Glossary

This contains the consolidated vocabulary used throughout the IT Planning and Management Guides. Terms that are specific to the process framework elements are consolidated in the Roles or Artifact lists.

Adaptation	See: Maintenance (Adaptive)
Application	A set of software that provides functionality to the business process or is necessary to operate and maintain the automated information systems.
Application architecture	The model(s) that describes how a set of applications will be structured and the interfaces and design rules for each of its parts (e.g., isolating graphical user interface code from business logic).
Application platform	A collection of tightly integrated computing hardware, peripherals, operating system, and middleware upon which an application is built. The application provides some of its functionality by accessing services residing on the application platform through an Application Program Interface.
Application platform entity	The set of resources, including hardware and software, that provides all the services to application software executing on that platform, including the ability to have application-to-application services.
Application portfolio	The aggregation of applications required to support the HS Agency.
Application Service Provider	Organizations that provide application programs or services for a fee over the Internet. These programs or services were previously made available from the Enterprise's server or personal computers.
Automated information system	A combination of computer hardware and software, data, and telecommunications that performs functions for an organization.
Baseline	A set of items that have been formally reviewed and agreed upon. The agreement is between key stakeholders, such as the item's producer and consumer (user). A baseline establishes a fixed point for further development or use. Items in a baseline can be modified only through formal change control procedures in which the stakeholders participate.
Baseline data	Initial collection of data to establish a basis for comparison. (National Performance Review)
Benchmark	A standard or point of reference used in measuring and/or judging quality or value. (National Performance Review)
Business	Any Enterprise that provides a type of offering. The organizational entity being studied, regardless of its size or purpose either private or public sector.
Business process	A set of interacting activities and decisions that produce one or more products or services for customers of the business Enterprise.
Business process reengineering	The significant redesign and restructuring of an organization's business operations and management practices to achieve a significant change in performance, such as cost, cycle time, service, and quality. Traditional organizational boundaries are eliminated and replaced by an emphasis on core business processes.
Business rule	An expression of the business policies and procedures (e.g, Agency or HS Program), often embedded within the logic of an application program.
Capacity	A measure of an organization's output, for example participation rates in an HS program or other Federal reporting requirements. For the IT organization, this may resolve into measures of efficiency or effectiveness of meeting HS IT evolving needs.
Component	A software item that can be independently developed, distributed (provided and/or sold), and used in its binary form separable from the original context. Components can be used to develop distributed applications in which the components can communicate with one another. A component is based on a component model, such as COM or JavaBeans. Component models support runtime interface exposure and discovery, component properties, persistence, event handling, application builder support, distribution (location transparency), and component packaging. Components have two distinct parts: specifications (or interfaces) and implementations. Components are typically generated with object-oriented approaches, but this is not essential, as long as they can be used as objects.
Core competency	A bundle of skill sets or capabilities that significantly contribute to an organization's ability to satisfy the customer, offer unique services, or have future value.
Core process	The fundamental activities, or group of activities, so critical to an organization's success that failure to perform them in an exemplary manner will result in deterioration of the organization's mission.
Critical success factors	Those few areas where things must go right for the Enterprise to be considered successful in achieving its mission. CSFs are internal and external states and events that can have significant impact on perceived results.
Cultural filter	A concept that describes how one delivers, views, or interprets information in different regions. For instance, telephone interviews or face-to-face interviews may be necessary given the interviewee's circumstances.
Culture	The sum of individual opinions, shared mindsets, values, and norms.
Data	Information absent its context. A representation of facts, concepts, and instructions in a defined format and structure that permits the processing of interpretation by humans or machines.
Environment	Circumstances and conditions that interact with and affect an organization. These can include economic, political, cultural, and physical conditions inside or outside of the organization. See the Roles for additional information. (National Performance Review)
Enterprise	The whole (or portion) of the State HS Agency (or additional Agencies) that is affected by change in the IT infrastructure. This scope is necessary to establish the boundaries, within which the HS Agency decision makers can manage the interoperability and integration within and across this boundary.
