O

O for open source

Abbreviation Term Definition
O2 Object-Oriented An object-oriented database language.
O2O Online To Offline Directing online users to physical stores. The term O2O was first coined by Alex Rampell, CEO and founder of TrialPay, in a 2010 TechCrunch article. He wrote: “The key to O2O is that it finds consumers online and brings them into real-world stores. It is a combination of payment model and foot traffic generator for merchants (as well as a ‘discovery’ mechanism for consumers) that creates offline purchases.”
OAAM Oracle Adaptive Access Manager Oracle entered the Web fraud detection market in July 2007, with the acquisition of Bharosa, and has integrated the renamed product that consists of fraud detection and user authentication software
OADM Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer In telecom parlance, a Single Channel OADM is used for utilised for adding or dropping single wavelength in DWDM optical networks.
OAM object access method A program that provides object storage, object retrieval, object-storage hierarchy management, and storage and retrieval management for tape volumes contained in system-managed libraries.
OAM / OA&M / OAM&P Operations, Administation, and Management (and Provisioning) A set of network management functions for ATM similar to those in OA&M and OAM&P. Special cells, called OAM cells, are used to carry OAM related information
OASIS Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards An international nonprofit consortium that promotes open, collaborative development of e-business specifications based on public standards such as Extensible Markup Language (XML).
OAT Outside Air Temperature This is used in the electronics industry to mean the ambient air temperature of the air mass surrounding the unit in discussion.
OATH Object-oriented Abstract Type Hierarchy a class library for C++ from Texas Instruments.
OBDR One Button Disaster Recovery Disaster recovery feature provided by some tape drives. This allows the tape drive to be switched into disaster recovery mode - where its firmware emulates a bootable CD-ROM allowing the system to boot from the tape device and restore the system from the last backup.
OBEX OBject EXchange Set of protocols allowing objects such as vCard contact information and vCalendar schedule entries to be exchanged using either IrDA or Bluetooth
OBI Open Buying on the Internet A standard for Internet-based procurement created by a U.S. consortium of vendors formed in October 1996, which released v.1.0 of OBI specification the following year. In 1998, the consortium placed the management of the specification under CommerceNet.
OBIEE Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Oracle BI product
OBM On-board modem also known as Internal modem, is installed on an expansion board inside a computer chase. In contrast, an external modem is a box that attaches to a computer's COM port via cables.
OBOE Off-By-One Error Logical error involving the discrete equivalent of a boundary condition. It often occurs in computer programming when an iterative loop iterates one time too many or too few
OBU On Board Unit In an electronic toll collection system, card data of a payment card is stored in an OBU mounted in a vehicle.
OC overclock To run a microprocessor faster than the speed for which it has been tested and approved. Overclocking is a popular technique for eking out a little more performance from a system.
OCIA Optically Coupled Interface Adapter Interface in many other respects similar to RS232. It is used extensively on POS equipments
OC-N Optical Carrier Level N

The range of incremental rates defined for SONET fiber-optic transmission. The number after "OC-" represents the multiple of the foundation OC-1 rate, which is 51.84Mbps. Above OC-3, the level numbers and their associated data rates quadruple with each step up in the hierarchy, as follows:

• OC-3: 155 Mbps

• OC-12: 622 Mbps

• OC-48: 2.5 Gbps

• OC-192: 10 Gbps

• OC-768: 40 Gbps

OCL Object Constraint Language a declarative language for describing rules and constraints that apply to UML models
OCP

connet Open-Closed Principle

connet Oracle Certified Professional

connet Object-oriented principle that states that software entities should be open for extensions but closed for modifications

connet DBA certification is designed to reflect proficiency in Oracle database architecture, installation, administration, performance tuning and troubleshooting.

OCR

Optical Character Recognition

The technique of recognising printed text and turning it into computer input, so avoiding the need for keyboard entry. Widely used now for avoiding the retyping of documents.

