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B1
A class of computer system security, as defined in the U.S. government's Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC). B1 systems offer a higher degree of security than C2 systems by enforcing the concept of information sensitivity classifications with corresponding user clearance requirements. See TCSEC.
B2B (business-to-business)
A form of e-commerce conducted among businesses, typically because of formal, contractual arrangements. B2B functions include:
Sophisticated Web authorization and control for delivery of sensitive price, contract and content information for each partner
Catalogs that provide custom views based on access controls and parametric searches
Order entry functions such as standardized "ship to" locations, dynamic order recalculation and payment options
B2C (business-to-consumer)
A form of e-commerce conducted between businesses and consumers. B2C commerce includes both formal relationships (e.g., customers with subscription-based services or content) and ad hoc relationships (formed in real time to enable a new user to buy, sell or access information).
B2E (business-to-employee)
The use and leverage of e-business approaches and Internet technologies to deliver a comprehensive set of services to an enterprise's employees and their managers. B2E is the automated delivery of enterprise relationship management (ERM), but goes beyond ERM's support of human capital management (HCM) to include workforce management and workforce optimization. The full term is sometimes presented as "business-to-enterprise." See ERM and HCM.
B2G (business-to-government)
E-commerce between public- and private-sector enterprises. Government-to-business (G2B) is the more common term used to describe these relationships. See G2B.
backbone
A high-speed line or series of lines that forms the fastest (measured in bandwidth) path through a network.
backbone network
A high-speed transmission facility, or an arrangement of such facilities, designed to interconnect lower-speed distribution channels or clusters of dispersed user devices.
backbone router
A router designed to be used to construct backbone networks using leased lines. Backbone routers typically do not have any built-in digital dial-up access wide-area network interfaces.
back end
The server side of a client/server system, as distinguished to the front end (client side). See front end.
background task
A task performed by a system "in the background" while a primary application is running.
backhaul
The terrestrial link between an earth station and a switching or data center.
back office
A general term for the category of applications that support non-customer-facing, core enterprise functions. Examples include enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM) and human-resource systems. See ERP, SCM and front office.
backplane
The physical connection between the interface cards and the data and power distribution buses in a piece of computer hardware (such as a server) or a network device (such as a router, hub or switch).
backup server
A software or hardware system that copies or "shadows" the contents of a server, providing redundancy.
backward explicit congestion notification (see BECN)
balanced scorecard
A measurement-based strategic management system - originated by Robert Kaplan and David Norton - that aligns business activities and strategy, and monitors performance in meeting strategic goals over time. Many enterprises use the balanced-scorecard approach to manage enterprise performance.
BAM (business activity monitoring)
A Gartner term that defines the concept of providing real-time access to critical business performance indicators to improve the speed and effectiveness of business operations. At its broadest level, BAM is the convergence of operational business intelligence and real-time application integration. Compared with traditional business event monitoring and reporting, BAM requires a higher degree of organizational and architectural planning and investment due to:
Its focus on real-time data, as well as real-time access to data.
The use of information from multiple application systems, and other internal and external sources (unlike traditional monitoring, which uses a single source).
The delivery of information through alerts and graphical displays (dashboards), which are customized and optimized for different users across the enterprise.
See application integration, business intelligence and ZLE.
band
1. A range of frequencies between two defined limits.
2. In wide-area telephone service (WATS), the specific geographical area in which the customer is entitled to call. See WATS.
bandwidth
1. The range of frequencies that can pass over a given transmission channel. The bandwidth determines the rate at which information can be transmitted through the circuit: the greater the bandwidth, the more information that can be sent in a given amount of time. Bandwidth is typically measured in bits per second. Increasing bandwidth potential has become a high priority for network planners due to the growth of multimedia, including videoconferencing, and the increased use of the Internet.
2. The range of frequencies - on either side of the carrier frequency - within which the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a modulated signal is tested. See SNR.
Banking Industry Technology Secretariat (see BITS)
banner
An advertisement that appears on a Web site. The banner ad format combines graphic and textual content to induce the site user to "click through" for further information on an advertised product or service.
BAPI (Biometric Application Programming Interface)
A biometric interface specification developed by I/O Software. In 1998, I/O Software joined the BioAPI Consortium, and its work on BAPI was merged into the BioAPI specification. See BioAPI.
