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Glossary 547

limited portion of the business. The advantage of pilot Problem A perceived difference between what is and what
implementation is that if the system fails, the failure ought to be. 44
is contained within a limited boundary. This reduces Procedures Instructions for humans. One of the five funda-
exposure of the business and also protects the new sys- mental components of an information system. 11
tem from developing a negative reputation throughout
the organizations. 475 Process blueprints In an ERP application, comprehensive
sets of inherent processes for all organizational activities,
PixelSense The Microsoft product formerly known as each of which is documented with diagrams that use a set of
Surface. It allows many users to process the same tabletop standardized symbols. 272
touch interface. Primarily used in hotels and entertain-
ment centers. 156 Process effectiveness A measure of how well a process
achieves organizational strategy. 256
Platform as a service (PaaS) Vendors provide hosted com-
puters, an operating system, and possibly a DBMS. 227 Process efficiency A measure of the ratio of process outputs
to inputs. 255
Plunge installation A type of system conversion in which
the organization shuts off the old system and starts the Project data Data that is part of a collaboration’s work
new system. If the new system fails, the organization is in product. 46
trouble: Nothing can be done until either the new system Project metadata Data that is used to manage a project.
is fixed or the old system is reinstalled. Because of the risk, Schedules, tasks, budgets, and other managerial data are
organizations should avoid this conversion style if possible. examples. 46
Sometimes called direct installation. 476 Protocol A set of rules and data structures for organizing
Pooled The situation in which many different organizations communication. 214
use the same physical hardware. 208 Public IP address An IP address used to identify a par-
Power curve A graph that shows the relationship of the ticular device on the Internet. Such IP addresses are
power (the utility that one gains from a software product) as assigned to major institutions in blocks by the Internet
a function of the time using that product. 65 Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Each IP address is unique across all computers on the
Predictive policing Using data on past crimes to predict
where future crimes are likely to occur. 343 Internet. 218
Public key encryption A special version of asymmetric en-
Pretexting Deceiving someone over the Internet by pretend-
ing to be another person or organization. 392 cryption that is popular on the Internet. With this method,
each site has a public key for encoding messages and a pri-
Primary activities Activities that contribute directly to the vate key for decoding them. 405
production, sale, or service of a product. In Porter’s model
they are inbound logistics, operations and manufactur- Publish results The process of delivering business intelli-
ing, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and customer gence to the knowledge workers who need it. 344
service. 88 Pull publishing In business intelligence (BI) systems, the
mode whereby users must request BI results. 344
Primary key One or more columns in a relation whose
values identify a unique row of that relation. Also known as Push publishing In business intelligence (BI) systems, the
a key. 166 mode whereby the BI system delivers business intelligence
to users without any request from the users, according to
PRISM Codename for a secret global surveillance program
run by the National Security Agency. 418 a schedule, or as a result of an event or particular data
condition. 344
Privacy The freedom from being observed by other
people. 418 Quad processor A computer with four CPUs. 116
Privacy Act of 1974 Federal law that provides protections Quick Launch A menu with links to important content on a
to individuals regarding records maintained by the U.S. SharePoint site. 76
government. 402 RAM Random access memory. Another name for a com-
Private cloud In-house hosting, delivered via Web service puter’s main memory. 116
standards, which can be dynamically configured. 232 Records Also called rows, groups of columns in a database
Private IP address A type of IP address used within private table. 165
networks and internets. Private IP addresses are assigned RFM analysis A technique readily implemented with basic
and managed by the company that operates the private net- reporting operations to analyze and rank customers accord-
work or internet. 218 ing to their purchasing patterns. 355