When explaining trends in the market place, it is useful to cover some terms and be clear about their meaning. It is not necessary that you agree with usage of these terms, or adopt their usage in your own organization. This lexicon is simply presented to clarify how the terms are used in the context of the Craig Burton Wiki.
Directories—every system has its own directory. This is valuable because directories make complicated things simpler. When multiple directories exist with each other, this becomes a paradox. While making things simpler, multiple directories immediately start to make things more complex because of the need for multiple directories. Examples of directory paradox are found in operating system directories and application directories. The customer relationship management (CRM) application seldom uses the same directory as the operating system. This allows the CRM to be independent of the operating system.
This simple example of complexity introduced by two different systems is compounded every time a new directory is introduced.
At the business level, a new directory and its accompanying advantages and disadvantages is introduced with every business level application.
At the personal level, a new directory is introduced with every registration and login on the Internet.
This phenomenon isn’t going to go away. We must then learn to manage it.
To understand how to manage multiple directories, we divide the problem into models:
Naming model—defines how an application uses names to identify account usage and application functionality. The variance on the naming model is huge. If you localize it, it becomes even larger. Note that the term “localize” in this context means to have local versions on an international scale. Thus, to “localize” means to “internationalize.”
From Wikipedia—Internationalization and Localization. In computing, Internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation, see spelling differences) are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalization is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.
Localization as it is often one of the final frontiers a software company crosses to complete its product.
Security model—defines how an application is secured against accidental or malicious misuse or the dissemination of data from the application.
Data model—defines the approach used to store, manage, and retrieve data from an application.