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phased approach Introduces the new system in stages either by programmers Highly trained technical specialists who write
functions or by organizational units. computer software instructions.
phishing Form of spoofing involving setting up fake Web sites or programming The process of translating the system specifications
sending e-mail messages that resemble those of legitimate prepared during the design stage into program code.
businesses that ask users for confidential personal data. project Planned series of related activities for achieving a specific
pilot study A strategy to introduce the new system to a limited area business objective.
of the organization until it is proven to be fully functional; only project management Application of knowledge, tools, and
then can the conversion to the new system across the entire techniques to achieve specific targets within a specified budget
organization take place. and time period.
pivot table Spreadsheet tool for reorganizing and summarizing two project portfolio management software Helps organizations
or more dimensions of data in a tabular format. evaluate and manage portfolios of projects and dependencies
podcasting Publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet so that among them.
subscribing users can download audio files onto their personal protocol A set of rules and procedures that govern transmission
computers or portable music players. between the components in a network.
portal Web interface for presenting integrated personalized content prototype The preliminary working version of an information
from a variety of sources. Also refers to a Web site service that system for demonstration and evaluation purposes.
provides an initial point of entry to the Web. prototyping The process of building an experimental system
portfolio analysis An analysis of the portfolio of potential quickly and inexpensively for demonstration and
applications within a firm to determine the risks and benefits, evaluation so that users can better determine information
and to select among alternatives for information systems. requirements.
post-implementation audit Formal review process conducted public cloud A cloud maintained by an external service provider,
after a system has been placed in production to determine how accessed through the Internet, and available to the general
well the system has met its original objectives. public.
prediction markets An analysis of the portfolio of potential public key encryption Uses two keys: one shared (or public) and
applications within a firm to determine the risks and benefits, one private.
and to select among alternatives for information systems. public key infrastructure(PKI) System for creating public and
predictive analytics The use of data mining techniques, historical private keys using a certificate authority (CA) and digital
data, and assumptions about future conditions to predict certificates for authentication.
outcomes of events, such as the probability a customer will pull-based model Supply chain driven by actual customer orders
respond to an offer or purchase a specific product. or purchases so that members of the supply chain produce and
price discrimination Selling the same goods, or nearly the same deliver only what customers have ordered.
goods, to different targeted groups at different prices. push-based model Supply chain driven by production master
price transparency The ease with which consumers can find out schedules based on forecasts or best guesses of demand for
the variety of prices in a market. products, and products are “pushed” to customers.
primary activities Activities most directly related to the
production and distribution of a firm’s products or services. query language Software tool that provides immediate online
primary key Unique identifier for all the information in any row of answers to requests for information that are not predefined.
a database table.
privacy The claim of individuals to be left alone, free from radio-frequency identification (RFID) Technology using tiny
surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, tags with embedded microchips containing data about an item
or the state. and its location to transmit short-distance radio signals to special
private cloud A proprietary network or a data center that ties RFID readers that then pass the data on to a computer for
together servers, storage, networks, data, and applications as a set processing.
of virtualized services that are shared by users inside a company. Rapid Application Development (RAD) Process for
private exchange Another term for a private industrial network. developing systems in a very short time period by using
private industrial networks Web-enabled networks linking prototyping, fourth-generation tools, and close teamwork among
systems of multiple firms in an industry for the coordination of users and systems specialists.
trans-organizational business processes. rationalization of procedures The streamlining of standard
process specifications Describe the logic of the processes operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks, so that
occurring within the lowest levels of a data flow diagram. automation makes operating procedures more efficient.
processing The conversion, manipulation, and analysis of raw real options pricing models Models for evaluating information
input into a form that is more meaningful to humans. technology investments with uncertain returns by using
product differentiation Competitive strategy for creating brand techniques for valuing financial options.
loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that record A group of related fields.
are not easily duplicated by competitors. recovery-oriented computing Computer systems designed to
production The stage after the new system is installed and the recover rapidly when mishaps occur.
conversion is complete; during this time the system is reviewed referential integrity Rules to ensure that relationships between
by users and technical specialists to determine how well it has coupled database tables remain consistent.
met its original goals. relational DBMS A type of logical database model that treats data
production or service workers People who actually produce the as if they were stored in two-dimensional tables. It can relate data
products or services of the organization. stored in one table to data in another as long as the two tables
profiling The use of computers to combine data from multiple share a common data element.
sources and create electronic dossiers of detailed information on Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) Occupational disease that occurs
individuals. when muscle groups are forced through repetitive actions with
program-data dependence The close relationship between high-impact loads or thousands of repetitions with
data stored in files and the software programs that update and low-impact loads.
maintain those files. Any change in data organization or Request for Proposal (RFP) A detailed list of questions
format requires a change in all the programs associated with submitted to vendors of software or other services to determine
those files.

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