents it to an organization to help facilitate and streamline better business decisions.
cross-platform mobile development - Cross-platform mobile development is an approach to developing software applications that are compatible with multiple mobile operating systems (OSes) or platforms.
cross-site scripting (XSS) - Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of injection attack in which a threat actor inserts data, such as a malicious script, into content from otherwise trusted websites.