Business Software and Systems: A Glossary

Part of the Five Stones knowledge base - 40 terms on business software and systems, in plain English.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) - Software that stores every customer's contact details, history and interactions in one place, so nothing lives only in one person's memory or inbox.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) - A larger system that connects a business's core functions (finance, inventory, HR, operations) into one shared platform.
POS (Point of Sale) - The system used to process a sale, whether a physical till or a software checkout, often the first source of data an AI tool connects to.
PMS (Practice/Property Management System) - Software used by clinics, salons or property businesses to manage appointments, records and billing in one place.
Booking system - Software that manages appointment or reservation availability and confirms bookings, increasingly connected directly to a chatbot.
Helpdesk software - A system for logging, tracking and resolving customer support requests, often the system an AI is layered on top of.
Ticketing system - Software that turns each customer issue into a trackable "ticket" with a status, assigned to a person or resolved automatically.
Cloud accounting software - Accounting software accessed online (e.g. Xero, QuickBooks) rather than installed locally, which is what makes AI-based bookkeeping tools possible.
Inventory management system - Software that tracks stock levels in real time, often connected to AI for reorder predictions.
HRMS (Human Resource Management System) - Software that manages staff records, payroll, leave and scheduling.
Middleware integration - Connecting two systems that were not originally built to talk to each other, usually via an integration platform or custom code.
Single sign-on (SSO) - Letting staff log into multiple business systems with one set of credentials, reducing password fatigue and security risk.
Cloud migration - Moving a business's software and data from local computers or servers onto cloud-based systems.
Legacy migration - Moving data and processes off an old system onto a new one without losing historical records.
Custom software - Software built specifically for one business's exact processes, as opposed to a generic off-the-shelf product.
Off-the-shelf software - Ready-made software built for a broad market, cheaper and faster to adopt but less tailored to a specific business.
White-label software - Software built by one company and rebranded/sold by another under its own name.
Plug-in / add-on - A smaller piece of software that adds extra functionality to an existing system without replacing it.
System integration - The overall project of making a business's different software systems work together as one connected whole.
Data migration - Moving data from one system to another, one of the most common causes of delay in any software or AI rollout.
Uptime SLA (Service Level Agreement) - A vendor's contractual promise of how reliably their system will be available, usually expressed as a percentage.
Cloud hosting - Running software on remote servers managed by a provider (like AWS or Google Cloud) rather than a business's own hardware.
Multi-tenant software - A system where many different businesses use the same underlying software, with their data kept separate, which is how most affordable SaaS tools are built.
API rate limit - A cap on how many requests a system allows in a given time, which can affect how fast an AI tool responds under heavy use.
Sandbox account - A test version of a software account used to try changes safely before applying them to the real, live system.
Configuration vs customisation - Adjusting a system's existing settings (configuration) versus building genuinely new functionality for it (customisation), a distinction that strongly affects cost.
Onboarding (software) - The process of setting a business up on a new system, including data import, staff training and initial configuration.
Implementation partner - A company hired to set up, configure and integrate a software or AI system on a business's behalf.
Managed service - A system or process a third party runs and maintains on a business's behalf, rather than the business operating it in-house.
Uptime monitoring - Automated checking that a business's website, booking system or AI tool is actually working, alerting someone the moment it goes down.
Backup and recovery - The systems and process for restoring data if it is lost, corrupted or affected by an outage.
Version control - Tracking changes to software or documents over time so earlier versions can be recovered if something breaks.
Deployment - The act of making a new piece of software, automation or AI tool live and usable in the real business.
Staging environment - A near-identical copy of a live system used to test changes before they go live for real customers.
Downtime - Any period a system is unavailable or not working, directly costing a business lost enquiries or transactions.
Subscription pricing (SaaS pricing) - Paying an ongoing monthly or annual fee for software access, as opposed to a one-off purchase.
Usage-based pricing - Paying for a system based on how much it is actually used (e.g. per conversation or per API call), common in AI tools.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) - The full real cost of a system over time, including setup, subscription, integration and maintenance, not just the sticker price.
Contract lock-in - Being tied to a vendor for a fixed term, which affects how easily a business can switch if a tool underperforms.
Free tier - A limited, no-cost version of a software or AI tool, usually capped by usage or features, often the right place for an SME to start testing.

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