Glossary

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources – compute, storage, databases, and software – over the internet, billed according to actual usage rather than upfront infrastructure investment.

Colocation means housing your own server hardware in a professional third-party data centre – including power, cooling, network connectivity, and physical security, without operating the facility yourself.

A data centre is a purpose-built, highly secured facility housing servers, storage systems, and network equipment. It forms the physical foundation for cloud services, hosting, and business-critical IT infrastructure.

Data sovereignty describes the right and ability of organisations and individuals to retain full control over their own data – including where it is stored, how it is processed, and who can access it.

Disaster Recovery as a Service lets organisations rapidly restore IT systems from the cloud after an outage – without maintaining a dedicated standby infrastructure of their own.

Email encryption protects message content from unauthorised access. Standards like S/MIME and PGP secure the confidentiality and integrity of communication from sender to recipient.

A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on defined rules, protecting internal networks from unauthorised access from the internet and other untrusted networks.

The GDPR is the EU's data protection regulation, in force since 2018, governing how personal data is handled. It obligates organisations to transparency, data minimisation, and demonstrable compliance with privacy requirements.

Geo-redundancy distributes IT infrastructure and data across multiple geographically separate locations. If one site fails entirely, the others take over operations without interruption.

High availability describes the ability of IT systems to remain operational for the longest possible time without interruption – achieved through redundancy, automatic failover mechanisms, and fault-tolerant architectures.

A hybrid cloud combines private cloud or on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services. Organisations leverage the control of a private cloud alongside the scalability of the public cloud simultaneously.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud model in which compute, storage, and networking resources are delivered over the internet as scalable services – no need to own or operate physical hardware.

ISO 27001 is the internationally recognised standard for information security management systems (ISMS). Certification demonstrates that an organisation manages information security systematically and verifiably.

Kubernetes (K8s) is the leading open-source platform for automated deployment, scaling, and management of containerised applications and the de facto standard for container orchestration in modern cloud environments.

Managed Services are IT functions permanently outsourced to an external provider – including proactive monitoring, maintenance, patch management, and support, rather than purely reactive break-fix assistance.

Multi-factor authentication protects access by combining two or more independent verification factors – such as a password plus a one-time code. Stolen passwords alone are no longer sufficient for an attacker to gain entry.

IT monitoring is the continuous observation of systems, networks, and applications to detect anomalies and failures early – ideally before they affect operations or end users.

On-premises refers to IT infrastructure physically located and operated within an organisation's own facilities. Unlike cloud deployments, the organisation retains full control over hardware, software, and data.

Platform as a Service provides developers with a complete cloud platform for building, testing, and deploying applications – including runtime environment, middleware, and development tools, without managing the underlying infrastructure.

Patch management is the structured process of identifying, testing, and deploying software updates. It closes known security vulnerabilities and is one of the most effective measures for reducing an organisation's attack surface.

A Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a system of policies, processes, and technologies for issuing and managing digital certificates – the foundation for encrypted communication and digital signatures.

A private cloud is a cloud infrastructure exclusively available to one organisation. It combines the flexibility of cloud computing with the control and security of dedicated, non-shared resources.

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data on infected systems and demands a ransom for decryption. It ranks among the most dangerous cyber threats facing organisations of all sizes.

S/MIME is a standard for cryptographically securing emails. It enables end-to-end encryption and digital signatures that verifiably prove the authenticity and integrity of an email message.

S3 object storage is a scalable technology that stores data as objects rather than in a file hierarchy. The S3 API has become the universal standard for cloud storage, ideal for backups, media files, and data archives.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud model in which software applications are delivered and used over the internet – with no local installation or server infrastructure required from the customer.

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contractual agreement between provider and customer that defines measurable quality targets for a service – such as availability, response times, and remedies for non-compliance.

Tenant separation encompasses technical and organisational measures that ensure data and systems of different customers are strictly isolated from one another in shared IT infrastructure, with no cross-tenant access possible.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure runs desktop operating systems on virtual machines in a data centre. Users access their personal desktop environment from any device over the network, while all data remains centrally stored and secured.