Glossary

ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
A type of telephone connection in which incoming traffic has higher speeds than outgoing traffic. See also DSL.

APCC (Australian Procurement and Construction Council)
The peak council of departments responsible for procurement and construction policy for Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory governments.

Application Service Provider (ASP)
A company that offers subscription services for applications and related services on a pay-per use basis. ASPs host, manage and maintain applications at their own site and make them available via the Web. This enables smaller companies, or those with limited budgets, to take full advantage of the latest information technology.

Autosignatures
These are essentially a form of online business card, usually about six lines long offering a short description of your business, a phone number, an address etc. You can easily programme most email packages to insert them automatically at the end of every outgoing email. If you do not know how set up an autosignature, try typing "autosignature" into the "Help" function of your email package.

Authentication
Verifying the identity of a user logging onto a computer system or verifying the integrity of a transmitted message.

Backend
The backend of a website is where all the communications between the customer and your site are processed. It's where all the work on the site is done, whether it involves sending data from forms to the server, searching for information on your site or processing online transactions.

Back-up
The act of storing a replica of electronic data on a removable storage device.

Biometrics
A security technique for checking and verifying identities that employs digitally created 'maps' of an individual's physical characteristics (eg. thumb prints, voice recordings or iris scans). These are stored by a security system and are later compared when accessed by the individual.

Bookmark
A URL (website address) that you have saved into your 'Favourites' on your web browser so that you can revisit it at a later time.

Broadband
Term used for any kind of fast Internet access. Broadband is designed to give a business or residential user instant Internet access 24 hours a day. It's fast - generally 10-20 times faster than your existing dial-up modem. A typical dial-up modem operates at either 28.8 kbit/s or 56 kbit/s. A broadband connection operates at between 256 kbit/s and 10 Mbit/s, depending on the service you have selected.

To give you an idea of the difference that this speed can make, a 150 Kbyte Word document takes about 21 seconds to download using a 56 kbit/s dial-up modem, but less than 1 second on a 1.5 Mbit/s broadband link. Similarly, an 8 Mbyte PowerPoint presentation takes about 19 minutes to download using a 56 kbit/s dial-up modem but only about 43 seconds on a 1.5 Mbit/s broadband link.

Business Process Management Services
These services transform, manage, and run key business processes, including customer relationship management, sourcing and procurement, and employee services, applying e-business technologies to achieve significant operational improvements.

Business-to-Business (B2B)
B2B refers to commercial electronic commerce transactions between two businesses. From the technical point of view, e-commerce is the processing and transmission of digitised data. Electronic commerce does not only refer to the relationship between business and consumer, but also to the economic connection between business and business.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
B2C refers to commercial electronic commerce transactions between a business and a consumer.

CA (Certification Authority)
An organisation that is responsible for the distribution of Public Key Certificates and associated private keys.

CD ROM
These initials stand for - Compact Disc - Read Only Memory. These discs, which look just like a music CD, can store up to 700 megabytes of information, which equates to a whole encyclopaedia. Read Only Memory means that you buy them with information already on them - you can't store store data on them yourself. Today, many computers come with a CD reader AND writer facility that allows you to read information stored on a CD ROM but also to write (or store) information onto a blank CD - these can be bought at about $1.50 each from most stationery and office supply outlets.

CETS (Commonwealth Electronic Tender System)
Enables suppliers to access selected Commonwealth Government bidding opportunities and submit electronic tenders in response.

Comma Delimited File (also known as a csv file)
A computer file which consists of a string of data, each section of which is separated by a comma. When imported into a spreadsheet each piece of data, separated by a comma, is loaded into a separate cell. Often used to transfer data entered into an online form to the website owner, who can then import the data into a spreadsheet or database.

Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines
Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance (Feb 2002) clarify what is required and expected in Commonwealth procurement activity. The Guidelines allow agencies to decide how best to handle their affairs, taking account of their own circumstances and the nature of the markets in which they are operating.

Confidentiality
Refers to the need to protect information because of its value or sensitivity.

Cookies
A packet of data stored on a computer hard disk by a website, used to track visitor behaviour.

Cryptography
The mathematical process of converting information into a secret code so that it can be safely transmitted over a public network such as the Internet.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Uses proven methodologies and e-business technologies to help companies to identify, select, acquire, develop, and retain profitable customers, building the lasting relationships that are key to long-term financial success.

Cyberspace
The term given to the invisible space occupied by the bits and bytes that make up the Internet, our emails and our websites.

