5 Significant Risks IoT Devices Pose for Data & Privacy
March 3, 2021Cybersecurity, Compliance, and Government Acronym Lists
Mastering MSP Acronyms: A Comprehensive Guide for IT Professionals
Explore our four meticulously organized alphabetical lists of IT-related acronyms, covering Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP), Cybersecurity Compliance, Government Procurement, and Business Management.
Copyright © P. Jay Massey 2022, last updated April 26, 2024
Whether you work for an MSP or work with an MSP, navigating the labyrinth of IT acronyms is crucial for professionals across sectors such as Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP), Cybersecurity Compliance, Government Procurement, and Business Management. This guide provides a detailed and regularly updated glossary of crucial acronyms, empowering you with the knowledge necessary to stay informed and efficient in your field. Whether you're a seasoned expert or new to the industry, understanding these acronyms will enhance your comprehension and communication within the rapidly evolving arenas of civilian and federal information technology and cybersecurity.
IT Managed Security Service Provider Acronyms
3PP - Third-party Patching
ACL - Access Control List
AI - Artificial Intelligence
AISP - All-in Seat Price
AP - Access Point
API - Application Programming Interface
ASP - Application Service Provider
AUP - Acceptable Use Policy
AV - Antivirus
AVD - Azure Virtual Desktop
AWS - Amazon Web Services
BaaS - Backend as a Service
BaaS - Backup as a Service
BIA - Broadband Internet Access
BYOD - Bring Your Own Device
CCaaS - Contact Center as a Service
CCIE - Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert
CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate
CDN - Content Delivery Network
CDP - Continuous Data Protection (backup technology)
CGNAT - Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (aka CGN)
CIS - Computer Information Systems
CISA - Certified Information Systems Auditor (ISACA) (see CISA in Govt/VA)
CMS - Cloud Managed Service (IT) (see CMS in Bus/Mgmt & Govt/VA)
CMSA - Cloud Managed Service Agreement
CMSP - Cybersecurity Managed Service Provider
CompTIA - Computing Technology Industry Association
CPE - Customer Premises Equipment
CSP - Cloud Service Providers
DAS - Distributed Antenna System
DaaS - Desktop as a Service (aka Data as a Service)
DevOps - Software Dev (Dev) & IT Operations (Ops) (also see DevSecOps)
DKIM - DomainKeys Identified Mail
DL - Deep Learning
DR - Data Recovery
DRaaS - Data Recovery as a Service
EA - Enterprise Architecture
EaaS - Everything as a Service (also seen as XaaS)
ECM - Enterprise Content Management
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange
EoL - End of Life
EoS - End of Service (aka End of Support)
ETP - Email Threat Protection
FFF - Full Fixed Fee (see PFF)
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
GCP - Google Cloud Platform
GUI - Graphical User Interface
HaaS - Hardware as a Service
HCI - Hyperconverged Infrastructure (Cisco HyperFlex)
HDI - Help Desk Institute
HIMSS - Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service
ICT - Information and Communications Technology
IDaaS - Identity-as-a-Service (see IAM in Security)
IDE - Integrated Development Environment
IDF - Intermediate Distribution Frame (see MDF in IT)
IDPS - Intrusion Detection Prevention System (aka IPS)
IIoT - Industrial Internet of Things
IMM - Infrastructure Monitoring & Management
IoT - Internet of Things
IP - Internet Protocol (see IP in Business)
IPv6 - Internet Protocol Version 6
IPAM - IP Address Management
IPS - Intrusion Prevention System (aka IDPS)
ISP - Internet Service Provider (also see ISP in Security / Compliance)
IT - Information Technology (also see OT)
ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library
ITSM - Information Technology Service Management
LAN - Local Area Network (wired)
LCoD - Live Connect on Demand
LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - Active Directory Repository
LUN - Logical Unit Number
MCS - Managed Cybersecurity Services
MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
MDF - Main Distribution Frame (see IDF in IT)
MFA - Multi-factor Authentication
MIB - Management Information Base
MITS - Managed IT Services
ML - Machine Learning
MMS - Multimedia Messaging Service (texting)
MPN - Microsoft Partner Network
MSP - Managed Service Provider
MSSP - Managed Security Service Provider
NaaS - Network as a Service
NAS - Network-attached Storage
NIST - National Institute of Standards & Technology
NOC - Network Operations Center
NRTC - National Rural Telecommunications Council
NSOC - Network Security Operations Center
