Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
legal feasibility
The determination of
whether laws or regulations may
prevent or limit a systems development
project.
market segmentation
The
identification of specific markets to
target them with advertising messages.
mobile commerce (m-commerce)
Transactions conducted anywhere,
anytime.
marketing MIS
An information
system that supports managerial
activities in product development,
distribution, pricing decisions, and
promotional effectiveness.
model base
Part of a DSS that
provides decision makers access to a
variety of models and assists them in
decision making.
linking
Data manipulation that
combines two or more tables using
common data attributes to form a new
table with only the unique data
attributes.
model management
software
Software that coordinates the
use of models in a DSS.
massively parallel processing
systems
A form of multiprocessing
that speeds processing by linking
hundreds or thousands of processors to
operate at the same time, or in parallel,
with each processor having its own bus,
memory, disks, copy of the operating
system, and applications.
local area network (LAN)
A network
that connects computer systems and
devices within a small area, such as an
office, home, or several floors in a
building.
modem
A telecommunications
hardware device that converts
(modulates and demodulates)
communications signals so they can be
transmitted over the communication
media.
logical design
A description of the
functional requirements of a system.
material requirements planning
(MRP)
A set of inventory-control
techniques that help coordinate
thousands of inventory items when the
demand of one item is dependent on the
demand for another.
lookup tables
Tables containing data
that computer programs can develop
and use to simplify and shorten data
entry.
monitoring stage
The final stage of
the problem-solving process, in which
decision makers evaluate the
implementation.
machine cycle
The instruction phase
followed by the execution phase.
Moore's Law
A hypothesis stating that
transistor densities on a single chip
double every two years.
megahertz (MHz)
Millions of cycles
per second.
magnetic disk
A common secondary
storage medium, with bits represented
by magnetized areas.
MP3
A standard format for
compressing a sound sequence into a
small file.
menu-driven system
A system in
which users simply pick what they want
to do from a list of alternatives.
magnetic stripe card
A type of card
that stores limited amounts of data by
modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-
based particles contained in a band on
the card.
multicore microprocessor
A
microprocessor that combines two or
more independent processors into a
single computer so they can share the
workload and improve processing
capacity.
meta tag
A special HTML tag, not
visible on the displayed Web page, that
contains keywords representing your
site's content, which search engines to
use to build indexes pointing to your
Web site.
magnetic tape
A secondary storage
medium; Mylar film coated with iron
oxide with portions of the tape
magnetized to represent bits.
multiplexer
A device that combines
data from multiple data sources into a
single output signal that carries
multiple channels, thus reducing the
number of communications links
needed and therefore, lowering
telecommunications costs.
metropolitan area network (MAN)
A telecommunications network that
connects users and their devices in a
geographical area that spans a campus
or city.
mainframe computer
A large,
powerful computer often shared by
hundreds of concurrent users
connected to the machine via terminals.
microcode
Predefined, elementary
circuits and logical operations that the
processor performs when it executes an
instruction.
maintenance team
A special IS team
responsible for modifying, fixing, and
updating existing software.
multiprocessing
The simultaneous
execution of two or more instructions
at the same time.
middleware
Software that allows
different systems to communicate and
exchange data.
make-or-buy decision
The decision
regarding whether to obtain the
necessary software from internal or
external sources.
natural language processing
Processing that allows the computer to
understand and react to statements and
commands made in a “natural”
language, such as English.
MIPS
Millions of instructions per
second, a measure of machine cycle
time.
management information system
(MIS)
An organized collection of
people, procedures, software, databases,
and devices that provides routine
information to managers and decision
makers.
Near Field Communication (NFC)
A very short-range wireless connectivity
technology designed for cell phones and
credit cards.
mission-critical systems
Systems that
play a pivotal role in an organization's
continued operations and goal
attainment.