Data Mining
Data mining is the process of analysing business data in a data warehouse to find unknown patterns or rules of information that you can use to tailor business operations. Data mining can find patterns in data to answer questions, such as what item purchased in a given transaction triggers the purchase of additional related items or what items tend to be purchased using credit cards, cash or cheques. Data Mining predicts future trends and behaviours, allowing businesses to make proactive, knowledge-driven decisions.

Data Warehousing Management
The ongoing supervision of the data warehousing process. A data warehouse collects, organises and makes data available for the purpose of analysis. It gives management the ability to access and analyse information about its business.

Dial-up
Calling up Internet access via analogue telephone lines or ISDN.

Digital Certificate
A data file that is issued by a Certification Authority to an individual or organisation to identify them to online services.

Digital Signature
Data included within a digital document that identifies who produced it. It can also be used to detect and track any changes that have been made to the document.

Domain Name
A domain name identifies your website on the Internet. A domain name must be registered. Your domain name is a very valuable marketing tool and should be chosen with great care.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
A telephone connection using standard copper telephone wires to transmit data at speeds far in excess of conventional analogue telephone lines.

Dumping
The process of installing a phone dialler on a PC which diverts ISP connections to a high-charge number, without asking the users' permission.

E-Business
Encompasses all of what has been called e-commerce, and includes every aspect of the organisation's strategy and operations. In its narrowest sense, e-business means the use of information and the Internet technologies to conduct business between buyers, sellers and other trading partners.

E-Catalogue
An e-catalogue is an online presentation of information on products and services that are offered and sold by an organisation.

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce)
Use of electronic communications, particularly via the internet, to facilitate the purchase/sale of goods and services. E-commerce includes all forms of electronic trading including electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic banking, electronic mail and other online services.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
The electronic exchange of business documents (for example, purchase orders, invoices, and bills of lading) directly between applications executing on companies' computer systems via standardised forms. A precursor of today's e-business systems.

Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (ETA)
This Act provides a regulatory framework to facilitate the use of electronic transactions under Commonwealth laws. Other jurisdictions have enacted or will enact complementary legislation in order to establish a uniform legal framework for electronic transactions across Australia.

Email
Email, or rather electronic mail, is the most commonly-used application on the Internet. Email allows you to send text messages across a network, either internal or external, like the Internet. To send an email you must know the email address of the person you want to send the mail to - eg john@somewhere.com. An email address comprises a user name, in this case, john, and the name of the server that the mail has been sent to, in this case, somewhere.com.

E-Marketplace
An electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) that allows buyers and suppliers to carry out transactions via the Internet. E-marketplaces typically contain online catalogues from a number of suppliers, as well as ordering facilities, while some also include the capability to seek quotes from suppliers in the marketplace.

Email Marketing
The practice of sending sales letters or customer newsletters by email. Many businesses find it a cost effective marketing tool. Email communications are often more effective than printed direct mail, because a reader can click on a link and go straight to the sender's web site.

Endorsed Supplier Arrangement
A system for pre-qualifying suppliers in the Information Technology, Major Office Machine, Commercial Office Furniture and Auctioneering industries that wish to sell to Commonwealth Government agencies.

Encryption
Encryption is the conversion of data into a secret code for transmission over a public network. The original (plain) text is converted into a coded equivalent called 'cipher text' via an encryption algorithm. The cipher text is decoded (decrypted) at the receiving end and turned back into plain text. The encryption algorithm uses a key, a binary number that is typically from 40 to 128 bits in length. The greater the number of bits in the key (cipher strength), the more possible key combinations and the longer it would take to break the code. The data is encrypted, or 'locked', by combining the bits in the key mathematically with the data bits. At the receiving end, the key is used to 'unlock' the code and restore the original data.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system helps an organisation to manage the important parts of its business. It has different modules to look after areas such as production planning, procurement, human resources and finance. The implementation of an ERP system involves a considerable amount of process re-engineering and employee retraining. SAP, Peoplesoft, and J.D. Edwards are among the largest ERP providers.

Extranets
Extranets allow your clients to access parts of your internal networks, which are normally inaccessible to people outside the company. They are useful for online ordering and payment systems. In addition, clients can have access to work in progress or training and product information appropriate to them.

Ezine
An electronic magazine or newsletter delivered over the Internet via email.

Firewall
A firewall prevents unauthorised users from accessing your computer or network when connected to another network or to the Internet. It can be in the form of a program or hardware or a combination of both.

