Have you ever entered into a conversation with one of your tech friends and they fire off a million different acronyms? Have you found yourself nodding your head in understand while an inexplicable feeling of anxiety creeps up your spine? Do you feel like a fraud? Well have no fear, the Glossary is here! The tech community LOVES our acronyms and sometimes we can over do it. In this weeks edition of the glossary I will break down the most common acronyms your hear thrown around in the tech space.
CMS (Content Management System)
A CMS or Content Management System is exactly what it sounds likel; a backend system where users can manage the content and media on their websites. Most content management systems feature a user friendly backend that requires little to no understanding of coding languages. In fact this blog post is being written using the content management system, WordPress. Most CMS’s on the market today have grown to be more than just a place to manage content. By utilizing plugins and integrations your CMS can be used to build out the entire functionality of a website.
Popular CMS: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla,
PMS (Project Management System)
A PMS is typically used for internal project management and fulfillment practices. Though most commonly seen in tech fields, a PMS can be used to organize and manage projects across virtually any industry. A PMS will commonly consist of a ticketing system, user roles, and time tracking applications. A PMS can be used to determine pricing structure and the level of output produced by your staff. Data and efficiency are the name of the game for a PMS.
Popular PMS: Jira, Basecamp, Asana, Axosoft
CRM- Customer Relationship Management
This is the piece of software you will see your sales staff plugging away at on a daily basis. A CRM is used to manage communication with potential customers and current clients. Initially, CRM’s were used to organize your various clients contact information and project details. Most CRM’s will allow users to place potential customers in different funnels to communicate where they are in the sales process. Today, most CRM’s will also include a digital marketing element in which users can run SMTP email drip campaigns and view the analytics of their sales efforts.
Popular CRMs: Salesforce, Infusionsoft, Insightly
SaaS- Software as a Service
All of the aforementioned products are considered SaaS. Over the past decade SaaS has grown into a bustling industry in that it provides boxed up “plug-n-play” solutions to problems encountered within the workplace. Most SaaS will a subscription model where customers are charged monthly/annual fee based on functionality and number of users. Succesful SaaS companies will constantly be updating their software based on the needs of the customer. Customer support is also paramount to the success of any SaaS company.
