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	Open-Closed Principle Oracle Certified Professional	Object-oriented principle that states that software entities should be open for extensions but closed for modifications 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	Oracle Enterprise Manager Original Equipment Manufacturer	integrates multiple products into a complete APM/BTM solution. 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	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. 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	The process of creating an image copy while the database is online. 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	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. Pertaining to signals that are carried within the telephony signaling channel, as opposed to the voice channel. Communication that occurs through a modem or other asynchronous connection 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	Open Patent Alliance Oracle Policy Automation	group of companies formed in 2008 to promote development of WIMAX Internet use. Web address: www.openpatentalliance.com 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	Object/Relational Mapping operational risk management	Technique of mapping a data representation from an object model to a relational data model with a SQL-based schema 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	On Screen Display Open Software Description	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. 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	Online Service System Open source software	An online system that offers service information, error notes and downloadable patches for R/3 and other SAP products. 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	One Time Password one-time programmable Open Trading Protocol	A password which can be used once only. A one time password is a security measure. Describes any programmable device, like a PROM or a PLD, that can be programmed just once by the end user. 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	A unit within an organization, such as a company, that identifies a particular set of users. 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. 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. 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	In telephony, excess traffic, on a particular route, that is offered to another (alternate) route. 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)