134 ◾ Information Systems: What Every Business Student Needs to Know
Open-source soware: (a) Soware that is produced communally and is available for any-
one to use free of charge. Contrast with proprietary soware; (b) Soware whose
source program is open to public view.
Operating system: A program that manages activities and resource usage in a computer.
Outsourcing: One company is engaging another company to carry out activities on its
behalf that it would otherwise do itself.
Performance monitor: System soware that measures the load on a computer with a view
to optimizing its performance.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): A form of cloud computing in which users access a platform
over the Internet and can run their own applications on i ...