Automation Terms
Business Automation Glossary & Definitions
Need to understand the most popular in business automation terms? We’ve got you covered. Check out the glossary below & stay in the know on all things optimization.
A
Automation
The use of technology to execute repetitive tasks or processes in a business automatically where manual effort was previously used.
Automation Software
Software used to automate a variety of tasks within a business process.
API
Application Programming Interfaces are a set of rules that allows different software entities to communicate with each other.
B
Business Process
A collection of linked tasks within an organization that enable a company to deliver service or product to a client.
Business Process Automation
BPA is the automation of complex business processes and functions beyond conventional data manipulation and record-keeping activities.
Business Process Management
BPM is the discipline of applying any combination of modeling, automation, execution, control, measurement, and optimization efforts to a business’s processes.
C
CRM
Customer Relationship Manager is a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.
Cloud Automation
The use of tools and services to automate management tasks in cloud computing environments.
Continuous Improvement
Ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes over time.
D
Data Migration
The process of transferring data between data storage systems, data formats, or software systems.
Data Integration
The process of combining data from different sources into a single, unified view within a single app or database.
Digital Transformation
The integration of digital technology into one or many areas of a business, fundamentally changing how organizations operate and deliver value to customers.
E
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning is business process management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back-office functions.
Event-Driven Automation
Automation that is triggered by events, such as changes in data, system updates, or a pre-defined schedule.
Efficiency
Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.
F
Flowchart
A visual diagram that represents a workflow or process, showing the steps their order as boxes connected by arrows.
Functionality
A range of possible operations that can be run on a computer or other technological device.
Failover
The automatic switching to a redundant or standby server, system, or network upon the failure or unexpected termination of the previously active server, system, or network.
G
GUI
A Graphical User Interface is an interface that includes graphical elements, such as windows, icons, and buttons.
Gap Analysis
A method of assessing the differences in performance between a business’ information systems or software applications.
Governance
The establishment of policies, and continuous monitoring of their proper implementation, by the members of the governing body of an organization.
H
Hybrid Cloud
A cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud, and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms.
Human-Centric BPM
Business Process Management that places human interaction at the forefront of process workflows.
Hyperautomation
An approach in which businesses automate as many business and IT processes as possible using tools like AI, machine learning, event-driven software, robotic process automation, and other types of decision process and task automation tools.
I
Integration
The process of bringing together the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system.
IT Automation
The use of instructions to create a repeated process that replaces or supports an IT professional’s manual work in data centers and cloud deployments.
Intelligent Automation
The combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to produce superior efficiency.
J
Job Scheduling
The process of allocating system resources to various tasks by an operating system.
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate.
JIT Compilation
Just-In-Time compilation is a way of compiling computer code during the execution of a program.
K
Key Performance Indicator
A KPI is a type of performance measurement that evaluates the success of an organization or particular activity.
Knowledge Base
A technology used to store complex structured and unstructured info used by a computer system, or a CMS for documentation used by humans.
Knowledge Management
The process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization.
L
Lean Process Improvement
A method for reducing waste within a process.
Load Balancing
Distributing network or application traffic across a number of servers to ensure no single server becomes overwhelmed with too much traffic.
Low-Code Development
A software development that uses GUIs rather than computer code to build applications and processes.
M
Machine Learning
A type of artificial intelligence that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed to do so.
Microservices
A variant of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) software development style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services.
Middleware
Software that provides common services and capabilities to applications outside of what’s offered by the operating system.
N
NLP
Natural Language Processing is a field of artificial intelligence that focuses on the interaction between computers and humans using natural language.
No-Code Development
A type of software development that allows non-programmers to create applications using a visual interface rather than writing code.
Notification System
A combination of software and hardware that provides a means of delivering a message to a set of recipients.
O
Optimization
The process of making something as effective, efficient, or functional as possible.
Orchestration
The automated configuration, coordination, and management of computer systems, applications, and services.
Outsourcing
The business practice of hiring an external resource to perform services and create goods that traditionally were performed in-house by the company’s own employees and staff.
P
Process
A series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
Process Automation
The act of implementing technology to automate business processes.
Process Mining
A technique to analyze and monitor processes based on the digital traces left by IT systems.
Q
Quality Assurance
QA is a method of preventing mistakes and defects by testing manufactured products and software before its release to end users.
Query
A request for data or information from a database table or combination of tables based on certain filters or parameters.
Queue Management
The process of managing a customer or computing resource’s waiting time.
R
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
The use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform.
Real-Time Monitoring
The continuous observation of a system or process to provide timely information for decision-making.
Resource Allocation
The process of assigning and managing assets in a manner that supports an organization’s strategic goals.
S
SaaS
Software as a Service is a business model that allows software developers to deliver their applications to clients over the internet rather than installing them on on-premise hardware.
Scripting
Writing a script to automate tasks in a web application, such as extracting info from a data set.
System Integration
The process of bringing together individual subsystems into one and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system.
T
Task Automation
The use of software to reduce the manual handling of manual, repetitive tasks.
Trigger
An event that causes a specific action to be taken in a software environment. Triggers can be date, user, or data-initiated.
Total Quality Management
TQM is a management approach to long-term success that aligns all employees with its customers’ satisfaction.
U
User Interface
A UI is a space where interactions between humans and machines occur.
Uptime
The time during which a machine, especially a computer, is in operation and capable of performing its tasks.
User Experience
UX is the end result of a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system, or service.
V
Virtualization
The act of creating a virtual version of physical machines, including computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and computer network resources.
Version Control
The management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information.
Validation
The process of evaluating software or automation efforts during or at the end of a development cycle to determine whether it satisfies specified business conditions.
W
Workflow
The sequence of industrial, administrative, or human processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.
Workflow Automation
The design, execution, and automation of workflows to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
Web Services
A standardized way or medium to propagate communication between the client and server applications on the World Wide Web and build applications upon.
X
XML
eXtensible Markup Language is a programming language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
XPath
XML Path Language is a language for finding information within an XML document.
XaaS
“Anything as a Service” is a collective term that represents delivery of anything as a service via the cloud. Examples include software, platforms, infrastructure, security and more.
Y
Yield
The amount of future product or output expected from a process, system, or machine.
YAML
YAML Ain’t Markup Language is a human-readable data serialization standard that can be used with all programming languages and is often used to write configuration files.
Z
Zero Downtime
A design approach and a set of related practices that ensure that a system operates continuously without experiencing downtime, even during upgrades and maintenance.
Zero Trust Architecture
A security concept centered on the belief that organizations should not automatically trust anything inside or outside its perimeters and, instead, must verify anything and everything trying to connect to its systems before granting access.
Zone Redundancy
A method of ensuring availability and reliability by duplicating resources and services across multiple geographic zones.