OPT - Onboarding Process Team
OT - Operational Technology (also see IT)
OTP - One-time Password
QBR - Quarterly Business Review (see TBR or SBR)
PaaS - Platform as a Service
PAM - Privileged Access Management
PFF - Partial Fixed Fee (see FFF)
PMI - Project Management Institute
PMP - Project Management Professional
PoE - Power over Ethernet
PoP - Point of Presence
POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service
PPT - People Process & Technology (framework)
PURL - Personalized URL
RDC - Remote Data Collector
RDP - Remote Desktop Protocol
RHEM - Reactive Hours per Endpoint per Month
RITSM - Remote IT and Security Management (certification)
RPO - Recovery Point Objective
RTO - Recovery Time Objective
RMM - Remote Monitoring & Management
RMMS - Remote Monitoring, Management & Security
SaaS - Software as a Service
SAFe - Scaled Agile Framework
SAN - Storage Area Network
SAS - Serial Attached SCSI
SBR - Services Business Review (see QBR)
SD-WAN - Software Defined Wide Area Network (WAN)
SDK -Software Development Kit
SDN - Software Defined Networking
SLO - Service Level Objective
SME - Subject Matter Expert (also see SME in Business)
SMS - Short Message Service (texting)
SNI - Server Name Indication
SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol
SOA - Service-Oriented Architecture
SSID - Service Set Identifier (wireless network)
SSD - Solid State Drive
SSO - Single Sign-on
TAM - Technology Alignment Manager (see CIO)
TBR - Technology Business Review (see QBR)
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
TML - Technology Maturity Level (Hixardt)
TPM - Trusted Platform Module (Microsoft)
UCaaS - Unified Communications as a Service
UCE - Unsolicited Commercial Email (aka SPAM)
UEM - Unified Endpoint Management
URL - Uniform Resource Locator
V-MaaS - Vulnerability Management-as-a-Service
VAN - Value-Added Network
vCIO - Virtual Chief Information Officer
vCSO - Virtual Chief Security Officer
VDI - Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
VLAN - Virtual LAN
VM - Virtual Machine
VMaaS - Vulnerability Management as a Service
VMUG - VMware User Group
VNF - Virtualized Network Function
VOIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol (IP)
VPN - Virtual Private Network
WAF - Web Application Firewall
WAN - Wide Area Network
WAP - Wireless Access Points
XaaS - Everything as a Service (also seen as EaaS)
Security and Compliance Acronyms
508 (compliance) - Fed Rehabilitation accessibility standards (see Section 508)
(ISC)2 - International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium
0-Day - Zero Day Vulnerability / Attack
2FA - Two-factor Authentication
ABDS - Advanced Breach Detection System
APT - Advanced Persistent Threat
APWG - Anti-Phishing Working Group
ATO - Account Takeover (exploit)
ATP - Advanced Threat Protection
ATPS - Advanced Threat Protection System
AVIEN - Anti-Virus Information Exchange Network
BCDR - Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
BEC - Business Email Compromise
C2 (aka C&C) - Command and Control (server)
C3PAO - Certified Third-Party Assessor Organization (for CMMC)
CaaS - Compliance as a Service
CASB - Cloud Access Security Broker
CBPR - Cross Border Privacy Rules (Asia-Pacific)
CCPA - California Consumer Privacy Act
CDR - Content Disarm and Reconstruction (threat extraction)
CID - Client Identifying Data (see Govt/VA/Procurement)
CIR - Managed Cyber Incident Response
CIRP - Cyber Incident Response Planning
CIRT - Cyber Incident Response Team
CIS - Center for Internet Security
CISA (Agency) - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
CISA (Act)- Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (of 2015)
CISM - Certified Information Security Manager
CISO - Chief Information Security Officer
CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional
CMBOK - Case Management Body of Knowledge
CMMC - Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification
CNAPP - Cloud Native Application Protection Platform
CND - Computer Network Defense
COBIT - Control Objectives for Information & Related Technologies
COI - Community of Interest
CSC - Critical Security Controls
CERT - Computer Emergency Response Team
CSIRT - Computer Security Incident Response Team
CSF - Cybersecurity Framework
CSO - Chief Security Officer
CSPM - Cloud Security Posture Management
CUI - Controlled Unclassified Information
CVE - Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures (report)
CWPP - Cloud Workload Protection Platform
DAP - Delegated Admin Privileges (now deprecated, see GDAP)
DDoS - Distributed Denial of Service
DevSecOps - Development, Security, Operations (also see DevOps)
DFIR - Digital Forensics and Incident Response