Enterprise application integration	The application of technology to consolidate and coordinate disparate legacy applications and databases to extend their useful lifetime across the enterprise. The interoperability generally relies on message-oriented middleware with adaptors and or connectors that allow for existing applications to interact by moving, routing, and transforming data between them in real time.
Entity	A discrete, identifiable element of technology. An entity may be made up of subsidiary entities and also may be part of a larger entity. As an element of technology, an entity is a "thing" and can be characterized in part by the technology used to implement it. For example, a candle and a light bulb are both implementations of a "light source" entity.
Function (business)	A collection of resources (equipment, networking, individuals) in a single area of operations, such as finance, accounting, personnel, production, engineering, operations, development, or support.
Goal	A general target the HS Agency or organization wishes to reach in a specific area. It is a broad direction for managerial decision making, often stated in terms of qualitative measures. Goals need to be achieved for the HS Agency or organization to achieve its mission.
Guiding principles	The shared values and management or technical style of the Enterprise. They articulate the ethical standards by which the organization makes decisions and conducts activities.
Information	Data that has been given meaning by human reference. Data becomes information only when it is placed into a meaningful context or relationship.
Information appliance	Combines the application software and application platform entities into one entity. This term is used when the presence of configurable and/or separately procurable software is not visible to the user of a particular information technology. Examples: set-top cable TV boxes, video cassette recorders, television sets, fax machines, cell phones.
Information technology	The processing equipment, interconnecting (networking) equipment, and the software entities that operate within this equipment.
Integration	Combining separately developed parts into a whole so that they work together. The means of integration may vary, from simply mating the parts together at an interface, to radically altering the parts or providing something to mediate between them.
Interface	A boundary between two or more entities such as human-computer or application program to application.
Interoperability	The ability of independently developed and fielded applications that execute on heterogeneous computer platforms to communicate with one another and to exchange and use information (content, format, and semantics).
Legacy system	Jargon for an AIS (or set of applications) that is currently in use, and initially deployed many years ago, using a computing infrastructure that is several generations old. These systems tend to be critical to the business and cannot be easily replaced or cost-effectively maintained. They are approaching or have reached the end of their practical operational life span.
Maintenance	The process of modifying a system or component after delivery to correct faults, improve performance or other attributes, or adapt to a changed environment, with the purpose of maintaining the value of the existing system.
Maintenance (adaptive)	Maintenance performed to make a system usable in a changing environment. Adaptation refers to evolutionary changes (usually involves a progressive modification of some structure or structures), which a system makes in order to cope with the changes in the environment, while still keeping the essential attributes of the system's structure and processes constant. For example: responding to increased enrollment by hiring more teachers; adjusting the clothing to suit the weather
Maintenance (Corrective)	Maintenance performed to correct faults (defects) in hardware or software.
Maintenance (perfective)	Maintenance performed to improve the performance, maintainability, or other attributes of a system.
Measure	One of several measurable values that contribute to the understanding and quantification of a key performance indicator.
Metrics	The elements of a measurement system consisting of key performance indicators, measures, and measurement methodologies.
Migration	The process of transferring all or part of an AIS's functionality, data, or communications to another technical infrastructure. The original application code may be ported or replaced. The business data (and its schema) is usually retained in a significant way.
Mission	An enduring statement of purpose; the organization's reason for existence. The mission describes what the organization does, who it does it for, and how it does it. (National Performance Review)
Noncompliance	An instance where performance of a task or a resultant work product does not follow the agreed upon procedures, descriptions, standards, or other requirements. A noncompliance is generally found through QA reviews and audits and formally tracked until it is resolved.
Objective	A broad, general direction or intent.
Open system (environment)	An AIS that is built to a set of specifications that are nonproprietary, allowing the system to better interoperate, scale, or allow for porting of applications across heterogeneous, multivendor computing platforms.
Organization	A logical grouping of people and resources (including information) for accomplishing some aspect of the mission of an Enterprise. See the Roles for the generic organizational entities assumed by the guides.