BAPI (Business Application Programming Interface)
A set of documented, server-side interfaces to one or more R/3 processes, from SAP. BAPI packages multiple internal functions to enable programmatic access to such higher-order tasks as checking customer numbers, providing product descriptions, selecting products, creating quotations or creating orders.
baseband
Transmitting a signal in its original, unmodulated form. A baseband signal can be analog (e.g., originating from a telephone) or digital (e.g., originating from a computer).
base station
Within a mobile radio system, a fixed radio station providing communication with mobile stations and, where applicable, with other base stations and the public telephone network.
BASIC (Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
A high-level algebraic programming language developed at Dartmouth College in the 1960s and widely taught to beginning programmers. It is simple to use but lacks speed.
basic input/output system (see BIOS)
basic phone
A voice-centric device designed to provide only voice functions and limited contact management, as distinguished from an enhanced phone or smartphone (see separate entries).
Basic Rate Access (see BRA)
Basic Rate Interface (see BRI)
Basis
SAP's proprietary middleware between the SAP graphical user interface and R/3 application servers. See R/3.
batch processing
The processing of application programs and their data individually, with one batch being completed before the next is started. It is a planned processing procedure typically used for purposes such as preparing payrolls and maintaining inventory records.
baud
A unit of signaling speed. The speed in bauds is the number of discrete changes per second in some aspect of a signal (such as voltage in a wire). Transmission speeds are now more commonly measured bits per second (bps), rather than bauds. The two terms were roughly synonymous until modems began to exceed 2,400 bps, after which they diverged more widely as modem speed increased. Modems now use coding techniques to transmit more than one bit per baud, making their true baud ratings irrelevant.
BBBOnLine
The Better Business Bureau's Internet program. BBBOnLine's Privacy Seal identifies Internet companies that use appropriate processes and operations to protect the confidentiality of consumer information. Companies must reapply for licensing each year; during this process, their operations are re-evaluated to ensure that they meet all requirements for displaying the program emblem.
BBP (Business-to-Business Procurement)
A catalog-based procurement product from SAP.
BBS (bulletin board system)
A network-based system for communicating and sharing information in the form of posted messages, usually on the Web. (The full term is sometimes presented as "bulletin board service.")
bCentral
Microsoft's Web technology for running businesses. bCentral offers tools that include Web sites, business-class e-mail, and sales and customer management applications.
B channel (bearer channel)
One of two 64-kilobit-per-second data channels in the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Basic Rate Interface (see BRI).
BCP (business continuity planning)
A broad approach to planning for the recovery of an enterprise's entire business process in event of a massive disruption caused by catastrophic event (such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack). BCP includes plans for work facilities, telephone service, workstations, servers, applications, network connections and any other resources required for the continuity of business operations - as well as processes for communicating critical information to enterprise personnel, and steps to address their safety and welfare. The term is often used interchangeably with "disaster recovery planning" (DRP); however, the latter term is more commonly associated with IT system recovery alone, without the broader business context. See DRP.
BCV (business continuance volume)
EMC's name for the data volumes created by its Symmetrix TimeFinder feature. BCVs are copies of active data volumes that are separately addressed from the source volume. Incremental updates can be made to the BCV, or the data on the BCV can be copied back to the source disk.
bearer
A communications term meaning "information-bearing." For example, a bearer channel (B channel) is one that bears the actual information (e.g., voice signals or data) being transmitted. See B channel.
bearer channel (see B channel)
bearer service
A network technology or vendor that provides wireless transmission. Examples of bearer service technologies include Mobitex, cellular digital packet data (CDPD), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and general packet radio service (GPRS). The vendors are too numerous to mention, but consist of the world's prominent vendors of GSM, time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), packet radio and paging. See CDPD, GSM, GPRS, TDMA and CDMA.
BECN (backward explicit congestion notification)
Part of the explicit congestion notification (ECN) technique used in frame relay networks. The BECN is a one-bit field containing data sent by a frame relay assembler/disassembler (FRAD) on the receiving end of a transmission backward to the FRAD on the transmitting end. This data alerts the transmitting FRAD that there is congestion on the line, and that network resources are insufficient to support transmission at the current rate. See ECN and FRAD.
Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (see BASIC)
Bell Communications Research (see Bellcore)
Bellcore (Bell Communications Research)
A jointly owned, financed and centrally staffed organization of the regional holding companies formed after the AT&T divestiture in 1984, charged with establishing network standards and interfaces. Bellcore changed its name to Telcordia Technologies in 1999.
