Unit 5: Vocabulary

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BA (business analyst)
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a position responsible for the interpretation of business rules and delivering them to technical teams
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"A business analyst spends a lot of time gathering relevant business requirements in the initial stages of an IT project."
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CIO (chief information officer)
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an executive position responsible for internal processes and practices; normally has a stronger business administration background than technical background
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"The CIO's work is often quite varied, ranging from managing a company's IT budget to overseeing staff outsourcing."
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CTO (chief technical officer)
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an executive position responsible for all scientific and technological issues related to a company; normally has a strong technical and somewhat less strong management background
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"The CEO decided to fire the CTO after the company's IT department lost a year of financial records due to poor backup procedures."
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DBA (database administrator)
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a person in charge of managing and maintaining relational databases and access rights
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"The requirements for the DBA job position were: advanced SQL, performance tuning, and disaster recovery for ORACLE systems."
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database developer
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a position responsible for programming and optimizing databases
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"The database developer spent three months refactoring the company database to obtain 3NF (third normal form)."
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enterprise architect
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a high-level position responsible for understanding a business's overall needs and then designing an IT structure to support it
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"The firm hired an enterprise architect to oversee the development of the new software platform."
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graphic designer
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a position responsible for the creation of images, typography, mock-ups for an organizations's front end systems; normally works under a company Art Director
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"The graphic designer had an iMac with a 27" screen, a graphics tablet instead of a mouse, and the latest version of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop software."
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information architect
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a position responsible for making complex data structures easy to understand and navigate
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"The information architect came prepared to the meeting with some wireframes and a glossary of target vocabulary for the project."
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IT manager
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a job position acting as a bridge between upper management and IT; one who encourages personal development in IT staff; the boss of an IT worker
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"The IT manager said the new junior developer's attitude was unacceptable."
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IT security manager
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a position responsible for setting best practices for securing wi-fi networks, servers, backups, laptops, and VPNs
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"The IT security manager ran a password cracker on his own network users to sniff out weak passwords."
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IT support engineer
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a position responsible for on-demand support for end users including: fixing hardware, installing software, and troubleshooting minor network issues
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"An IT support engineer must be able to troubleshoot and fix almost any hardware, software, or network problem that can affect an end user's PC."
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network administrator
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a position responsible for maintenance of all aspects of a computer network; often a specialist in TCP/IP, Linux, and related routing technology such as Cisco
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""The network is down" is a phrase a good network administrator never wants to hear."
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PM (project manager)
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a position responsible for organizing and delivering a project on time and on budget; often acts as a bridge between developers and stakeholders
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"Software project managers are increasingly turning to Scrum and other Agile practices to get good results from their teams."
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QA manager (quality assurance manager)
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a job title whose responsibilities include ensuring appropriate performance for a software project and organizing and instructing testers
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"The QA manager organized a massive usability test to try to squash bugs before the software's release date."
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software developer
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a position responsible for gathering information around a programming task and performing it
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"Software developers often specialize in a specific software framework or paradigm such as Java applications, Python, or CSS."
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software tester
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a job title whose responsibilities include ensuring that a software project meets established quality guidelines
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"The software tester spent all day documenting a nasty bug in the ERP software."
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sysadmin (system administrator)
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a job position that maintains a computer server network, including patches, upgrades, and security related duties
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"The system administrator harshly scolded a user who wrote their password on his monitor screen."
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technical writer
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a position responsible for the creation and maintenance of documentation relating to an IT project including online help, user guides, white papers, and design specifications
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"The technical writer wanted to write novels when she was young, but now she is documenting accounting software applications for IBM."
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