If you are into International IT projects, you may find this post useful; I selected the 100 most common terms used in projects of software development and system integration, and provided with the appropriate term used in some other languages I use at work.
I skipped obvious terms like “project” “scrum” or “sprint”. If, in a given language there is a local term, but the english term replaced it, I put the english variant first.
Check it out!
1/ Acceptance
Acceptance includes all the tests conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification are met. For example, UAT is part of this process.
French: la recette, le recettage
Spanish: las pruebas de validación
Russian: приёмочное тестирование
Polish: test akceptacyjny
2/ Accessibility
Ensuring a product is usable by people with a wide range of disabilities, including screen reader compatibility and color contrast considerations.
French: l’accessibilité
Spanish: la accesibilidad
Russian: аccessibility дизайна
Polish: dostępność interfejsa
3/ Agenda
Topic of a meeting defined in advance, so the meeting attendants can prepare themselves or decide if their presence is necessary.
French: l’ordre du jour
Spanish: el orden del día de la reunión
Russian: адженда
Polish: porządek obrad spotkania
4/ Array
Data structure consisting of a collection of elements, such as values or variables.
French: un tableau
Spanish: un arreglo, un array
Russian: массив
Polish: tablica
5/ Baseline
Planned project schedule and cost, against which the project progression is compared.
French: la référence de base, la baseline
Spanish: una línea base
Russian: бейзлайн проекта
Polish: baseline, referencja
6/ Budget
Amount of money allocated since the beginning phases of the project to cover the costs forecast.
French: le budget
Spanish: el presupuesto
Russian: бюджет
Polish: budżet
7/ Buffer
In planification; amount of time added to a task end before starting a new task, to allow for uncertainties.
French: un tampon
Spanish: una reserva de tiempo
Russian: подушка времени
Polish: bufor czasowy
8/ Branch
In Git, a distinct version or part of the code.
French: une branche
Spanish: una rama
Russian: ветка
Polish: gałąź
9/ Closing a project
A list of processes aiming to formally hand over the system and put it into the run stage.
French: clôturer un projet
Spanish: cerrar el proyecto
Russian: закрытие проекта
Polish: zamykanie projektu
10/ Cloud computing
IT services offered remotely from datacenters.
French: le cloud
Spanish: la nube
Russian: сервис в облаке
Polish: chmura
11/ Configuration Management
Management of the modifications of a product throughout the time.
French: la gestion de configuration
Spanish: la gestión de configuración
Russian: управление конфигурацией
Polish: zarządzanie konfiguracją
12/ Commissioning
The action of starting a hardware for the first time on a client’s premises.
French: la mise en service
Spanish: la puesta en servicio
Russian: запуск оборудования
Polish: oddanie do eksploatacji
13/ Component
Part of the final product, which is usually managed in a dedicated work package. For example, a payment gateway for a new website.
French: un composant
Spanish: un componente
Russian: компонент
Polish: komponent
14/ Constraint
Restriction or limitation placed on a project, such as a small budget.
French: une contrainte
Spanish: una restricción
Russian: ограничение
Polish: ograniczenie
15/ Console
User’s Interface of the IDE, where the programmer writes the code.
French: la console
Spanish: la consola
Russian: консоль
Polish: konsola
16/ Contractor
Company hired to deliver a service, for example implementing a new system
French: un exécutant
Spanish: un, una contratista
Russian: подрядчик, исполнитель услуги
Polish: wykonawca
17/ Critical path
Logical sequence of works forming the minimum time to achieve the project.
French: le chemin critique
Spanish: el camino crítico
Russian: критический путь
Polish: ścieżka krytyczna
18/ Cross-Functional Team
In Agile; a team of IT specialists having different complementary skills.
French: une équipe multi-fonctionnelle
Spanish: un equipo multifuncional
Russian: мульти-функциональная команда
Polish: zespoł międzyfunkcyjny
19/ Custom-made software
Software developed for the needs of a specific client.
French: un logiciel spécifique
Spanish: un software a medida
Russian: кастом, программу, которую создали под спецификациями клиента
Polish: custom, oprogramowanie na zamówienie
20/ Customer Journey Map (CJM)
Diagram showing each step how the user interacts with the system.
French: la cartographie du parcours client
Spanish: la mapa de trayecto del cliente
Russian: карта пути клиента, CJM
Polish: Customer Journey Map
21/ Database (DB)
Organized set of data, managed by a database management system (DBMS) such as MySQL.
French: une base de données
Spanish: una base de datos
Russian: база данных (БД)
Polish: baza danych
22/ Datacenter
Highly secured facility composed of networked computers, storage systems and computing infrastructure.
French: un centre de données, un datacenter
Spanish: un CPD (centro de procesamiento de datos)
Russian: ЦОД (Центр Обработки Данных)
Polish: centrum danych
23/ Decision maker (DM)
In stakeholder management, a person who is able to make a final decision.