Frontend
The frontend of a website is the part that you see on the screen: the graphics, the fill-in forms, the overall interface design. If you want to do more than display graphics and text you will also need a Backend.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way of logging into another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name, anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous FTP servers.

Gatekeeper
The Australian Government initiative to make all services available online in a secure fashion.

DCITA has responsibility for managing the accreditation of organisations and service providers under the Gatekeeper® PKI framework.

Accreditation criteria for certification authorities were released in December 1998. The criteria include:

• compliance with Australian Government procurement policy
• security policy and planning
• physical security
• technology evaluation
• Certification Authority policy and administration
• personnel vetting
• legal issues
• privacy considerations.

Gigabyte (GB or Gb)
This is a unit of measurement of computer memory and means one thousand million bytes, or one thousand megabytes. This equates to about one thousand average-size novels. A CD ROM stores about .7 of a gigabyte (or 700 megabytes). Many computers today come with 40+ gigabytes of hard disk memory.

Graphic Design
Graphic Design is the process and art of combining text and graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication.

Hacker
Someone who attempts to gain unauthorised access to a computer system, often for fraudulent purposes.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
HTML is the set of mark-up symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page.

Illustration
An Illustration is a visualisation such as drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an Illustration is to elucidate or decorate a story, poem or piece of textual information (such as a newspaper article) by providing a visual representation of something described in the text.

Internet
The Internet is a worldwide communications system that connects computers and networks of computers to each other.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
A company or organisation that offers Internet access to customers for a fee. Some ISPs offer hosting of websites and website design and promotion services as well.

Interoperability
The degree to which different types of software and hardware can interact effectively with each other.

Intranet
Intranets are websites that can only be accessed within a company through your internal network or LAN. They are protected from the outside world by a combination of hardware and software security. Intranets are a good way of sharing information within the company; enhancing internal communication and enabling better customer care. Intranets commonly hold products and service guides, employee handbooks, company-wide memos, phone numbers and email addresses.

IP (Internet Protocols) and TCP (Transmission Control Protocols)
IP/TCP establishes the way in which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. IP/TCP establishes the unique numerical addresses assigned to every computer connected to the Internet.

IP Address
The unique numerical address assigned to every computer connected to the Internet.

ISDN
A form of telephone connection in which digital signals are sent over existing copper telephone wires. Speeds vary considerably, but are always higher than traditional analogue telephone connections. ISDN sends data via a digital phone line to national and international destinations and can be used for high speed Internet access. It can be used to deliver the total Internet, telephony and fax requirements of a small business. Its speed and clarity mean you can use it to send and receive text, voice, video and images. Internet speeds can range from dialup at 50kbits/s plus to 64kbitp/s and 128kbits/s for fast Internet access using two lines.

Kilobyte (KB or Kb)
1024 bytes - approximately one thousand characters or letters.

Knowledge Management (KM)
The creation, storage and collaborative sharing of employee information within the business environment. Through sharing and collaboration, an organisation's efficiency, productivity and profitability is enhanced. Supported by advanced Information Technology tools and methods.

LAN (Local Area Network)
A combination of personal computers, servers, and communication devices that are connected to share data files, resources and applications. Located in close proximity, such as on the same floor or in the same or nearby buildings.

Log File
A file used by websites to record the date, time and IP address of each user that visits it. Log files can be analysed through software that provides the website owner with an intelligence report of the traffic, usage and areas visited within the website.

Logistics
The process of physically delivering goods to customers is known as logistics. This vital, and often over-looked, sector is likely to benefit greatly from an increasing dependence on e-commerce.

Malicious Code
Malicious code is software designed to damage the user's data, steal information or compromise the ability to use the computer. It is often hidden as a trojan. Malicious code is also known as malware (shortened from malicious software).

Malware
See malicious code.

Megabyte (MB or Mb)
This is a unit of measurement of computer memory and means one million bytes of information. This equates to about one average-size novel. A floppy disk can store about 1.44 Mb of information.

Metadata
Information about your website written in the HTML code. It is data about the data in your site. You can't see it on the website (unless you select View and Source in the Internet Explorer menu bar) because it sits behind the page and is read by search engines which index the information about your website in their directory.

Modem
A modem is a device that connects your computer to your phone line, allowing you to send and receive email and access websites. Modems are generally built-in to new computers but can also be bought as separate devices and then plugged into your computer. Currently modems provide the potential to connect to the Internet at 56 thousand bits per second.

Multimedia
Multimedia is the use of several different media to convey information with text, audio, graphics, animation, video, and interactivity.