Bell operating company (see BOC)
benchmark
A metric used to quantify performance for comparative purposes. See benchmarking.
benchmarking
1. Measuring the performance of hardware components or systems (such as processors or servers) using standard benchmarks maintained by an independent organization, such as the Transaction Processing Performance Council (see TPC).
2. Measuring performance qualities (such as efficiency or spending) of enterprise organizations or processes (such IS) against comparative benchmarks. Such benchmarks can be external (for example, averages of industry peer performance) or internal (for example, measurements of an organization's performance in different time periods, or comparison to other organizations in the same enterprise).
BER (bit error rate)
A measurement of digital transmission quality - the lower the rate, the higher the quality. A minimum BER is often specified in service-level agreements between digital carriers and their customers.
Berkeley Internet Name Domain (see BIND)
Berkeley Software Distribution (see BSD)
best-in-class
The superior product within a category of hardware or software. It does not necessarily mean best product overall, however. For example, the best-in-class product in a low-priced category may be inferior to the best product on the market, which could sell for much more. See best-of-breed.
best-of-breed
A term used to denote applications that offer superior functionality to serve specific functions, as compared those that offer numerous functions bundled within an application suite. Enterprises often purchase software from different vendors to obtain the best-of-breed offering for each application area. For example, enterprises may purchase a sales force automation package from one vendor and a customer service package from another.
best practice
A group of tasks that optimizes the efficiency or effectiveness of the business discipline or process to which it contributes. Best practices are generally adaptable and replicable across similar organizations or enterprises - and sometimes across different functions or industries.
beta test
The stage at which a new product is tested under actual usage conditions prior to commercial release.
BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)
The interdomain routing protocol implemented in Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks. See TCP/IP.
BGP-4 (Border Gateway Protocol-4)
A networking redundancy service based on Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). It enables an enterprise to route Information Protocol (IP) traffic destined for the same IP address via different network connections. In a BGP-4 environment, when a transmission comes from an Internet service provider's network, it will look for the primary router that connects to the enterprise's location. If that router becomes unavailable, the transmission will automatically be redirected to the backup router without interrupting the original transmission. See BGP.
BI (see business intelligence)
BIA (business impact analysis)
An analysis of the costs (financial and nonfinancial) that would be incurred if a system or set of business processes failed to function properly. BIA is a required early step in the business continuity planning (BCP) process. Without this step, it is difficult to balance the cost of business continuity measures against potential losses. See BCP.
BiCMOS (bipolar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
A hybrid semiconductor technology that combines complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and bipolar circuitry. See bipolar and CMOS.
bid
1. A network terminal's attempt to gain control over a line in order to transmit data, usually associated with the contention style of sharing a single line among several terminals.
2. A vendor's proposal to win a contract.
big-endian
A method of storing or transmitting data where the most significant bit or byte is presented first. (The name is an allusion to Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," which contained characters so named because they believed that boiled eggs should be eaten from the "big end" first.) See little-endian.
BiMOS (bipolar metal oxide semiconductor)
A type of bipolar integrated circuit technology. See bipolar.
binary code
Code that uses combinations of two base values (generally represented using the digits "0" and "1") to represent information. For example, the number 17 is represented as "1001" in binary notation.
binary-coded decimal
A numeric notation in which each of decimal digit is represented by a binary numeral. For example, in BCD notation, the number 23 is represented as "0010 0011" (as compared to the representation "10111" in the pure binary numeration system).
binary large object (see BLOB)
BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain)
Open-source software developed at the University of California at Berkeley, used in network domain name servers. See domain name.
bindery
A database used by a network operating system to store internal data such as user or node definitions.
BioAPI
A biometric application programming interface (API) specification from the BioAPI Consortium, whose members include Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Iridian Technologies and Saflink. The consortium was formed to develop a widely available and accepted API for a variety of biometric technologies. The BioAPI specification incorporates work from two prior standards: The U.S. Department of Defense's Human Authentication API (HA-API) and I/O Software's Biometric API (BAPI). See HA-API and BAPI.