DIVD - Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure
DLP - Data Loss Prevention
DoH - DNS over HTTPS
DoS - Denial of Service
DRaaS - Disaster Recovery as a Service
EDR - Endpoint Detection & Response (see ETDR)
EHR - Electronic Health Record
EPP - Endpoint Protection Platform
ESG - Environmental, Social and Governance
ETDR - Endpoint Threat Detection & Response (see EDR)
EW - Electronic Warfare
FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Education)
FISMA - Federal Information Security Management Act (2002)
FISMA - Federal Information Security Modernization Act (2014)
FSO - Facility Security Officer
GDAP - Granular Delegated Admin Privileges
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation (EU)
GRC - Governance, Risk and Compliance
HIE - Health Information Exchange
HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act
HTTPS - Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
IA - Information Assurance
IAM - Identity & Access Management (aka IdM)
IBE - Identity-Based Encryption
IDaaS - Identity as a Service
IdM - Identity Management (aka IAM)
IDS/IDP - Intrusion Detection / Intrusion Detection and Prevention
IIHI - Individually Identifiable Health Information
InfoSec - Information Security
IOC - Indicators of Compromise
IoTSSA - Internet of Things Security Services Association
IPS - Intrusion Prevention System
IR - Incident Response (Plan) (see CIR and CIRP)
IRT - Incident Response Team
ISMS - Information Security Management System
ISO - International Organization for Standardization
ISOC - Internet Society (nonprofit advocacy organization, estd. 1992)
ISP - Information Security Policy (also see ISP in IT / MSP)
ISSA - Information Security Self-Assessment
ISSO - Information Systems Security Officer
ISSPM - Information Systems Security Program Manager
ITAR - International Traffic in Arms Regulations
ITSM - Information Technology Service Management
ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library
IV&V - Independent Verification & Validation
KAV - Kaspersky Antivirus
KDF - Key Derivation Function
KRI - Key Risk Indicator
LI - Lawful Interception
LIMS - Lawful Interception Management System
MAD - Maximum Allowable Downtime
MITM - Man-in-the-Middle (attack)
MDM - Mobile Data Management (see UEM)
MDR - Managed Detection & Response (see XDR)
MPR - Managed Prevention and Response (see XPR)
MPLS - Multiprotocol Label Switching
NAC - Network Access Control
NGFW - Next Generation Firewall
NIST 800-171 - Cybersecurity compliance framework that governs CUI
NIST CSF - NIST Cybersecurity Framework
NSE - Network Security Expert (Fortinet certification)
OPSEC - Operational Security
PCI - Payment Card Industry
PCI-DSS - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
PenTest - Penetration Test (authorized cyberattack, aka PT)
PHI - Protected/Personal Health Information (relates to HIPAA)
PII - Personally Identifiable Information
PIPEDA - Personal Info Protection & Electronic Documents Act (Canada)
POAM - Plan of Action and Milestones (aka POA&M)
PoLA - Principle of Least Authority (see PoLP)
PoLP - Principle of Least Privilege (aka PoLA and PoMP)
PoMP - Principle of Minimal Privilege (see PoLP)
PT - Penetration Test (authorized cyberattack, see PenTest)
RMF - Risk Management Framework
RPO - Recovery Point Objective
RTO - Recovery Time Objective
SAML - Security Assertion Markup Language
SANS - System Administration, Networking, & Security Institute
SASE - Secure Access Service Edge (pronounced Sassy)
SCAP - Security Content Automation Protocol
SCUD - Secure Cloud Unified Defense
SEM - Security Event Management (see SIEM)
SIEM - Security Information & Event Management (SIM + SEM)
SIM - Security Information Management (see SIEM)
SOAR - Security Orchestration Automation & Response
SOC - Security Operation Center
SOC 1 - System & Organization Controls (see ICFR)
SOC 2 - Service Organization Control 2
SOX - Sarbanes-Oxley Act
SSL - Secure Socket Layer
SSP - System Security Plan
TaaS - Tape as a Service
TLS - Transport Layer Security
TNO - Trust No One
TOTP - Time-based One-Time Passwords
UBA - User Behavior Analytics
UEBA - User Entity Behavior Analytics
UEM - Unified Endpoint Management (see MDM)
VSA - Vendor Security Assessment
WAAP - Web Application & API Protection (see API)
XDR - Extended Detection & Response (see MDR, EDR)
XPR - Extended Protection & Response (see XDR)
ZTA - Zero Trust Architecture
ZTNA - Zero Trust Network Access
Government and Procurement Acronyms
Business and Management Acronyms
8(a) - Minority-owned or Disadvantaged Business (Sec. 8A of Small Business Act)
ACT - Advanced Cybersecurity Technology - 1 Prize (DOE program, assoc. with RMUC)
AM - Acquisition Manager