OCSP Online Certificate Status Protoco an Internet protocol used for obtaining the revocation status of an X.509 digital certificate
OCTAVE Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation Approach for self-directed risk evaluations that puts organizations in charge, balances critical information assets, business needs, threats, and vulnerabilities and measures the organization against known or accepted good security practices
OCX OLE Custom Controls Visual Basic add-on components based on Microsoft's OLE set of interfaces.
ODA Open Document Architecture An ISO standard for documents which allows for the transfer of text, graphics, and facsimiles between platforms.
ODBC Open Database Connectivity
With all the different types of databases available, such as Microsoft Access, Filemaker, and MySQL, it is important to have a standard way of transferring data to and from each kind of database.
ODBO OLE DB for OLAP A Microsoft specification for a standard interface to OLAP engines. Published in 1997, OBDO paralleled Microsoft's ODBC strategy for access to relational databases.
ODC Offshore development center An operation set up for a specific organization by a service provider, which dedicates assets and resources specifically to that single client, in exchange for guarantees of steady work.
ODD optical disk drive A computer device that reads from, and stores information on, optical storage media.
ODF OpenDocument suite of open, XML-based office suite application formats defined by the OASIS consortium. It defines a platform-neutral, non-proprietary way of storing documents.
ODI Open Data-link Interface an API developed by Apple and Novell for writing network drivers.Like NDIS, ODI provides rules that establish a vendor-neutral interface between the protocol stack and the adapter driver.
ODM Original Design Manufacturer a company that produces products for another firm that will sell them under its brand name
ODMR On-Demand Mail Relay an e-mail service that allows a user to request e-mail from any internet connection by using a dynamic IP address as opposed to a static IP address.
ODOE on demand operating environment The technology infrastructure needed to support an on demand business.
ODP Open Data Path Provide a way for more than one program in the same job to share the same file status information
ODPS On Demand Packaging Service Intranet Software distribution solution by IBM
OEM

connet Oracle Enterprise Manager

connet Original Equipment Manufacturer

connet integrates multiple products into a complete APM/BTM solution.

connet A firm which makes parts that other firms incorporate into their own gear or complete equipment that these other firms sell under their own brand name.

OEP Outlook Exchange Protocol a remote procedure call instantiation of the Microsoft Messaging API protocol
OFB output feedback In cryptography, OFB is a mode of operation for a block cipher. It has some similarities to the ciphertext feedback mode in that it permits encryption of differing block sizes, but has the key difference that the output of the encryption block function is the feedback.
OFCom Office of Communications the official regulating body for TV, radio and other 'communication industries' in the UK. www.ofcom.org.uk
OFDM / OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency-Division multiplexing (/Multiple Access) a frequency-division multiplexing scheme used as a digital multi-carrier modulation method.
OFM Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle Fusion Middleware
OFX Open Financial Exchange An open specification for online transfer of financial data, combining Microsoft's Open Financial Connectivity, Intuit's OpenExchange, and CheckFree's electronic banking and payment protocols.
OGL Open Graphics Language Single, vendor-independent API for the development of 2D and 3D graphics applications
OGSA Open Grid Services Architecture A well-defined set of basic interfaces that is the basis for constructing various systems and is used to describe extensibility, vendor neutrality, and commitment to a community standardization process.
OHG Operators Harmonization Group a group of industry operators established to meet on harmonization issues. The group is working towards a way of harmonisation between CDMA2000 and W-CDMA.
OIC Oracle Incentive Compensation the standard sales ICM offering being actively sold and marketed to the Oracle installed base, including Siebel and PeopleSoft customers
OID Object Identifier OIDs identify individual entries, or objects, within the MIB. OIDs are specified using an "x,y" naming convention, defined by Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1).
O.K.I. Open Knowledge Initiative an organization responsible for the specification of software interfaces comprising a SOA based on high level service definitions.
OLAP online analytical processing A category of business intelligence tools used to analyze data. OLAP tools are client- and server-based analysis tools that originally were based on multidimensional databases but today can be based on relational databases, most often overlaid by an indexing or mapping scheme that emulates an MDDB.
OLE Object Linking and Embedding

connet A Microsoft protocol that enables creation of compound documents with embedded links to applications, so that a user does not have to switch from one application to another to make revisions.

connet a Windows technology that allows not only the creation of compound documents with data originating from more than one program, but also the editing of cut-and-paste data using the originating application program without leaving the host program.