Packaged solution	An integrated collection of software, hardware, or other parts provided by vendors as a basis for developing solutions to common business domain functions. A packaged solution is often highly tailorable at the design level to meet Enterprise-unique needs. Systems transferred from one State and adapted for another are also in this category.
Performance measure	A quantitative or qualitative characterization of performance. (National Performance Review)
Plateau (evolution planning)	An incremental level of capability at which the HS Agency operates, as it moves to achieve its vision in accordance with the strategy. It is a point where the HS Agency can reevaluate the progress being made; note significant changes in the HS Agency's external, internal, or IT Division conditions; and readjust plans. Plateaus can be represented in the IT Evolution Plan as intermediate milestones.
Platform	See: Application platform
Plug-in	A program that can be downloaded and installed on demand to be used as part of a Web browser. A plug-in is generally a small program that is activated by the Web browser to perform special processing of objects within the HTML document, such as viewing Portable Document Format (PDF) or streaming video objects.
Portability (porting)	Portability is a characteristic of a system (or part) that describes the ease with which the system (or part) can run on multiple, heterogeneous platforms. There are two general levels of portability: the binary-program level and the source-code level. Binary portability is exemplified by the Java language, whose byte codes are capable of executing on any computer that supports its runtime environment (Java Virtual Machine). Source code portability is generally achieved by coding to a recognized standard (e.g., ANSI C++) and APIs to facilitate program compilation in multiple target environments.
Portal	A (Web) application that provides a single means of access to many information sources and applications. Portals typically provide personalization, collaboration, content management, security, and other services to users. A portal may serve one or more types of users within or across HS Agency boundaries, such as clients, case workers, or service providers.
Process	A sequence of activities that transforms or uses inputs to produce outputs.
Profile	A profile is a collection of specifications developed to meet a set of requirements. Elements of a profile may consist of either formal standards (i.e., those developed within a voluntary standards organization such as ANSI or IEEE) or de facto standards (i.e., those accepted within the marketplace). Each element of a profile may be a specification in its entirety or a specification with certain options or parameters to be chosen. The NIST APP organizes the standards into several services areas: Operating System, Human Computer Interface, Software Engineering, Data Management, Data Interchange, Graphics, and Network Services.
Program	An organizational structure within an Enterprise. The program maintains expertise and resources in a particular area (e.g., the TANF program) and may allocate these resources to specific projects. The program exists for a significant period of time because it is associated with a business or other long-term and evolving objective. The program may be part or all of an HS Agency department, center, or IT Division.
Project	An effort, directed toward achieving a specific goal, that has been assigned specific resources and duration (for contrast, see Program). Projects are the context in which all development work is done for the program.
Quality assurance	A planned and systematic set of actions to provide adequate confidence that work products and the processes used to produce them conform to established requirements.
Reengineering	The examination of a system to extract inherent knowledge and functionality followed by the implementation of equivalent capability in a new system. The new implementation may include modifications for changed requirements not part of the original system. Also known as renovation and reclamation.
Resource	That which is used or consumed by the Enterprise in fulfillment of its objectives.
Restructuring	A process to reorganize a system in another form, preserving the original system's external behavior (functional and semantics).
Return on investment (IT)	The gains achieved from spending on IT for the HS Agency.
Reverse engineering	The examination of a system to extract inherent knowledge and functionality with the express purpose of creating an abstract model or specification of the system (does not involve changing the subject system).
Role	A unit of defined responsibility that may be assumed by one or more individuals (e.g., a team that fulfills the planner responsibilities). Roles are defined for the framework in a Role model.
Scalable	A scalable application system is one that can increase its throughput without significantly increasing its cost per user (or cost per transaction). The system should also be able to scale down as well.
Service	A capability that a provider entity makes available to a user entity at the interface between those entities (e.g., a Web service)
Standard	A special case, or type of specification, that has been through a formal ballot in a group open to wide participation, and have a known community of consensus. These formal standards may be considered U.S. national standards.