Online
Describes any activity carried out on a computer terminal while your computer is connected to another computer or computer network.

Online Procurement
This describes purchasing which takes place between companies using services such as the Internet, Electronic Data Interchange or Electronic File transfer. Two companies, one the supplier and the other the purchaser, transmit inquiries, orders, invoices, payments etc. directly through their computer systems.

Open Source
Open source refers to software products that are freely available and offered by development communities online. They come with no warranty but are usually very well tested by development groups. Open source software can help reduce costs, but only a limited number of products are available via this channel. The most renowned open source product is Linux. This is a free UNIX-type operating system.

Password
A word or code that protects against unauthorised access to data. The word or code is entered in order to access the data.

Password Cracking
Password cracking is the process of breaking passwords to gain unauthorised access to a computer system.

Patch
A patch is a solution provided by a vendor to update, or correct vulnerabilities in, existing program software. It is vital therefore to install as soon as possible any new patches that are made available. Patches can usually be downloaded from the relevant vendor's website.

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)
A popular form of cryptography often used to encrypt email.

Phishing
"Phishing" is a technique used to gain personal information for purposes of identity theft, using fraudulent email messages that appear to come from legitimate businesses, most commonly banks. These authentic-looking messages are designed to lure recipients into divulging personal data such as account numbers and passwords and credit card numbers.

Photography
Photography is the art of using and manipulating the camera and film to produce unique images of reality or formal abstractions. The subject and the stylistic or aesthetic intentions of the photographer will determine the "type" of photography.

PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)
The policies and procedures that exist for establishing a secure method for exchanging information within an organisation, an industry, a nation or worldwide. It makes use of Certification Authorities (CAs), Registration Authorities (RAs) and digital signatures, as well as all of the hardware and software used to manage the process. This infrastructure, consisting of policies, legislation and facilities, creates a system of trustworthy CAs and RAs that enables e-commerce to occur with an extremely high level of confidence.

Plug-in
An auxiliary program that works with a major software package to enhance its capability. For instance, PGP security systems can be added to email programs.

Private Key
The key in public key cryptography that is kept private by an individual or organisation.

Procurement

• Simple procurement is the acquisition, through simple purchase processes (for example, ordering from a catalogue), of goods and services that are commodities or otherwise easily described.
• Complex procurement is the acquisition, through multi-stage, managed selection and evaluation processes, of non-commodity goods and services.
• Strategic procurement is the acquisition of goods and services that are critical to an organisation's viability, and may involve selection of a small group of suppliers through which a business's strategic needs are acquired.
• Procurement service provider an intermediary providing a range of services to reduce costs associated with purchasing goods and services. Every company's procurement needs are different, and services can be tailored from providing strategic support in sourcing the right goods and services to complete management of transactions.

Public Key
The key in public key cryptography that is openly available and is not kept private.

Public Key Certificate
The certificate which contains the public key and other information of a subscriber, and which is digitally signed by the private key of the issuing CA.

Public Key Cryptography
A system of securing data that uses two keys to scramble and decipher messages. One key is known as a 'public key' and is widely distributed. The other is called a 'private key' and is held secretly by an individual. Messages are protected by scrambling them with the public key of the person you are sending a message to. Computer algorithms ensure that only the private key held by the person you are emailing can decrypt or unscramble the message.

RA (Registration Authority)
An organisation that confirms the claimed identity of those who are applying for a digital signature.

Search Engines
These are websites which store information about webpages and which allow you to search through this information to find the specific page that you are looking for. Some of the most popular search engines are Yahoo, Alta Vista and Google. You can register your website with all the search engines and this is one of the most important methods of marketing your site online. Hidden words, known as meta tags, can be inserted into your webpages and the search engines use these meta tags to identify your site.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
The term used to describe the marketing technique of preparing a website to enhance its chances of being ranked in the top results of a search engine once a relevant search is undertaken. A number of factors are important when optimising a website, including the content and structure of the website's copy and page layout, the HTML meta-tags and the submission process. Gee Multimedia is a specialist in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in Melbourne, Australia. We have worked hard to establish ourselves as one of Melbourne's most successful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies. As an industry leader with a proven track record in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Gee Multimedia will naturally optimise your website to ensure that your website achieves and maintains high rankings for your keywords and in the Internet's leading search engines and directories.

Server
A computer linked to a network that handles requests from other computers, or clients, serving them with files and processing power.

Spam
In the context of the Internet, spam refers to an electronic mail message that is transmitted to a large number of recipients, most of whom have not requested those messages. Spam is also called Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) or the more narrowly defined Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE).