OLED organic light-
emitting diode
LED displays technology
OLIC online image copy

connet The process of creating an image copy while the database is online.

connet The image copy created by the online image copy process.

OLIVE On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment In February 2010, SAIC acquired Forterra Systems Inc.'s OLIVE product line.
OLPC One Laptop Per Child initiative aimed at providing inexpensive laptop computers to children in the developing world as a means of bridging the digital divide. OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, also founder of MIT Media Lab. The initiative was announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2005. www.laptop.org
OLTP On-Line Transaction Processing Any number of (typically many) concurrent users adding and modifying data. Typically includes order processing, banking, stocks, and e-commerce applications.
OMA Open Mashup Alliance a consortium of individuals and organizations dedicated to the successful use of Enterprise Mashup technologies www.openmashup.org
OMG Object Management Group a consortium of hundreds of computer
companies that develop standards for software components to interact
with each other. See web address: www.omg.org
OMH order management hub product for effcient and efective delivery of sales orders
OML Ontology Markup Language An evolution of Simple HTML Ontology Extensions (SHOE) to Extensible Markup Language (XML).
OMR Optical Mark Reader A scanning device that can read marks such as pencil marks on a page; used to read forms and multiple-choice questionnaires.
OMSA OpenManage Server Administrator Suite of tools provided by Dell for managing an individual server. See the official OpenManage site, http://dell.com/openmanage/
OMT Object Modeling Technique A modeling language used to develop object-oriented models.
ONA Organizational network analysis one form of SNA, typically used to study the informal social networks of groups working in the same enterprise.
ONE Open Net Environment Sun Microsystems' implementation of an "integratable" stack of software, hardware and services to deliver on the company's two main visions — "the network is the computer" and services on demand.
OO object-oriented or object orientation An umbrella concept used to describe a suite of technologies that enable software to be highly modular and reusable
OOA&D Object-oriented analysis and design methodologies used by IT professionals to convert business processes and requirements into software solutions in the form of objects, components and services.
OOB Out Of Band

connet Pertaining to user-specific data that has meaning only for connection-oriented (stream) sockets. The server generally receives stream data in the same order that it was sent.

connet Pertaining to signals that are carried within the telephony signaling channel, as opposed to the voice channel.

connet Communication that occurs through a modem or other asynchronous connection

connet The process of discovering SAN data, including topology and device data, without using the Fibre Channel data paths

OODB Object-Oriented Data Base A database in which data is stored as objects in an object-oriented programming environment, and which is managed by an object-oriented database management system.
OOF Out Of Frame State that occurs when several consecutive Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) frames are received with invalid (errored) framing patterns
OOo OpenOffice.org This is - the website of OpenOffice, which is an open source office suite of office tools (word processor, spreadsheet etc). Note that this is normally written as "OOo" (note the lower case o as the third letter.) www.openoffice.org
OOP object-oriented programming A type of programming that combines data structures with functions to create reusable objects. It works something like this: Programmers can create modules that do not need to be changed when a new type of object is added.
OOSE Object Oriented Software Engineering Provides an approach to object-oriented analysis and design that focuses on use cases.
op-code Operation Code Part of a computer instruction word that designates the function performed by a specific instruction.
OPA

connet Open Patent Alliance

connet Oracle Policy Automation

connet group of companies formed in 2008 to promote development of WIMAX Internet use. Web address: www.openpatentalliance.com

connet Oracle's Social Services offerings, providing eligibility and entitlement calculations