Standard (de facto)	A proprietary specification that becomes widely adopted in the marketplace based on marketplace success, made available by the developer of the technology in a public or private domain (e.g., for a fee).
Standard (formal)	Standards that have been agree upon by a group open to wide participation. These standards have been through a defined balloting process.
Standard (international)	A standard developed and successfully balloted outside the U.S., using an approach that may vary greatly from the U.S. approach. The scope of ballot is global (e.g., ISO/IEC).
Standard (private or proprietary)	Specification developed within an organization; may be protected by intellectual property restrictions or agreement prior to use.
Standard (public)	Any specification that has established some consensus but has not been formally balloted. Usually a proprietary specification that became widely adopted in the marketplace.
Standard (regional)	A standard developed and successfully balloted outside the U.S., using an approach that may vary greatly from the U.S. approach. Regional is when the scope of ballot is limited to a specific part of the world (e.g., European, Pacific Rim, or North American) as opposed to international.
Standard (U.S. national)	A standard developed and successfully balloted inside the U.S., usually by a voluntary standards organization subject to basic ANSI guidelines.
Strategic planning	Those actions that lead to the definition of the IT organization's mission, the formulation of its goals, and the definition of the essential action to be implemented to meet those goals.
Strategy	Strategies are the "hows" of pursuing a mission and achieving goals. A strategy is a managerial action plan for achieving targeted outcomes, mirrored in the pattern of moves and approaches devised to produce desired results.
Strategy project	A managed set of activities that generate the HS IT Strategic Plan.
System architecture	The model(s) that describes how the major IT elements (equipment, data sources, applications, and networking) are arranged to provide or exchange services between the elements and external entities (people or automated systems).
Target Application Platform	A Target Application Platform is the realization of an application platform described in the Target Architecture, using appropriately adapted custom or vendor provided frameworks (software and hardware products). The Target Application Platform is the physical environment upon which the applications for an AIS are built, executed, and maintained.
Target Architecture	The Target Architecture is the design for an instance of elements defined in the Technical Architecture. A Target Architecture elaborates the Technical Architecture by binding specific versions of software, hardware, data stores, and networking implementations to abstract Technical Architecture descriptions. A target Application Platform, for example, is a realization of an application platform described in the Technical Architecture, using appropriately adapted vendor provided frameworks (software and hardware products).
Task	In the context of project management, this is a well defined unit of work that can be assigned to individuals to perform, and tracked to completion.
Technical Architecture	A Technical Architecture identifies and describes the types of applications, platforms, and external entities; their interfaces; and their services; as well as the context within which the entities interoperate. A Technical Architecture is based on a Technical Reference Model (TRM) and the selected standards that further describe the TRM elements (the profile). The Technical Architecture is the basis for selecting and implementing the infrastructure to establish the target architecture.
Technical Reference Model	A taxonomy of services arranged according to a conceptual model, such as the Open System Environment model. The enumerated services are specific to those needed to support the technology computing style (e.g., distributed object computing) and the industry/business application needs (e.g., Human Services, financial).
Tier (n-tier)	A physical partitioning of an application across three or more networked computer platforms, such as user interface, business logic, and data access and storage functions.
Transcoding	The process of dynamically transforming data as it is delivered so that it is optimally formatted for the destination environment. Transcoding can be applied in many situations: character encoding (internationalization), addressing differences in link speed or display screen form factors (wireless), or converting between video compression formats.
Value chain	The collection of activities within a company that allow it to compete within an industry. The activities in a value chain can be grouped into two categories: primary activities, which include inbound logistics, outbound logistics and after-sales service, and support activities, which include human resources management, HS Agency infrastructure, procurement, and technology development.
Vision	A guiding theme that articulates the nature of the organization's operation (business) and the intent for its future. It is a description of what senior management wants to achieve, usually refers to the mid- to long-term, and often is expressed in terms of a series of goals.
Web service	A unit of application logic providing data and services to other applications via ubiquitous Web protocols and data formats such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP. The service implementation (and physical location) is generally hidden from the user of the service.

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