• AFFILIATES.  Affiliates are generally resellers that sell products online, through the internet. They are normally compensated on a ‘per sale’ basis, though some merchants will pay commissions on a ‘per click’ basis, too. Affiliates promote products their own websites and invite (well, entice) visitors to click through to the merchants website to hopefully conclude the sale.
• ASP.  Application Service Providers are companies that supply software applications and/or software-related services over the Internet.
• CHANNEL.  Vendors often elect to sell their products through a channel of resellers. Resellers are sometimes referred to as Value-Added Resellers, or VAR’s.
• CRM. Customer Relationship Management. There are various definitions of what constitutes CRM.
  • CRM Definitions:“An enterprisewide business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by organizing the enterprise around customer segments, fostering customer-satisfying behaviors and linking processes from customers through suppliers.”
    Gartner Group
  • “Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a way to identify, acquire, and retain customers, a business’ greatest asset. Research has shown that companies that create satisfied, loyal customers have more repeat business, lower customer-acquisition costs, and stronger brand value—all of which translates into better financial performance.”
    Siebel
• DEALERS. Software retailers and discounters are often referred to as dealers. Typically, a dealer does not add value to the vendors products that they sell.
• DIRECT SALES. Some vendors will sell their products through their in-house sales team, directly to the public. If they also have a Reseller Channel, they are careful to avoid any channel conflicts. This they might do by defining territories or specific accounts that are nominated as ‘house accounts’.
• HTTP.  Hypertext transport protocol
• IT.  Information Technology
• J2EE. Java 2 Enterprise Edition
• MERCHANTS. Merchants are the manufacturers of products that affiliates resell on their behalf. Often referred to as Vendors.
• MIME. Multipurpose internet mail extensions
• MODULE. Some CRM and other applications are modular ie. You can add on features (at a price) like building blocks to the core product to give it additional functionality.
• ODBC. Open DataBase Connectivity. A general interface for communication with different Relational Database Systems.
• OSS. Open Source software. OSS is the term used to describe software that is not copyrighted, but instead is the collective effort of software developers around the world on a mission to improve human living standards by providing these products free of charge.
• PIM. Personal Information Manager
• PSA. Professional Services Automation. PSA applications address the needs of project based organizations.
• SFA. Sales Force Automation
• SMTP. Simple Mail Transport Protocol
• SOAP. Simple Object Access Protocol is an XML-based messaging protocol used to encode the information in Web service requests and response messages before sending them over networks.
• SQL. Structured Query Language is the industry standard language for designing and communicating with relational databases.
• VAR’s. Acronym for Value Added Resellers. VAR’s add value by offering additional services, including installing, commissioning, training and on-going support.
• VENDOR. The company or corporation that is the developer, manufacturer or authors of the CRM software. Vendors are sometimes referred to as ‘software houses’, or ‘merchants’.
• XML. eXtensible markup language

And for a bit of light relief…

Humorous South African Thesaurus Of Computer Terminology

Glossary Of Terms:

Log On – Make the braai (barbecue) hotter

Log Off – The braai is too hot

Monitor – Keeping an eye on the braai

Download – Get the firewood off the bakkie (clapped out open-back SUV)

Hard drive – Trip back home without any cold beer

Keyboard – Where you hang the bakkie and bike keys

Window – What you shut when it’s cold

Byte – What mosquitoes do

Bit – What mosquitoes did

Mega Byte – What mosquitoes at the lake do

Chip – A bar snack

Micro Chip – What’s left in the bag after you have eaten the chips

Dot Matrix – Old Jan Matrix’s wife

Laptop – Where the cat sleeps

Mouse – What eats the grain in the shed

Mainframe – What holds the shed up

Web – What spiders make

Web Site – The shed or under the verandah

Cursor – The old bloke who swears a lot

Search Engine – What you do when the bakkie won’t go

Yahoo – What you say when the bakkie does go

Mail Server – The bloke at the pub that brings out the lunch

Internet – Complicated fish net repair method

Netscape – When fish manoeuvres out of reach of net

Online – When you get the laundry hung out

Off Line – When the pegs don’t hold the washing up.