Biometric API (see BAPI)
biometric authentication
A form of user authentication based on a physical (e.g., fingerprint, iris, face or hand) or behavioral (e.g., signature or voice) characteristic. Because it is based on something the person "is," biometric authentication can provide a higher level of security than authentication based on something a person "knows" (e.g., a password) or something a person "has" (e.g., a magnetic card or hardware token). Biometric authentication systems require users to enroll to generate a template for later comparison and matching.
biometrics
Technologies that analyze and measure biological and behavioral characteristics of individuals, typically for identification or authentication purposes. See biometric authentication.
BIOS (basic input/output system)
The part of an operating system that links specific hardware devices to the software. It obtains the buffers required to send information from a program to the device receiving the information.
bipolar
1. A signaling method used for digital transmission services, in which the signal carrying the binary value alternates between positive and negative polarities. Zero and one values are represented by the signal amplitude at either polarity, while no-value "spaces" are at zero amplitude.
2. A type of integrated circuit that uses both positively and negatively charged currents, characterized by high operational speed and cost. Also called alternate mark inversion.
bipolar metal-oxide semiconductor (see BiMOS)
B-ISDN (Broadband ISDN)
An advanced, high-speed form of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) capable of carrying multimedia information at rates of hundreds of megabits per second. See ISDN.
bit
The minimum unit of binary information stored in a computer system. A bit can have only two states, on or off, which are commonly represented as ones and zeros. A string of eight bits forms the information unit known as a "byte." (See byte.)
bit error rate (see BER)
bitmap
A representation of graphic image in the form of a series of bits, which correspond to a pattern of pixels on a video screen.
bitmapped
A term describing an image rendered through the use of a bitmap. See bitmap.
BITS (Banking Industry Technology Secretariat)
The technology arm of the Bankers Roundtable, whose membership comprises the top 125 bank holding companies in the United States. BITS' mission is to help banks develop electronic-banking and e-commerce initiatives, and to address and resolve critical industry issues (such as competitive disintermediation and reduction of infrastructure costs).
bits per inch (see bpi)
bits per second (see bps)
BIW (Business Information Warehouse)
A component of SAP's R/3 system.
BizTalk
A Microsoft Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema. See XML.
BlackBerry
A two-way wireless device developed by Research in Motion. It allows users to check e-mail and voice mail (translated into text) and to page other users via a wireless network service. The device has a miniature keyboard used to type messages, which are delivered using the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol. BlackBerry users must subscribe to a wireless service that allows for data transmission. See SMS.
blanking interval
The area in a video signal that falls between frames. It is often used to accommodate data such as synchronizing information.
BLEC (building local-exchange carrier)
A type of local-exchange carrier (LEC) that offers voice and data communications service over wiring it has installed itself within a building. BLECs typically install fiber wiring in vertical risers within the building, and connect it externally to their own point of presence or to another LEC, usually over a broadband circuit of at least DS-1 size. In addition to basic connectivity, some BLECs offer application and Internet services, typically to small and midsize businesses. BLECS are among the competitive LECs (CLECs) that have arisen in the wake of telecommunications deregulation. See CLEC.
BLERT (block error rate test)
A test conducted by transmitting a known blocked bit pattern, comparing the pattern received with the pattern transmitted, and counting the number of blocks containing errored bits.
BLOB (binary large object)
A generic term used to describe the handling and storage of long strings of data by database management systems. A BLOB is a category of data, characterized by large size (including media formats such as audio and video), which can place extreme demands on storage systems and network bandwidth.
block
A group of bits or bytes treated as a unit.
block cipher
An encryption code that works on one fixed-size block of data at a time - unlike a stream cipher, which encrypts data as a stream of bits, one bit at a time. Examples of block ciphers include Data Encryption Standard (DES), Rivest Cipher 2 (RS2) and Rivest Cipher 5 (RS5). See stream cipher, DES, RS2 and RS5.
block error rate test (see BLERT)
blog
Slang for "weblog" - a whimsical truncation of the term. This slang term may also be used as a verb (as in "blogging"). See weblog.
Blowfish
A public-domain encryption algorithm developed by Bruce Schneier.
Bluefin
A specification introduced by a group of 16 storage companies in 2002 in an effort to improve the interoperability of storage management systems. The Bluefin specification, which the vendor group has submitted to the Storage Networking Industry Association, uses the Common Information Model (CIM) and Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) to discover and manage resources in a multivendor storage-area network (SAN) through common interfaces. See CIM, WBEM and SAN.
Bluetooth
A wireless networking technology with a range of about 10 meters and a raw data transmission rate of one megabit per second. Bluetooth supports ad hoc networking of up to 80 devices within a 10-meter radius (supporting voice and data).
