Business Technology Acronyms
It’s hard to imagine how businesses would manage without the IT solutions now available. They make many aspects of running a business easier but it can also be a challenge to get and stay on top of it all. The jargon used in the IT industry doesn’t help. IT professionals may not realise that ‘geekspeak’ is alienating for prospective clients and can put purchasers off. IT professionals do try not to overuse jargon and acronyms when engaging with customers, but it’s sometimes unavoidable. Here is a guide to some of the phrases and abbreviations commonly used in IT that are useful for business owners to know.
SMBs
SMB refers to small- and medium-sized businesses. Organizations that employ 1 to 500 people fall into this category. At Quikteks, SMBs are our client base. The managed IT services that we supply are designed to help smaller businesses, who don’t have the budgets of large corporations, to take advantage of enterprise level IT solutions.
ROI
ROI is short for ‘Return on Investment’. As with any investment, tech support is not risk-free, in terms of what you get for your financial outlay. It’s a basic principle of good business that the rewards of an investment should be worth the expenditure. Measuring this is part of financial risk assessment. Establishing the ROI for a business solution is an important step to take when budgeting and establishing your financial strategy.
VoIP
VoIP stands for ‘Voice over Internet Protocol’. It’s a technology that is rapidly being adopted by business owners. It transfers your voice over the internet to other computers, much like conventional telephone systems, but at a much reduced cost. VoIP also has additional features, like instant messaging and video conferencing, which are useful for many companies.
UTM
UTM, or Unified Threat Management, relates to computer security. The UTM solution is a comprehensive security device that includes firewall and antivirus protection, spam blocking and options for content filtering. It’s an all-round approach to securing your network against cyberthreats and defusing any that get through your defenses.
BDR
If you don’t know what this stands for, here’s a clue: it’s the most important thing you can invest in to protect your IT system and data. A BDR is a Backup and Disaster Recovery solution. Its purpose is to enable you to survive a catastrophe quickly and efficiently. A BDR means that you can back up your business data at regular intervals through the working day, and recover your data speedily if a problem arises. A BDR can even act as a server if you experience hardware failure, whether that’s because it’s old and worn out or because of physical damage (for example, fire or water damage).
BCP
Your BCP is your Business Continuity Plan and every business needs one. Sometimes a BCP is confused with a BDR, but actually they are very different. A BDR will be one element in your larger business strategy. The BCP charts how a business keeps going if your day-to-day operations are affected by problems such as disasters, death or illness, workforce downtime or turnover and other potential disruptions. Business continuity plans are all about carrying on seamlessly for as long as possible, even in the face of unusual and unlikely scenarios.
You’ll see that knowing what these acronyms stand for, and what they mean in business technology, is highly relevant to almost any business. Does your SMB need a BDR or UTM? It definitely could, and Quikteks is here to help. Our professionals want to see your technology deliver the maximum ROI for your organization. Our expertise will ensure this technology delivers for your business. Call us at (973) 882-4644 for help and advice.