TECH TERMS FOR ENTREPRENEURS CHEAT SHEET
It's easy to feel you missed a memo when people at work start talking about the metaverse, NFTs, VPNs, or blockchain. The digital environment is evolving so rapidly that it can be challenging to keep up. This cheat sheet provides entrepreneurs with a basic understanding of top tech terms.
Think the pace of business has changed recently? You're not wrong. McKinsey research suggests digital acceleration has picked up the pace of business fourfold. Digitization also has:
Ramped up the pace of competition in many industries
Put more pressure on profits
Changed who in the value chain is making money
Introduced new rivals from outside traditional industry boundaries
It's a lot to navigate.
It doesn't help that the digital evolution comes with many new terms. Our cheat sheet explains many of the common terms bandied about today. Plus, we do it in a way you can understand. Read on to learn important tech vocabulary so that you too can move at the speed of digital.
Blockchain
Blockchain allows parties to verify transactions online using a public digital ledger. Two users agree to a transaction (typically using Cryptocurrency. More on that below). Unique details are encoded in a block of data. That block is added to a chain of data recording what came before and comes after. The blocks cannot be deleted or changed.
You can think of a standard database system as a white erase board. You write something down. Then wipe the slate clean and start again. But, with blockchain, when you write something down, it is permanent.
Cloud Computing
There are many types of cloud computing services. We will talk about the most popular, SaaS, later on. With cloud computing services, your business is not supporting the infrastructure onsite. Instead, you contract with a provider for a certain service they run in a different location, like a Data Center (more on that soon). They support the storage, network, and databases.
Your business users enjoy a consistent experience on whatever Internet-connected device they want. They can do this from wherever they are, with real-time updates happening in the cloud.
CRM
This one stands for customer relationship management. Today there are many popular cloud-based CRMs available. Salesforce talks about its system helping sales, customer service, business development, and marketing. The online solution records, tracks, and shares customer and prospect contact information in one place. That can help identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns.
Cryptocurrency
You may have heard of Bitcoin. It's the most common form of Cryptocurrency, but it's not the only one. There are, in fact, thousands of cryptocurrencies used to finance digital transactions. In its purest form, Cryptocurrency is a digital currency. Since no bank or other institution underwrites the currency, the market deems its value.
Data Center
A data center is where your data is stored in "the cloud". A building that may contain hundreds or even thousands of computer servers. Many providers have multiple data centers to allow for geographical redundancy. This means that if one data center goes down, another can pick up the slack. This helps customers avoid downtime if a natural disaster strikes one of the data centers.
Dark Web
The Dark web is also known as the dark net, the backweb, and the onionweb. It was created in the mid-1990s to let people communicate anonymously online. Obviously, that has benefits for cybercriminals.
If your business suffers a data breach, this is where that info could be sold. On the dark web, users access web pages hidden from search engines. They need specific software, configurations, or authorization to access the dark web. They also hide their IP address and use encryption to anonymize their identity.
Metaverse
Facebook changed its name to Meta and seems to be going for world domination. So, you might think the metaverse is a Mark Zuckerberg project. Yet, it's not.
The metaverse is a collective virtual space. Your device or platform doesn't matter; you can join the metaverse. You can now learn, game, buy stuff and attend virtual events.
Machine Learning
Machine learning refers to powerful computers processing available data at a rate humans can't match. Plus, machine learning is taught by the input it gets on an ongoing basis. So, it improves (as long as the data input is good). This means it can grow to be faster and more accurate. Plus, machine learning can power artificial intelligence (AI).
Managed Services Provider
A Managed Services Provider, or MSP, provides tech know-how. These human experts can install software, upgrade hardware, patch systems, and more. An MSP offers comprehensive tech support by getting to know your business. They can also consult on cost savings and help your business be competitive.
Meanwhile, your people can focus on driving innovation and generating revenue.
NFT
Non-fungible tokens, NFTs, are digital assets traded online. These online assets can represent real-world objects or assets created exclusively online. For example, there are NFTs of virtual kittens or Nike sneakers. Or you can buy an NFT to be the owner of video clips of an athlete making a game-changing play.
Think of an NFT as a one-of-a-kind trading card. It is unique in a way that something that is fungible (say a dollar, which you trade can for another dollar) can't be.
RPA
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is not about letting robots take over the world. But it does make people's lives easier. Any manual, repetitive process can be automated. This can expedite processes, improve accuracy, and free humans for more creative work.
SaaS
SaaS stands for Software as a Service. The odds are good you're already using SaaS. That's true if you use Microsoft 365, Slack or MailChimp, HubSpot or Salesforce. You're on a SaaS platform.
Typically you pay a monthly cloud-based subscription fee. SaaS lets you lower costs and add scalability while improving efficiency and access.
Sandboxing
You play with others in a sandbox in school, but in the digital sense, it's more like ostracizing someone. That's because sandboxing is a security practice where you have an isolated testing environment away from your normal production environment.
This could be running new code on a testing server instead of your production server that clients see.
White Hat Hacking
You know what hacking is, but you might not know that it's not all bad. In white hat hacking, ethical hackers use their skills to find vulnerabilities. This helps businesses check for ways bad actors might access their hardware, software, or networks.
Version Control
Version control keeps colleagues from wanting to throttle each other. Or at least they won't want to do it because one person has gone in and overwritten someone else's progress in a file. Version control is tracking different drafts and versions of a document. It provides an audit trail of revisions that lead up to the final version.
VPN
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. A VPN connects your device to another network. This could be to your workplace's network, allowing you to use its resources as if you were actually there.
Or you could connect to a third-party VPN provider to browse anonymously online or get around geoblocks, making it appear you are connecting to the internet from another country.
VoIP
VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, turns voice conversations into data packets sent between two networked points. If you've been on Skype, you've experienced VoIP.
With VoIP, you use a broadband Internet connection to make and receive calls. VoIP users avoid long-distance or extra-minute charges by bypassing traditional or mobile phones. Because it's digital, VoIP often has many added features and allows you to get more data analytics.
Tech Term Know-How
Of course, knowing what each of these tech terms means doesn't make you an expert in any of them. That's where we come in. We can help you determine what digitization tools can positively impact productivity and profitability.
Don't get left behind—partner with our IT experts today to keep up with the steadily escalating pace of change.
Call us today at 212-602-1602 for support.