I have been in technology marketing since my career began, and there is one word that I have come to loathe because of its misuse by marketing and business leaders in technology – enterprise, (or enterprise-class). I’m guilty of using it – it’s my job to ensure prospects know that we offer the best technologies available to handle complex workloads and applications.
But what is the definition of enterprise, really? A quick Bing search produces three definitions – commercial business, business activities directed at profit, and a daring new project. A quick search of the Gartner IT Glossary tells me the definition of enterprise-class is “a term referring to the ability of a given tool or product to handle complex processes or services.”