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
AFCEA - Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Assn (non-profit)
ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency 1958-72, 1993-96 (now DARPA)
ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects Agency Network 1966-1990 (see ARPA)
ATO - Authority To Operate (see P-ATO)
BDI - Business Development Initiative (Florida DOT program)
BIC MAC - Best In Class Multiple Award Contract
BIPOC - Black, Indigenous and People of Color
BOS - Business Opportunity Sessions
C4I - Command, Control, Communications, Computers, & Intelligence (DoD)
CAC - Common Access Card (US DoD smart card technology)
CAG - Citrix Access Gateway
CAGE - Commercial and Government Entity (code via Defense Logistics Agency)
CALEA - Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
CAN-SPAM (Act) - Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing
CESER - Office of Cybersecurity, Energy, Security, and Emergency Response (DOE)
CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
CFR - Code of Federal Regulations
CID - Center for Information Dominance (US Navy) (see Security/Compliance)
CIO-SP4 - Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners IV
CISA - Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (US DHS) (see CISA in IT/MSP)
CLIN - Contract Line Item Numbering
CMS - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Govt) (see CMS in IT/MSP)
CO (or KO) - Contracting Officer
CONUS - Continental United States (see OCONUS)
COR - Contracting Officer's Representative
COTS - Commercial Off-the-Shelf
CPARS - Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System
CTA - Contractor Teaming Arrangement
DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 1972-93, 1996-now (was ARPA)
DBE - Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (federal program via state)
DCAA - Defense Contract Audit Agency
DFAR - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation
DFARS - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (see FAR)
DHA - Defense Health Agency
DHS - Department of Homeland Security
DIB - Defense Industrial Base
DoD - Department of Defense
DOE - Department of Energy
DOI - Department of the Interior
DOJ - Department of Justice
DOT - Department of Transportation
DRFP - Draft Request for Proposal
E&M - Evaluation & Management (for medical coding)
EDWOSB - Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business
eFAST - Electronic FAA Accelerated and Simplified Tasks
EN/FPR - Evaluation Notices (EN) / Final Proposal Revision (FPR)
EOC - Emergency Operations Center
e-QIP - Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing
E-Rate - Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries (see USF)
ETS - Emergency Temporary Standard (OSHA, COVID-19)
FAR - Federal Acquisition Regulation (see DFARS)
FAS - Federal Acquisition Service
FCC - Federal Communications Commission
FCEB Agencies - Federal Civilian Executive Branch Agencies
FBO - Federal Business Opportunities (aka FedBizOpps)
FedRAMP - Federal Risk & Authorization Management Program
FIPS - Federal Information Processing Standards
FOA - Funding Opportunity Announcement
FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
FPR - Federal Procurement Regulation
FRFP - Final Request for Proposal
FSC - Financial Services Center
FSC - Federal Supply Class (codes)
FTC - Federal Trade Commission
FSS - Federal Supply Service (GSA)
GAO - Government Accountability Office
GovCon - Government Contractor
GPA - Government Procurement Agreement
GPO - Group Purchasing Organization
GSA - General Services Administration
GSAR - General Services Acquisition (GSA) Regulation
GWAC - Governmentwide Acquisition Contract
HHS - Department of Health & Human Services
HIM - Health Information Management
HMS - Health Management System (Florida DoH)
HUBZone - Historically Underutilized Business Zone
HTRO - Highest Technically Rated Offeror
IC - Intelligence Community
IDIQ - Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity
LPTA - Lowest Price Technically Acceptable
MAS - Multiple-Award Schedule (contract)
MDBE - Minority Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
MED Week - Minority Enterprise Development Week (awards)
MFMP - MyFloridaMarketPlace (state portal)
MPO - Metropolitan Planning Organization (advisory council)
NCD - National Cyber Director
NDVSB - National Diversity Veteran Small Business (eMarketplace)
NIST - National Institute of Standards & Technology
NITAAC - Nat. Institutes of Health IT Acquisition and Assessment Center
NVBDC - National Veteran Business Development Council
OCI - Organizational Conflicts of Interest
OCONUS - Outside the Continental United States (see CONUS)