BOB (see best-of-breed)
BOB (Business Object Broker)
SAP's message broker for R/3.
BOC (Bell operating company)
Any of the 22 original companies (or their successors) that were created from the breakup of AT&T in 1983. They were reorganized into seven Bell regional holding companies (RHCs). (There are now five.) The divestiture distributed the right to provide local telephone service in a given geographic area. Before this, companies had existed as subsidiaries of AT&T and were called the "Bell System." The breakup was designed to create competition at both the local and long-distance service levels. As a group, companies that offer local telephone service are legally referred to as "local-exchange carriers."
BOCs are not allowed to manufacture equipment and were initially not allowed to provide long-distance service. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave them permission to engage in long-distance business under certain circumstances.
BOL (Books Online)
A bookstore on the Internet created as a joint venture of German publisher Bertelsmann and French publisher Havas. It is designed to be pan-European with a Web site available in various local languages.
BOM (bill of materials)
A structured list of the raw materials, parts and assemblies that constitute a product to be manufactured, often used in manufacturing and supply chain management systems.
bookmark
A shortcut to an Internet address stored in a Web browser.
Books Online (see BOL)
Boolean
A term that originated in the in the realm of mathematics, and that is now commonly known for its application to search engine logic. A Boolean search allows for the inclusion or exclusion of documents containing certain keywords, using Boolean operators such as "and," "not" and "or." For example:
A search structured "Bush and China" would return all documents that refer to both "Bush" and "China," but not those that contain only one term or the other.
"Bush not China" would return all documents referring to "Bush," except for those that also contain references to "China."
"Bush or China" would return all documents that reference either "Bush" or "China," as well as those that reference both.
Some Boolean search engines allow keywords and operators to be nested using parentheses. For example, a search structured as "Bush and (Japan or China)" would return all documents that reference both Bush and Japan, as well as those that reference both Bush and China.
boot
To start a computer system (also referred to as "booting up.") Restarting such a system (for example, due to a system crash) is known as "rebooting."
BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol)
A protocol - defined in Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comment 951 - that enables a diskless client machine connected to an Internet Protocol (IP) network to discover its own IP address and the address of a server running the protocol (known as a BOOTP server). A file can then be remotely loaded and executed on the client, without the need for a boot disk.
Border Gateway Protocol (see BGP)
Border Gateway Protocol-4 (see BGP-4)
BOT (beginning of tape)
In tape storage systems, the point at the start of the tape in a cartridge. Tape cartridge load times are often measured in terms of the time to BOT.
BOT (build-operate-transfer)
A process used in several Asia/Pacific countries that allows foreign companies to build a telecommunications network in the country, operate it for a period and then transfer ownership to the government.
bottleneck
The point or operation that has the least capacity in a system or network, where no alternative routings exist.
bounce
The return of an undeliverable e-mail.
BPA (business process automation)
The automation of complex business processes and functions beyond conventional data manipulation and record-keeping activities, usually through the use of advanced technologies. It focuses on "run the business" as opposed to "count the business" types of automation efforts and often deals with event-driven, mission-critical, core processes. BPA usually supports an enterprise's knowledge workers in satisfying the needs of its many constituencies.
BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services)
A set of specifications released in 2002 by IBM and Microsoft, combining previously separate efforts of the two companies. BPEL4WS is designed to enable Web services to support workflow and business process execution.
bpi (bits per inch)
A measurement used to calculate the number of bits stored in a linear inch of a track on a disk, tape or other recording surface.
BPM (business process management)
A general term describing a set of services and tools that provide for explicit process management, including process analysis, definition, execution, monitoring and administration. Ideally, BPM should include support for both human and application-level interactions. The workflow market has been a significant source of BPM, although forms of BPM are now emerging from many other sources, such as collaborative applications, integration brokers, Web integration servers, development tools, rules engines and e-commerce offerings.
BPM (business process modeling)
A process that links business strategy to IT system development to ensure business value. It combines workflow, functional, organizational and data/resource views with underlying metrics such as costs, cycle times and responsibilities to provide a foundation for analyzing value chains, activity-based costs, bottlenecks, critical paths and inefficiencies.
BPO (business process outsourcing)
The delegation of one or more IT-intensive business processes to an external provider that, in turn, owns, administers and manages the selected processes, based on defined and measurable performance metrics.