Opamp Operational Amplifier originally designed to carry out mathematical operations in analog computers, such as calculating positions and co-ordinates. It however has been found to have numerous other applications.
OpenCL Open Computing Language A standards-based technology for performing general-purpose computations on a computer’s graphics processor.
OpenGL Open Graphics Library 3D graphics language developed by Silicon Graphics. With OpenGL, developers can create graphics and special effects that will appear nearly identical on any operating system and any hardware that supports OpenGL.
OPML Outline Processor Markup Language XML-based format that allows exchange of outline-structured information between applications running on different operating systems and environments
OPN Oracle Partner Network Oracle Partner Network
OPOD Oracle Procurement On Demand delivery methods for analyt ics and EBS application.
OPS Off Premise Station A PBX station in a location separated from the location of the main PBX
OPX Off Premise Extension A telephone line from the phone system terminated in a different building than the phone system.
ORB Object Request Broker A program that controls the communication between a client and an object on a server. ORB is a standard of the Object Management Group (OMG).
ORBS Open Relay Behaviour-modification System a list of open relays that are used by spammers - networks can use this list to block mail from those sites http://www.orbs.org/
ORDB Open Relay DataBase A service to fight against spam or unsolicited commercial email (UCE). See http://www.ordb.org/
ORF Open reading frame the sequence of DNA or RNA that is located between the initiation codon (start-code sequence) and termination codon (stop-code sequence).
ORFS Output Radio Frequency Spectrum a measurement for GSM signals that tests for interference in the adjacent frequency channels (ARFCNs)
ORM

connet Object/Relational Mapping

connet operational risk management

connet Technique of mapping a data representation from an object model to a relational data model with a SQL-based schema

connet process standardization and monitoring, allocation of capital as the result of risk-based performance and economic analysis

OS Operating System The underlying software that allows the user and the computer to interact. The OS is the software platform necessary for the computer to run. It allows the computer's hardware and software applications to communicate.
OSA Open System Architecture part of the 3G UMTS mobile telecommunications network. OSA describes how services are architected in a UMTS network.
OSAF Open Source Applications Foundation Organization that aims to create and gain wide adoption of Open Source application software of uncompromising quality and to build an innovative, sustainable alternative application despite market inertia. See also http://www.osafoundation.org/
OSD

connet On Screen Display

connet Open Software Description

connet a term describing the menu that pops up on many newer generation monitors to give digital control functions, as opposed to analog control functions, to adjust and set the characteristics of the monitor.

connet An application of the XML, is a vocabulary used for describing software packages and their dependencies for heterogeneous clients

OSDL Open Source Development Lab Non-profit, global consortium of leading technology companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux. See http://www.osdl.org/
OSF Open Software Foundation A foundation created by nine computer vendors, (Apollo, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Bull, Nixdorf, Philips, Siemens and Hitachi) to promote "Open Computing".
OSGi Open Services Gateway Initiative Independent, non-profit corporation working to define and promote open specifications for the delivery of managed broadband services to networks in homes, cars and other environments. See also http://www.osgi.org
OSI Open Systems Interconnection

A model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for communications, OSI offers a standard, modular approach to network design that divides the required set of complex functions into manageable, selfcontained, functional layers.

OSLC Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration IBM developed open integration standard
OSMINE Operations Systems Modification of Intelligent Network Elements OSMINE is a procedure by Telcordia to ensure compatibility with the latter's various operating systems.
OSN output sequence number A number assigned by a system to a message sent by the system.
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
OSPF is a method of finding the shortest path from one router to another in a local area network (LAN). As long as a network is IP-based, the OSPF algorithm will calculate the most efficient way for data to be transmitted.
OSPM Operating System Power Management a major segment in the effort known as ACPI. OSPM is an industry effort to return management and monitoring of the computer power interface control from the BIOS to the user at an operating system level.
OSS

connet Online Service System

connet Open source software

connet An online system that offers service information, error notes and downloadable patches for R/3 and other SAP products.

connet Software that can be run, distributed and modified without a fee. Restrictions are often applied — in the form of an "open-source license" — to profits or commercial fees for any product built on a base of free software

