| Application Server |
Also called an appserver. A program that handles all application operations between users and an organization's backend business applications or databases. Application servers are typically used for complex transaction-based applications. To support high-end needs, an application server has to have built-in redundancy, monitors for high-availability, high-performance distributed application services and support for complex database access. Many of the first-generation of high-end content management systems were built as application servers. |
Content Management
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Before we can define content management, we first have to find content. Content is esentially any information, you don't have to work in the media industry to produce content. Instruction manuals, marketing materials, customer service e-mails, and invoices are all content. Content management usually refers to what is now called Web content management — software, usually driven by a database, that simplifies and automates the construction of Web pages.
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| Document Management |
Traditionally, document management is a term used to manage internal documents and making the them easier to share within an orgaization. It differs from traditional Web content because the content is not published on the Web for all to see. |
| Digital Asset Management |
A system that creates a centralized repository for digital files that allows the content to be archived, searched and retrieved. The digital content is stored in databases called asset repositories while metada such as photo captions, article key words, advertiser names, contact names, file names or low-resolution thumbnail images are stored in separate databases called media catalogs and point to the original items. Digital asset management also is known as enterprise digital asset management, media asset management or digital asset warehousing. |
| Digital Rights Management |
A system for protecting the copyrights of data circulated via the Internet by enabling secure distribution and/or disabling illegal distribution of the data. Typically, a DRM system protects intellectual property by either encrypting the data so that it can only be accessed by authorized users or marking the content with a digital watermark or similar method so that the content can not be freely distributed. |
| Directory Services |
A network service that identifies all resources on a network and makes them accessible to users and applications. Resources include e-mail addresses, computers, and peripheral devices such as printers. Ideally, the directory service should make the physical network topology and protocols transparent so that a user on a network can access any resource without knowing where or how it is physically connected.
There are a number of directory services that are used widely. Two of the most important ones are LDAP, which is used primarily for e-mail addresses, and Netware Directory Service (NDS), which is used on Novell Netware networks. Virtually all directory services are based on the X.500 ITU standard, although the standard is so large and complex than no vendor complies with it fully.
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| Enterprise Content Management |
A more recent term describing newer applications that feature both Web content management and document management. In other words, ECM systems managle all of the content within an enterprise, usually using some type of central repository. The goal is better control of assets, such as logos or ext for a company brochure, by keeping them in one place where various departments can get to them. WebReference published an article that explains the concept of ECM in more detail: http://www.webreference.com/internet/enterprise/index.html. |
| Groupware |
A class of software that helps groups of colleagues (workgroups) attached to a local-area network organize their activities. Typically, groupware supports the following operations: scheduling meetings and allocating resources; e-mail; password protection for documents; telephone utilities; electronic newsletters; and file distribution. Groupware is sometimes called workgroup productivity software. |
| J2EE |
A platform-independent, Java-centric environment from Sun for developing, building and deploying Web-based enterprise applications online. The J2EE platform consists of a set of services, APIs, and protocols that provide the functionality for developing multitiered, Web-based applications. |
| LAN |
A computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines and radio waves. A system of LANs connected in this way is called a wide-area network (WAN). Most LANs connect workstations and personal computers. Each node (individual computer) in a LAN has its own CPU with which it executes programs, but it also is able to access data and devices anywhere on the LAN. This means that many users can share expensive devices, such as laser printers, as well as data. Users can also use the LAN to communicate with each other, by sending e-mail or engaging in chat sessions. |
| LDAP |
Short for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, a set of protocols for accessing information directories. Although not yet widely implemented, LDAP should eventually make it possible for almost any application running on virtually any computer platform to obtain directory information, such as email addresses and public keys. Because LDAP is an open protocol, applications need not worry about the type of server hosting the directory. |
| Portal |
A term used at the height of the Internet boom to define major Web search sites/news aggregators such as Yahoo!, an enterprise portal is software that allows users to gather and store a variety of work-related information and react to it. Portals display information from a number of applications. The pieces of information displayed on a portal are sometimes known as "portlets." More information about enterprise portals and the companies that serve the market can be found at http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/2197011 |
| PDF |
Short for Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems. PDF is probably the most popular format for paper documents once they are converted to digital files. |
| Relational Database |
A type of database management system (DBMS) that stores data in the form of related tables. Relational databases are powerful because they require few assumptions about how data is related or how it will be extracted from the database. As a result, the same database can be viewed in many different ways. An important feature of relational systems is that a single database can be spread across several tables. This differs from flat-file databases, in which each database is self-contained in a single table. |
| RSS |
Short for RDF Site Summary or Rich Site Summary, an XML format for syndicating Web content. A Web site that wants to allow other sites to publish some of its content creates an RSS document and registers the document with an RSS publisher. A user that can read RSS-distributed content can use the content on a different site. Syndicated content includes such data as news feeds, events listings, news stories, headlines, project updates, excerpts from discussion forums or even corporate information. RSS was originally developed by Netscape. |
| SIP |
Short for Session Initiated Protocol, or Session Initiation Protocol, a signaling protocol for Internet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification and instant messaging. The protocol initiates call setup, routing, authentication and other feature messages to endpoints within an IP domain. |
| SIMPLE |
Short for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions, an application of the SIP protocol for server-to-server and client-to-server interoperability in instant messaging. SIMPLE is a step in bringing standardization to instant messaging. |
| Taxonomy |
The Montague Institue Review calls a taxonomy "a system for naming and organizing things into groups that share similar characteristics." Taxonomies often come to play in content management systems and document management systems. Without a solid taxonomy and structure, all the software in the world isn't going to make managing your content any easier. |
| VPN |
Short for virtual private network, a network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For example, there are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted. |
| WebDAV |
WebDAV stands for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning. It is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol that allow users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers. More information is available at http://www.webdav.org/ |
| Web Services |
Used primarily as a means for businesses to communicate with each other and with clients, Web services allow organizations to communicate data without intimate knowledge of each other's IT systems behind the firewall. Unlike traditional client/server models, such as a Web server/Web page system, Web services do not provide the user with a GUI. Web services instead share business logic, data and processes through a programmatic interface across a network. The applications interface, not the users. Developers can then add the Web service to a GUI (such as a Web page or an executable program) to offer specific functionality to users. |
| Workflow |
The defined series of tasks within an organization to produce a final outcome. Sophisticated workgroup computing applications allow you to define different workflows for different types of jobs. At each stage in the workflow, one individual or group is responsible for a specific task. Once the task is complete, the workflow software ensures that the individuals responsible for the next task are notified and receive the data they need to execute their stage of the process. Workflow is built into most document and content management systems so that content is approved before being posted to the Internet or intranet. |
| XML |
Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. For an introduction of XML, and how if differs from HTML, read this introduction from XMLFiles.com: http://www.xmlfiles.com/xml/xml_intro.asp. |
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