Acronyms seem really convenient, at first.

It’s great using ERP instead of enterprise resource planning, for example.

You save precious time (not typing enterprise resource planning a million times) and there’s no way your reader won’t understand what ERP means, right?

Well, for ERP this may be true, but all acronyms are not as tidy as they appear.

What about BPM, for example? Does it stand for business process management or business performance management or business process modeling?

Aha…the troubles begin. Read the rest of this entry »

This Is For All Us Writers Out There: Oh, and All Us Readers Too!

Do you ever feel like you need a jargon buster just to understand what some companies are saying about their software products?

I know I’ve needed one, and often still do.

I am a content writer and editor for TEC and the learning curve was pretty steep when I started. I mean what is functionality, scalability, dynamic lead time, run time, and then there are features and functions…enough to boggle the mind!

How many people really know what these words actually mean?

Not what they think these words might mean or what they sound like they mean in a certain context, but what they really and truly mean.

Well, it’s part of my job to know. And if I can’t explain it in plain English, I can’t use it.

And how many times have I read a white paper and realized that if all the buzzwords were removed it would be half the length (and comprehensible).

I’ve collected some great examples along the way.

Here’s one:

Read the rest of this entry »