BPR (business process re-engineering)
The fundamental analysis and radical redesign of business processes and management systems to accomplish change or performance improvement. BPR uses objective, quantitative methods and tools to analyze, redesign and transform business processes, including supporting organization structures, information systems, job responsibilities and performance standards.
BPR methodology
An integrated set of management policies, project management procedures, and modeling, analysis, design and testing techniques for analyzing established business processes and systems; designing new processes and systems; testing, simulating and prototyping new designs prior to implementation; and managing the implementation process.
bps (bits per second)
The basic unit of measurement for serial data transmission capacity. Related abbreviations used for higher speeds include Kbps (kilobits per second), Mbps (megabits per second) and Gbps (gigabits per second). See bit, kilobit and gigabit.
BRA (Basic Rate Access)
The name used in Canada and Europe for Basic Rate Interface (see BRI).
brand service company
A service model similar to that of "insourcing." A brand service company is one built to provide services to a large organization or a group of business-oriented companies. Services provided (which may include non-IT services and business processes) are carefully compared against those offered in the external service providers (ESP) market, and the brand service company may selectively outsource some of its services to ESPs. See ESP and insourcing.
BRE (business rule engine)
A software tool used to record, track, manage and revise enterprise business processes. Rules are set to stipulate and outline processes, and the BRE "externalizes" these rules for quick and easy modification. BREs (also known simply as "rule engines") can be used independently or in conjunction with other technology - such as business process management (BPM) and business activity monitoring (BAM) tools - to help achieve business goals and enable organizational change. The use of BREs can support business process re-engineering (BPR) and help an enterprise meet operational objectives, such as reducing maintenance costs, facilitating straight-through processing (STP) and enabling exception-based processing. See BAM, BPM, BPR and STP.
BRI (Basic Rate Interface)
An Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) channel configuration. BRI - known as Basic Rate Access (BRA) in Canada and Europe - consists of two 64 kilobit per second (Kbps) data or voice channels, which are designated as B (bearer) channels, and one 16-Kbps signaling or packet data channel, designated as the D (delta) channel. BRI is, therefore, often referred to as 2B+D.
brick and mortar
A term used differentiate a traditional company from an e-business. Specifically, a brick-and-mortar company has a physical (rather than virtual) presence and uses non-Web channels as the sales outlet for its products or services. See e-business.
bridge
A relatively simple network device that passes data without examining it. Bridges interconnect networks, or network segments, running the same protocols. Operating at the media access control (MAC) layer in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, bridges are protocol-independent; the decision as to whether to forward a signal depends only on the address. See OSI.
bridge/router
A hybrid network device. Strictly defined, a bridge/router provides bridging at Layer 2 and routing at Layer 3 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) stack, but this precise meaning has been largely superseded by a looser categorization that includes any device that combines the functions of bridges and routers. See bridge, router and OSI.
British Standard 7799 (see BS 7799)
British Standards Institute (see BSI)
broadband
Transmission over coaxial or fiber-optic cables that have a wider bandwidth than conventional telephone lines, giving them the ability to carry video, voice and data simultaneously. Cable modems and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies are examples of broadband connectivity. See DSL.
Broadband ISDN (see B-ISDN)
broadcast
1. Delivery of a transmission to two or more stations at the same time, such as over a bus-type local network or by satellite.
2. A protocol mechanism whereby group and universal addressing is supported.
broadcast storm
Excessive one-to-many or many-to-many transmissions, especially troublesome on Ethernet networks.
broker
Middleware that mediates communication between applications (including legacy and packaged applications) and enables them to share information. See integration broker, message broker and middleware.
browser
A software program (also known as a "Web browser") used to locate and display information on the Internet or an intranet. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Communications' Navigator. Most browsers can display graphics, photographs and text; multimedia information (such as sound and video) may require additional software, known as "plug-ins."
browsing
The near-random search for content on the Internet.
BS 7799 (British Standard 7799)
A comprehensive standard from the British Standards Institute (BSI). Formally titled the "Code of Practice for Information Security Management," BS 7799 was significantly revised in 2000 and evolved into International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 17799 - see ISO 17799.
BSA (Business Software Alliance)
A software industry coalition whose stated missions include industry education and copyright enforcement.
BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution)
A version of Unix developed at the University of California at Berkeley.
BSI (British Standards Institute)
A U.K. standards body, headquartered in London.
