UPMSP Vocational IT/ITeS key terms

The sector that delivers information technology services such as software development, hardware support, and technology-enabled business processes to client organisations, typically through outsourcing contracts, shared service centres, and specialised vendor companies.

An arrangement in which a company hands over an entire business process, such as payroll, billing, or customer support, to an external service provider that runs and manages it on the client's behalf.

Outsourcing of work that demands specialist judgement and analysis, such as research, financial modelling, legal review, or data analytics, rather than the routine transaction processing typically handled in BPO.

Services that rely on information technology to be delivered, including call centres, medical transcription, data processing, and back-office operations, where the technology is the delivery channel rather than the product sold.

An offshore or nearshore facility owned and operated by the same company it serves, used for back-office or support work instead of hiring a third-party vendor; also called a shared services centre.

The transferable personal and workplace abilities employers expect alongside technical knowledge, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, time management, and willingness to learn, which help a person gain and keep work.

A communication technique in which the listener gives full attention, avoids interrupting, and confirms understanding by paraphrasing or asking clarifying questions before responding, reducing misunderstandings in workplace and customer conversations.

The accepted rules of polite and professional behaviour in email, chat, and online meetings, covering tone, subject lines, response time, confidentiality, and avoiding all-caps or sarcasm that can be misread.

Communicating needs and opinions clearly and respectfully without passive silence or aggressive blame, allowing a worker to refuse unreasonable demands, raise concerns, and negotiate workload while preserving working relationships.

Specific, behaviour-focused information given to help someone improve, describing what was observed and its effect and suggesting a concrete alternative, rather than judging the person's character.

Keyboarding without looking at the keys, using all fingers from a fixed home position so that speed and accuracy come from muscle memory rather than visual searching.

The middle row of keys (ASDF on the left hand, JKL; on the right) where the fingers rest between keystrokes; raised bumps on F and J let typists find position by touch.

A typing speed measure calculated as total characters typed divided by five, then divided by elapsed minutes, and usually reported with an accuracy percentage in keyboarding and data entry tests.

Information made up of letters and digits, sometimes with limited symbols, such as invoice numbers, PIN codes, and addresses, which must be entered exactly as shown because one wrong character changes the record.

The block of digits on the right of a full keyboard, operated with the index, middle, and ring fingers for rapid entry of amounts and codes in accounting and data processing work.

Application software for creating and editing text documents, offering formatting, spell check, tables, page layout, and review tools; examples include Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and Google Docs.

A feature that combines one main document with a data source such as a spreadsheet to produce many personalised copies, each containing a different name, address, or other field value.

A review mode that records every insertion, deletion, and comment with the author's name so collaborators can accept or reject each edit before the document is finalised.

A saved set of formatting settings such as font, size, spacing, and alignment applied to a paragraph or character and reused across a document, keeping headings consistent and updatable in one step.

The address of a spreadsheet cell formed by its column letter and row number, such as B7, used inside formulas to point to the value stored in that cell.

A cell address locked with dollar signs, like $B$7, so that copying the formula to other cells keeps pointing at the same cell instead of shifting with the new position.

A built-in spreadsheet routine that performs a calculation on values or cell ranges and returns a result, for example SUM, AVERAGE, IF, or VLOOKUP, written with a name and bracketed arguments.

A spreadsheet tool that temporarily hides rows not matching given criteria, letting a user examine a subset of a large list without deleting or reordering the underlying data.

The top-level slide in a presentation that stores the theme, fonts, colours, and placeholder positions for every layout, so editing it changes all slides consistently.

The visual effect applied to how one slide replaces another during a slideshow; unlike animation, it concerns the whole slide rather than individual objects placed on it.

HyperText Markup Language, the standard code that defines the structure of web pages using elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and links, which browsers interpret and display.

Uniform Resource Locator, the complete address typed into a browser that specifies the protocol, domain name, and path of a resource, for example https://example.com/contact.html.

Clickable text or an image that navigates to another web page, file, email address, or section of the same page, defined in HTML by the anchor element and its href attribute.

A column or combination of columns whose value uniquely identifies each row in a database table, cannot be empty, and prevents duplicate records from being inserted.

A field in one table that holds the primary key value of a related table, creating a link between them and enforcing referential integrity so that orphan records cannot exist.

A request for data from a database that states which tables, fields, and conditions to use, returning a result set without altering the stored records.

Structured Query Language, the standard language for creating and changing database structures and for retrieving, inserting, updating, and deleting data, using statements such as SELECT and WHERE.

The practice of designing a workstation and its tasks to fit the human body, covering chair height, monitor position, lighting, and posture to prevent strain during long computer sessions.

A fraud in which a message impersonates a trusted organisation to trick the recipient into revealing passwords or bank details, or into opening a malicious attachment; verify links and senders before acting.

Discarded electrical and electronic equipment such as old computers, printers, and cables, which contains hazardous metals and plastics and must be recycled through authorised channels rather than ordinary bins.

Hardware or software that monitors network traffic and blocks connections not matching allowed rules, protecting a computer or network from unauthorised access while permitting legitimate communication.

A written document describing a venture's product, target customers, market analysis, operations, marketing strategy, and financial projections, used to guide decisions and to seek funding.

The sales volume at which total revenue equals total costs, so the business neither profits nor loses; calculated from fixed costs and the contribution earned per unit sold.

A contract between a service provider and a client that defines measurable commitments such as response time, resolution time, uptime, and penalties for failing to meet them.

The process of passing a customer issue to a more senior or specialised person when it exceeds the agent's authority, knowledge, or agreed time limit, together with a record of what was already tried.