BCT(A) key terms

A performance framework that measures an organization across financial, customer, internal process, and learning perspectives, linking day-to-day work to long-term strategy.

A structured review of an organization's internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats, used to shape strategy and prioritize initiatives.

A quantifiable measure chosen to show how well a process or team is achieving a specific business objective, usually tracked over time against a target.

A document justifying an investment by comparing expected benefits, costs, risks, and alternatives, used to obtain funding and management approval before work begins.

A ratio comparing net financial gain to the cost of an initiative, expressed as a percentage, used to rank competing investment options.

The full lifetime cost of acquiring, operating, maintaining, and retiring an asset or system, including hidden costs such as training, support, and downtime.

The disciplined approach to preparing people for new processes or technology, addressing resistance, communication, training, and reinforcement so benefits are actually realized.

A radical redesign of core workflows to achieve dramatic gains in cost, quality, or speed, rather than incremental improvement of existing steps.

Identifying everyone affected by or able to influence an initiative, then assessing their interest and power to plan appropriate engagement and communication.

The component that executes program instructions, performing arithmetic, logic, and control operations; its core count and clock speed largely determine server capability.

Volatile working memory holding data and instructions currently in use; insufficient capacity forces slower disk-based swapping and degrades application performance.

Running multiple isolated operating systems or workloads on one physical host through a hypervisor, improving hardware utilization, consolidation, and disaster recovery flexibility.

On-demand delivery of computing resources over a network with self-service provisioning, elastic scaling, and usage-based billing, offered as infrastructure, platform, or software services.

A network covering a limited area such as one building, typically using switched Ethernet, high bandwidth, and organization-controlled cabling and access points.

A network spanning distant sites, relying on carrier circuits, Multiprotocol Label Switching, or internet tunnels to connect geographically separated locations.

An encrypted tunnel over a public network that lets remote users or sites communicate as if on a private network, protecting confidentiality of transmitted traffic.

A contract defining measurable service expectations such as availability, response time, and support hours, plus remedies when targets are missed.

A data store organizing information into tables of rows and columns linked by keys, queried with SQL and governed by constraints that preserve integrity.

A column or set of columns whose values uniquely identify each row in a table, preventing duplicates and enabling reliable references from other tables.

Structuring tables to eliminate redundant storage and update anomalies by assigning each fact to a single logical place, usually through successive normal forms.

A consolidated repository that extracts, cleans, and stores historical data from many source systems, optimized for analytical query and reporting rather than transaction processing.

The pipeline pattern that pulls data from sources, cleanses and conforms it, then loads it into a target store on a scheduled or streaming basis.

The degree to which data is accurate, complete, consistent, timely, and unique; poor quality undermines reporting, analytics, and automated decisions.

The decision rights and accountability framework specifying who may define, access, and change data, including stewardship roles, standards, and policy enforcement.

A focused subset of a warehouse serving one department or subject area, giving faster, simpler access while inheriting conformed definitions from the enterprise model.

Assigning labels such as public, internal, confidential, or restricted to information so that handling, access, and protection controls match its sensitivity.

Granting each user or process only the access needed for its assigned tasks and no more, limiting damage from error, misuse, or compromised accounts.

Requiring two or more independent credential types, such as a password plus a hardware token or biometric, so a stolen password alone cannot grant access.

A social-engineering attack using deceptive messages that impersonate trusted parties to trick recipients into revealing credentials or running malicious attachments.

Identifying threats and vulnerabilities, estimating likelihood and impact, and comparing the result to tolerance so controls can be prioritized and funded.

Determining which processes are critical, how outage affects them over time, and the recovery targets that drive continuity and recovery planning.

Documented procedures, backup arrangements, and alternate site provisions for restoring technology services within agreed recovery time and recovery point objectives after a disruption.

A predefined sequence of preparation, detection, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons-learned steps guiding the organization through a security event.

Assigning permissions to job roles rather than individuals, so users inherit rights through role membership and access reviews stay manageable as staff change.

Integrating voice, video, messaging, and presence into one platform so colleagues can shift between channels within a single conversation or meeting.

Carrying telephone calls as packetized data over IP networks instead of dedicated circuits, reducing cost and enabling integration with collaboration software.

Network techniques that prioritize latency-sensitive traffic such as voice and video, ensuring acceptable call clarity when the link is congested.

Status information showing whether a colleague is available, busy, or away, helping others choose the right channel and timing for contact.

A schedule defining what information goes to which audiences, through which channels, at what frequency, and who is responsible for delivering it.

An early evaluation of whether a proposed system is technically achievable, economically justified, legally permissible, and operationally supportable before committing resources.

Linking each requirement forward to design, code, and tests and backward to its source, so coverage can be verified and change impact understood.

Business users validating that a delivered system supports their real workflows and meets agreed criteria before it is accepted into production.

An iterative approach delivering working increments in short cycles with continuous stakeholder feedback, embracing changing requirements rather than freezing scope early.

An agile framework using fixed-length sprints, a prioritized backlog, and defined roles of product owner, scrum master, and development team to deliver increments.

A scheduling technique identifying the longest dependent sequence of tasks, which determines the shortest possible project duration and where delay hurts most.

Dividing a sensitive process among different people so no single individual can initiate, approve, and conceal a transaction or change alone.

Chronological, tamper-resistant records of who accessed or changed what and when, supporting investigation, accountability, and regulatory evidence.

Adhering to laws, regulations, and industry standards that apply to the organization's data and operations, evidenced through controls, documentation, and periodic review.

A published set of behavioral principles and expectations for staff, guiding decisions where rules are silent and providing a basis for disciplinary action.

A situation where personal, financial, or outside interests could improperly influence professional judgment; it must be disclosed and managed or avoided.

Legal and policy safeguards shielding people who report suspected wrongdoing in good faith from retaliation such as dismissal, demotion, or harassment.