Business continuity planning Contingency planning by an
organization in the event of a natural or man-made disaster to
ensure that the company can continue to do business within an
agreed-upon time period. For IS managers, this includes having
appropriate data center and network backup plans in place to
resume transaction processing and electronic communication
within a specified time period.
Business intelligence The focus of newer fourth generation
languages; these software tools are designed to answer queries
relating to the business by analyzing data (often massive quanti-
ties of data), thereby providing “intelligence” to the business that
will help it become more competitive.
Business intelligence system SeeCompetitive intelligence
system.
Business process The chain of activities required to achieve an
outcome such as order fulfillment or materials acquisition.
Business process reengineering (BPR) The redesign of
business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in efficiency
and responsiveness by taking advantage of information technology.
Also referred to as business process redesign.
Byte A memory cell that can store only one character of data.
See alsoMemory.
Cable modem A high-speed, or broadband, connection to the
Internet using the coaxial cables already used by television.
Cable television companies had to reengineer the cable television
system to permit the two-way data flow required for Internet con-
nections. Cable modem speeds may be degraded as the number of
users goes up because users are sharing the bandwidth of the
coaxial cable.
CAD SeeComputer-aided design.
CAE SeeComputer-aided engineering.
CAM SeeComputer-aided manufacturing.
Capability Maturity Model (CMM) A five-stage model of
software development and IT project management processes that
are designed to increase software quality and decrease development
costs due to standard, repeatable approaches across multiple proj-
ects within the same organization. The model was developed by the
Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
A level-5 CMM certification is required for some contractors to bid
on software development projects for high-risk, government-
sponsored projects, such as for custom development projects for the
U.S. Department of Defense.
CAPP SeeComputer-aided process planning.
CASE SeeComputer-aided software engineering.
CD An abbreviation for compact disk, a commonly used
optical storage device with a standard capacity of 700 megabytes
of data or 80 minutes of audio recording. See alsoDVD, Optical
disk.
Cellular telephone A telephone instrument that can be
installed in a car or carried in a pocket or briefcase; this instru-
ment can be used anywhere as long as it is within the 8 to 10 mile
range of a cellular switching station.
Center of excellence An organizational structure in which
employees, who are experts in a technology, process, or both,
provide internal consulting and transfer their knowledge to others
in the same organization. For example, a multinational firm might
establish a SAP center of excellence in order to leverage what has
been learned about how best to configure and implement various
SAP software modules.
Central processing unit (CPU) The name given to the
combination of the control unit, which controls all other
components of a computer, and the arithmetic/logical unit, in
which computations and logical comparisons are carried out; also
referred to as the processor.
Change management A term that refers to activities directed at
successfully managing changes in the business that involve major
changes in the ways that employees do their work (e.g., changes
that involve new business processes and data transactions that
impact employees in different work groups).
Chargeback system The process that is used to internally
charge client units for IS services provided. These internal
charges might be established to recover costs or might represent
market prices for the IS service.
Check digit One or more digits appended to a critical value for
validation purposes; the check digit has some mathematical
relationship to the other digits in the number.
Chief information officer (CIO) The executive leader
responsible for information technology strategy, policy, and serv-
ice delivery. The corporate CIO typically reports to a CEO or
President, COO, or CFO of the company. In addition to a corpo-
rate-level CIO, some organizations might have decentralized
major IS responsibilities to leaders in the organization’s business
divisions. See alsoChief technology officer.
Chief technology officer (CTO) A senior manager responsible
for identifying and recommending ways in which information
technology (IT) can be applied in an organization. The title is
most often used in IT industry companies, including small start-
ups, in which the CTO also serves in a CIO role. See alsoChief
information officer.
CIM SeeComputer-integrated manufacturing.
CIO SeeChief information officer.
CISO SeeChief information security officer.
Click-and-mortar A term that emerged in the late 1990s to
refer to traditional (brick-and-mortar) companies that had also
implemented e-business strategies; the term is synonymous with
“bricks-and-clicks.”
Client/server system A particular type of distributed system in
which the processing power is distributed between a central
server computer, such as a midrange system, and a number of
client computers, which are usually desktop microcomputers.
The split in responsibilities between the server and the client
varies considerably between applications, but the client often
handles data entry and the immediate output, while the server
maintains the larger database against which the new data are
processed.See alsoDistributed systems.670 Glossary