SME (Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises)
Defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS catalogue 8141) as:

• a micro business, employing fewer than five people
• other small businesses, employing five or more, but fewer than 20 people
• a medium business, employing 20 or more people but fewer than 200.

A separate definition exists for SMEs in the information technology sector, with the recently released 'ICT procurement arrangements to assist SMEs'.

Spoofing
The process of sending an email from a faked address.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
The most widely-used security protocol on the Internet, often used for online shopping sites. SSL creates a secure channel over which data can be exchanged.

S/MIME
A standard for allowing emails and attachments to be sent securely.

SQL (Structured Query Language)
A standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database.

Subscriber
Either a person or business entity that is in possession or control of the private key and who uses that key to digitally sign messages.

Supplier Hub
An online content hub for suppliers and buyers linking supplier catalogues to buyer's e-procurement systems.

Supply-Chain Management (SCM)
An electronic alternative to the traditional paper chain, providing companies with a smarter, faster, more efficient way to get the right product to the right customer at the right time and price. Combines the power of the Internet with the latest technology, enabling participating suppliers to access up-to-date company information and enabling companies to better manage and track supply and demand.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocols) and IP (Internet Protocols)
TCP/IP establishes the way in which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. TCP/IP establishes unique numerical addresses assigned to every computer connected to the Internet.

TLS (Transport Layer Security)
An alternative name for SSL.

Trojan
See Trojan Horse.

Trojan Horse
A trojan horse, or trojan, as the name implies, secretly carries often-damaging software in the guise of an innocuous program, often as an email attachment. The file name itself is normally misleading to entice you to open it. When the file is opened the trojan horse can do all sorts of things, from erasing files to changing your desktop, or installing a keystroke logger that can monitor every key you type and report back to a hacker.

Virus
A virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge or permission. Once loaded onto your computer, a virus is capable of reproducing itself by travelling from file to file and from computer to computer, often destroying files in the process.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A system to allow businesses to access their internal networks and computers over the Internet or other public network, using encrypted tunnels to ensure that data cannot be accessed without authorisation.

WAN (Wide Area Network)
A group of connected local area networks (See LAN) spanning a large geographical area, such as a city or country.

Web Design
Theoretical layout of graphics, text, and images which will eventually be developed into a Web site.

Web Design Melbourne
Gee Multimedia is a specialist web design company in Melbourne, Australia. We have worked hard to establish ourselves as Melbourne's most innovative web design an development company.

Web Designer
A person who designs Web pages. Usually a designer will produce a mockup of a page in a graphics application (for example, Adobe Photoshop or The GIMP). Once a design has been approved by a client the designer will produce an HTML template, CSS files and all of the images needed to produce the Web site. These files will then be passed to a Web developer or directly to the client.

Web Developer
Web design is the design or designing of a Web page, Website or Web application. The term generally refers to the graphical side of Web development using images, CSS and XHTML.

Web Development
Web development incorporates all areas of creating a Web site for the World Wide Web. This includes Web design (graphic design, XHTML, CSS, usability and semantics), programming, server administration, content management, marketing, testing and deployment. The term can also specifically be used to refer to the "back end", that is, programming and server administration. There are usually more than one member that works on a given Web Development team, each specialising in his or her own field.

Website Hosting
While web pages are designed and developed on a single computer, they must be transferred to a server, or host, so that they are available to the rest of the world over the Internet. A host is simply a computer that has a constant, high speed connection to the Internet.

Web Server
A computer that serves out website pages.

Webmaster
A person who manages the day-to-day technical maintenance of a website.

Wireless
Wireless broadband delivers fast access, not over a physical network, but using a ground-based antenna system, much like a mobile phone. A credit-card sized PC card plugs into your laptop and communicates over the airwaves with a local access point. From there the information is transmitted via a cable or ADSL link to your Internet service provider.

Wireless broadband can be very useful for workers such as contractors and consultants who are frequently away from fixed places of work; so called "road warriors". Wireless broadband is a rapidly emerging technology and there are initiatives taking place to make this technology more accessible in the near future.

World Wide Web (WWW or the Web)
The collective term given to the vastly distributed universe of documents and data, written in HTML or other similar languages, residing on the Internet. The Web is a sub-set of the Internet.

Worm
A worm is a program that replicates itself and spreads from computer to computer across the Internet. Like viruses and trojans, worms are a form of malicious code which may perform some harmful function in the process on infected computers. Worms often spread by exploiting software vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications software.