I can't decide what's more frustrating; explaining what a particular acronym means, or trying to figure out exactly what it stands for. It's got to the stage with many where we just use them in our business conversations and forget that they stand for something more.
ROI, SAN, NAS, iSCSI, XML--the list constantly grows.
Acronyms in themselves aren't a problem--would you really want to have to say "network-attached storage" each and every time?
But issues arise when you're trying to explain projects or other tasks the IT department is working on to managers and staff who don't come from a technical background. And shortened three-letter acronyms don't always help get the message across.
Also, as one IT pro recently pointed out to me, there can also be confusion when an acronym can have more than one meaning. He used XP as an example--used to refer to Microsoft's operating system Windows XP, or alternatively Extreme Programming.
Communication between IT departments and the rest of the business is key to understanding what's actually going on.
Gone are the days when IT professionals were just seen as back-room geeks who had no interaction with the rest of the company. Today CIOs and IT managers are very much involved in the business. So, just like the financial controller who has to explain what the numbers mean, the IT manager has to be able to communicate technical issues in lay terms.
How do you cope with explaining technical terms to others? Do you think that we're becoming overwhelmed by acronyms? Talkback below, or e-mail your comments to edit@zdnet.com.au.
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