OMB - Office of Management and Budget
OPM - U.S. Office of Personnel Management
OSBDU - Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization
OSD - Office of Supplier Diversity (certification, Florida)
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration
P-ATO - Provisional Authority to Operate (see ATO)
PAO - Public Affairs Officer / Public Affairs Office
PCO - Procurement Contracting Officer
PMO - Program Management Officer / Project Management Office
POP - Period of Performance
PSC - Product & Service Code
PSS - Professional Services Schedule
PTAC - Procurement Technical Assistance Center
PWS - Performance Work Statement
RFI - Request for Information
RFP - Request for Proposal
RFQ - Request for Quote
RMUC - Rural/Municipal Utility Cybersecurity (DOE program)
SAM - System for Award Management
SAVES - Strategic Sourcing for the Acquisition of Various Equipment & Supplies
SBA - Small Business Administration
SBDC - Small Business Development Center
SBIR - Small Business Innovation Research
SBL - Small Business Liaison
SDB - Small Disadvantaged Business
SDM - Supplier Diversity Manager
SDVOSB - Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
SIN - Special Item Number
SLED - State, Local, Education (government)
SOC - Strategic Outreach and Communications (VA office)
SPIN - Superannuation Product Identification Number
SPRS - Supplier Performance Risk System
SSB - Source Selection Board (for state contracts and agreements)
STTR - Small Business Technology Transfer
T&C (aka Ts&Cs) - Terms & Conditions
TAA - Trade Agreements Act
TGMS - Trading Grid Messaging System
TLA - Three-Letter Acronym (irony)
TPA - Transportation Planning Authority (see MPO)
TPO - Transportation Planning Organizations (see MPO)
TSA - Transportation Security Administration
UCG - Cyber Unified Coordination Group
UCP - Unified Certification Program (Florida DOT program)
UCP DBE - Unified Certification Program Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
UEI - Unique Entity Identifier (formally DUNS)
UNSPSC - United Nations Standard Products and Services Code
USAC - Universal Service Administrative Company
USF - Universal Service Fund (administered by the USAC)
VA - Department of Veterans Affairs
VAAR - Veterans Administration Acquisition Regulation (see FAR)
VBS - Vendor Bid System (see MFMP)
VIP - Vendor Information Portal (see MFMP)
VistA - Veterans Health Information Systems & Technology Architecture
VOSB - Veteran-Owned Small-Business
WOSB - Woman-Owned Small Business
Wrap Rate - Referred to as the direct labor “multiplier” ≈ 1.50-2.25
A11Y - Accessibility
ABM - Account-Based Marketing
ACH - Automated Clearing House (network in banking)
ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act
ADKAR - Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement
AIDA - Attention Interest Desire Action (marketing/advertising writing hierarchy)
AIML - Artificial Intelligence Markup Language
AMP - Accelerated Mobile Pages (website)
AP - Accounts Payable
API - Application Program Interface
AR - Accounts Receivable
ARR - Annual Recurring Revenue (see MRR)
B2B - Business to Business
B2C - Business to Consumer
B2G - Business to Government
BANT - Budget, Authority, Need, Timing (B2B sales qualifier)
BCR - Benefit Cost Ratio
BD - Business Development (also BizDev or Biz Dev)
BDR - Business Development Representative (aka SDR)
BI - Business Intelligence
BHAG - Big Hairy Audacious Goal
BMS - Business Management System
BOM - Bill of Materials
BRM - Business Relationship Management
BVA - Business Value Assessment
CAC - Customer Acquisition Cost
CCP - Crisis Communication Protocol
CCPA - California Consumer Privacy Act (online privacy regulation)
CDP - Customer Data Platform
CEM - Customer Experience Management (or CXM)
CEO - Chief Executive Officer
CIO - Chief Information Officer
CFO - Chief Financial Officer
CGO - Chief Government Officer
CMO - Chief Marketing Officer
CMS - Content Management System (Web) (see CMS in IT/MSP & Govt/VA)
CO-OP - Marketing Funds (see MDF in Business)
COA - Chart of Accounts
COB - Close of Business
COGS - Cost of Goods Sold
COI - Centers of Influence
COO - Chief Operating Officer
CSO - Chief Security Officer
CTO - Chief Technical Officer
CRM - Customer Relationship Management / Manager
CSAT - Customer Satisfaction (score)
CSF - Critical Success Factor (aka Key Results Areas)
CSM - Customer Service / Success Manager
CX - Customer Experience
CXM - Customer Experience Management (or CEM)
CXO - Chief Experience Officer (or can mean all C-suite entities)
DACI Matrix - Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed
DEI - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