BSP (business service provider)
A domain of enterprise application outsourcing best suited for confined processes with a few, well-defined interfaces to other business processes of the enterprise. BSP is the extension of the application service provider (ASP) model into business process management. A BSP manages and operates standardized business processes on behalf of its customers, delivering its service across a network to multiple customers using a "pay as you go" payment model. See ASP.
BSS (business support system)
A category of software and services used by telecommunications industry firms. In its market definitions, Gartner Dataquest defines BSS as software and services necessary to optimize and monetize networked services offered to corporate and residential users.
BU (business unit)
A general term for a high-level organizational component of an enterprise, such as a corporate division or subsidiary.
buffer
A technology element or component used to compensate for a difference in rate of data flow, or time of occurrence of events, when transmitting data from one device to another.
bug
An unexpected problem with software or hardware. Typical problems are often the result of external interference with the program's performance that was not anticipated by the developer. Minor bugs can cause small problems like frozen screens or unexplained error messages that do not significantly effect usage. Major bugs, however, may not only affect software and hardware, but could also have unintended effects on connected devices or integrated software and may damage data files.
building local-exchange carrier (see BLEC)
build-operate-transfer (see BOT)
bulletin board system (see BBS)
bundling
Packaging multiple features or products together for a single price.
burst
In data communications, a sequence of signals counted as one unit in accordance with a specific criterion or measure.
bursty
A communications term describing data transmission that occurs in uneven spurts.
bus
1. Physical transmission path or channel. Typically an electrical connection with one or more conductors, wherein all attached devices receive all transmissions at the same time.
2. A type of local network topology, such as that used in Ethernet, where all network nodes listen to all transmissions, selecting certain ones based on address identification. It involves some type of contention-control mechanism for accessing the bus transmission medium.
business activity monitoring (see BAM)
Business Application Programming Interface (see BAPI)
business continuity manager
The position responsible for business continuity planning (BCP) in an enterprise. See BCP.
business continuity planning (see BCP)
business continuance volume (see BCV)
business impact analysis (see BIA)
Business Information Warehouse (see BIW)
business intelligence
An interactive process for exploring and analyzing structured, domain-specific information (often stored in data warehouses) to discern business trends or patterns, thereby deriving insights and drawing conclusions. The business intelligence process includes communicating findings and effecting change. Domains include customers, suppliers, products, services and competitors.
Business Object Broker (see BOB)
business portal (see enterprise portal)
business process
An event-driven, end-to-end processing path that starts with a customer request and ends with a result for the customer. Business processes often cross departmental and even organizational boundaries.
business process automation (see BPA)
Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (see BPEL4WS)
business process management (see BPM)
business process modeling (see BPM)
business process outsourcing (see BPO)
business process re-engineering (see BPR)
business rule engine (see BRE)
business service marketplace
A type of e-marketplace that offers content or services for specific business processes, such as financing, logistics, marketing and requests for quotations. Business service marketplaces aggregate the offerings of business service providers (BSPs), and will proliferate as outsourcing grows. Business service marketplaces are one of three types of public e-marketplaces (along with integration service marketplaces and commodity marketplaces) that Gartner has identified in the evolving public e-marketplace landscape. (See BSP, integration service marketplace and commodity marketplace.)
business service provider (see BSP)
Business Software Alliance (see BSA)
business support system (see BSS)
business-to-business (see B2B)
Business-to-Business Procurement (see BBP)
business-to-consumer (see B2C)
business-to-employee (see B2E)
business-to-enterprise- see "B2E (business-to-employee)"
business unit (see BU)
Business Workflow (see BW)
bus topology
An equal-access network design in which all devices are connected in a single line with two distinct ends. See bus.
buy side
A general term encompassing services or processes associated with the purchasing side of business-to-business transactions, such as requisitioning, product catalogs, approvals, user identification, purchase order creation, payment processing and integration with other systems.
BW (Business Workflow)
The workflow component introduced by SAP with release 3.0 of R/3. SAP Business Workflow provides the infrastructure and tools to allow business processes to be managed, automated and analyzed.
byte
A group of eight bits handled as a logical unit. In text files, a byte is equivalent to a single character such as a letter, number or punctuation mark. See bit.
byte code
The intermediate code compiled and executed by a virtual machine (VM). Byte code can be used unchanged on any platform on which the VM operates. See VM and Java.
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