OSSIM Open Source Security Information Management Distribution of open source products that are integrated to provide an infrastructure for security monitoring. See also http://www.ossim.net/
OST Outside Surface Temperature This is used in the electronics industry to mean the surface temperature of a component. It is generally used in conjunction with CPUs.
OTA Over The Air standard for the transmission and reception of application-related information in a wireless communications system. The standard is supported by Nokia, SmartTrust, and others.
OTDR Optical Time Domain Reflectometer an instrument that analyzes the light loss in an optical fiber. An OTDR trace shows fiber attenuation for the system and location and magnitude of any losses from splices, connectors, and fiber anomalies or fiber discontinuities.
OTFE On-the-fly encryption also known as Real-time Encryption, is a method used by some encryption programs, for example, disk encryption software
OTM Oracle Transportation Management Oracle Transportation Management
OTN Optical Transport Network a set of Optical Network Elements (3R) connected by optical fibre links, able to provide functionality of transport, multiplexing, switching, management, supervision and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals.
OTP

connet One Time Password

connet one-time programmable

connet Open Trading Protocol

connet A password which can be used once only. A one time password is a security measure.

connet Describes any programmable device, like a PROM or a PLD, that can be programmed just once by the end user.

connet The Internet OTP provides an interoperable framework for Internet commerce. It is payment system independent and encapsulates payment systems such as SET, Mondex, CyberCash, DigiCash, GeldKarte, etc.

OTS Over-the-Shoulder A feature in Vista wherein a user is treated as a standard user until he needs to perform a task that requires elevated privilege. Then the user is promoted to enter the credentials to the account that has such privilege to perform the task.
OU organizational unit

connet A unit within an organization, such as a company, that identifies a particular set of users.

connet An Active Directory container object used within domains. An organizational unit is a logical container into which users, groups, computers, and other organizational units are placed.

connet A body whose data is to be kept separate from that of other, similar bodies. WebSphere BI for FN uses OUs to control access to resources, and to ensure data segregation.

connet One of the types of subsidiary entities that can be added to an organization.

OUI Organizationally Unique Identifier 24-bit value assigned to an organization by the IEEE. It is used as part of MAC address.
OVF Open Virtualization Format Standard format for packaging and describing virtual machines and applications for deployment across heterogeneous virtualization platforms
OVP online video platform online video platform
OWA Outlook Web Access Provides access to emails stored in a Microsoft Exchange server (across an intranet or internet) via a web browser. OWA requires the following ports to be opened in any firewall protecting the Exchange server: ports 80(HTTP), 135 (OWA) and 443 (SSL)
OWASP Open Web Application Security Project Worldwide free and open community focused on improving the security of application software. See also http://www.owasp.org/
OWI Optimized Warehouse Initiative PANTA Systems was a foundation member of the Oracle Information Appliance Initiative, since renamed the Oracle OWI. As of 2008, OWI members included Dell/EMC, HP, IBM, SGI, and Sun.
OWL Web Ontology Language WWW Consortium, Standards for semantic reconciliation
OXE OmniPCX Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent's commercially platform for enterprise telephony
  Open Source Open Source Software is software for which the underlying programming code is available to the users so that they may read it, make changes to it, and build new versions of the software incorporating their changes.
  Openview A line of Hewlett-Packard network management tools offering system, network, desktop, IT service and Internet management functionality.
  OpenVPN OpenVPN is an open source VPN solution. Unlike most VPN systems, OpenVPN uses SSL/TLS to manage and encrypt the connection's data stream.
  orange book
The format that enables CD-R drives to record discs that regular CD-ROM players can read. Orange Book defines how CD-R devices can append index data to an existing disc's directory if you add more data to the disc in multiple sessions.
Orkut orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends. www.orkut.com
  Outage The time when a computer system, telecoms facilities, mains electricity supplies, etc. are unavailable for use due to some failure. Also known as downtime. Planned outages are scheduled in advance. outRages are what happens when they are not.
  overflow

connet In telephony, excess traffic, on a particular route, that is offered to another (alternate) route.

connet In computing, a condition where data is presented to a buffer or port faster than it can be processed, resulting in lost data.

Overture Yahoo Search Marketing service after acquiring Overture Services, Inc. (formerly GoTo.com)