DRIP - Differentiate, Reinforce, Inform & Persuade (marketing)
DUNS - Data Universal Numbering System (via Dun & Bradstreet)
EBIT - Earnings Before Interest & Taxes
EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation & Amortization
EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer
EOD - End Of Day
EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer
ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning
ESM - Enterprise Service Management (see CSM)
ETL - Extract, Transform & Load (data)
EX - Employee Experience (see TX)
FFP - Firm Fixed Price
FRB - Federal Reserve Board
FTA - First-time Appointment (sales)
FTE - Full-time Employee
FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
GA4 - Google Analytics 4
GC - General Counsel
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation (EU online privacy regulation)
GPT - Generative Pre-trained Transformer (AI)
HBCU - Historically Black Colleges & Universities
HTML - Hypertext Transfer Protocol
ICFR - Internal Control over Financial Reporting
ICP - Ideal Customer Profile
ICYMI - In Case You Missed It
IDEA - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Access
ILT - Instructor-Led Training
IP - Intellectual Property (see IP in IT)
IPO - Initial Public Offering
ISR - Inside Sales Representative
KDM - Key Decision Maker
KPI - Key Performance Indicator
KRA - Key Results Areas (aka CSF)
LLM - Large Language Model (generative AI)
LOA - Letter Of Agency
LOB - Line of Business
LOI - Letter Of Intent
MDF - Market Development Funds (see CO-OP in Business)
MOM - Month Over Month
MQL - Marketing Qualified Lead (see SQL in Business)
MRR - Monthly Recurring Revenue (see ARR)
MSA - Master Service Agreement (Better)
MSA - Managed Service Agreement
MTD - Month to Date
MX - Multiexperience (see UX & CX)
NAICS - North American Industry Classification System (see SIC)
NAV - Net Asset Value
NCND - Non-Circumvent & Non-Disclosure
NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement
NNN - Net, Net, Net (aka Triple Net)
NPS - Net Promoter Score
NRR - Non-Recurring Revenue (Services)
NSFW - Not Safe for Work
OKR - Objectives & Key Results
OOO - Out of Office
ORR - Other Recurring Revenue
OSR - Outside Sales Representative
P&L - Profit & Loss
P/E - Price-to-Earnings Ratio
PBR - Prospective Business Report (TruMethods)
PM - Project Manager
POC - Point of Contact
PR - Public Relations
PSA - Professional Services Automation
PSR - Partner Sales Representative (Abstrakt)
PTO - Paid Time Off
RACI Matrix - Responsible, Accountable (or Approver), Consulted, Informed
RASCI - Responsible, Accountable, Supports, Consulted, Informed
ROAS - Return On Advertising Spend
ROI - Return On Investment
SAP - Systems Applications & Products (data processing)
SDR - Sales Development Representative
Section 508 - Fed Rehabilitation re. physical & digital accessibility standards
SEM - Search Engine Marketing
SEO - Search Engine Optimization
SERP - Search Engine Results Page
SIC - Standard Industrial Classification (d/c in 1997, see NAICS)
SKU - Stock Keeping Unit
SLA - Service Level Agreement (see XLA)
SMART (goals) - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, & Time-bound
SMB - Small & Medium Business
SME - Small & Medium Enterprise (also see SME in IT)
SOAR - Strengths Opportunities Aspirations & Results (see SWOT)
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure
SOW - Scope of Work (Better)
SOW - Statement of Work
SPIF - Sales Promotion Incentive Fund (aka SPIFF)
SQL - Sales Qualified Lead (see MQL, includes Intent)
SRMSDC - Southern Region Minority Supplier Development Council
SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats (see SOAR)
TCO - Total Cost of Ownership
TOS - Terms of Service
TX - Total Experience (see UX + CX + EX + MX)
UI - User Interface
USP - Unique Selling Proposition
UVP - Unique Value Proposition
UX - User Experience (see EX)
USP - Unique Selling Proposition
VAR - Value-Added Reseller
VOC - Voice of the Customer (marketing)
WFH - Work From Home
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What you Get
XLA - Experience Level Agreement (see SLA)
YOY - Year Over Year
YTD - Year to Date
Keeping up with the ever-expanding world of IT, compliance, and management acronyms can be quite a challenge. That's why we compile and curate these comprehensive acronym lists. The goal is to help provide a quick reference for you (and us) to stay current with these need-to-know IT industry-related phrases. As new acronyms emerge, we'll keep updating our lists to ensure that you have the most accurate and up-to-date IT acronym definitions at your fingertips (refer to the update date at the top of the page).
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