French: le décisionnaire
Spanish: el decisor
Russian: ЛПР (Лицо Принимающее Решение)
Polish: decydent
24/ Definition of Done (DoD)
A clear and agreed-upon set of criteria that a work item or user story must meet to be considered complete.
French: la définition du fini
Spanish: la definición de hecho
Russian: Definition of Done
Polish: Definition of Done, definicja ukończenia
25/ Deliverables
The tangible results expected from a project.
French: les livrables
Spanish: los entregables
Russian: результаты проекта
Polish: rezultaty projektu
26/ Dependency
A condition for finishing or beginning a task in a project. For example, the task “order the bricks” makes a dependency on beginning the task “build the wall”.
French: une dépendance
Spanish: una dependencia
Russian: зависимость между задачами проекта, дипенденси
Polish: zależność w zadaniach projektu
27/ Deployment
Installing instances of a system throughout the company.
French: le déploiement
Spanish: el despliegue
Russian: развертывание
Polish: wdrażanie, deployment
28/ Design System
Collection of reusable components, guidelines, and standards that ensure consistency across a product or suite of products.
French: le design system
Spanish: el sistema de diseño
Russian: дизайн система
Polish: design system
29/ Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)
Organization’s plan to protect its IT systems and data from disasters and recover quickly to minimize downtime and losses.
French: un plan de reprise d’activité (PRA)
Spanish: DRP, un plan de recuperación ante desastres
Russian: DRP, план восстановления после бедствия
Polish: DRP, plan odzyskiwania po awarii
30/ Escalation
Reporting an issue to an upper level in the hierarchy, usually in order to unblock a conflict.
French: le fait d’escalader un problème
Spanish: el escalamiento
Russian: эскалация (проблемы начальству)
Polish: eskalacja
31/ Estimate to complete (ETC)
Estimate of the amount of money, time, and resources needed to complete a project.
French: le reste à faire (RAF)
Spanish: la estimación hasta la conclusión (ETC), el trabajo restante
Russian: ETC, ожидаемая оставшаяся стоимость завершения проекта
Polish: ETC, oszacowanie do ukończenia
32/ Executing a project
After planning, stage when the project deliverables, Specialist Products, outputs, are being done.
French: l’exécution du projet
Spanish: la ejecución del proyecto
Russian: исполнение проекта
Polish: wykonywanie projektu
33/ Executive Committee
A project committee made of company top management stakeholders that may convene at specific milestones or for reaching decisions above the competences of the steering committee.
French: le COMEX, le comité exécutif
Spanish: el comité ejecutivo
Russian: исполнительный комитет
Polish: komitet wykonawczy
34/ Fast-tracking
Practice of concurrently completing tasks that would normally be completed sequentially.
French: paralléliser l’exécution des tâche
Spanish: el fast-tracking
Russian: исполнение задач одновременно
Polish: jednoczesne wykonywanie zadań, fast tracking
35/ Feasibility study
Analytical works done to determine if the project is doable from a technical, and sometimes also economical standpoint.
French: l’étude de faisabilité
Spanish: el estudio de factibilidad
Russian: ТЭО (технико – экономическое обоснование проекта)
Polish: studium wykonalności
36/ Feature
A service or function of the product that delivers business value and fulfils the customer’s needs.
French: une fonctionnalité
Spanish: una funcionalidad
Russian: фича
Polish: funkcja
37/ Fixed-price
Contract involving paying the contractor an agreed-upon price for a task.
French: un contrat au forfait
Spanish: un contrato a precio fijo
Russian: фикс-прайс
Polish: umowa z ceną stałą
38/ Float
The amount of time, or margin, a task can be delayed without delaying the other tasks.
French: la marge
Spanish: el margen de tiempo de una tarea
Russian: маржа времени, запас времени
Polish: margines czasu zadania
39/ Full-Time Equivalent (FTE )
Team member involved 100% of his / her working time with the company’s tasks, even if he / she works on several projects.
French: un (e) employé (e) à temps plein
Spanish: un (a) empleado (a) a tiempo completo.
Russian: сотрудник, работающий полностью для компании
Polish: etat, w pełnym wymiarze godzin
40/ Functional specifications
Specifications from the end-user standpoint.
French: Le cahier des charges fonctionnel ( CDCF)
Spanish: los requisitos funcionales
Russian: функциональные спецификации
Polish: specyfikacje funkcjonalne
41/ Gap analysis
Comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance.
French: une analyse des écarts
Spanish: un análisis de brechas
Russian: гэп аналисис
Polish: analiza luk
42/ Information radiator
The place to display the burn-down charts, kanban boards
French: un affichage mural
Spanish: el radiador de información
Russian: борда
Polish: tablica informacyjna
43/ Initiating
The first stage of a project, destined to justify, or not, the need for endeavouring a project.
French: le démarrage du projet
Spanish: el inicio del proyecto
Russian: начало проекта
Polish: faza inicjacji projektu
44/ Input
An element or set of elements necessary for starting a task.
French: un intrant, un input
Spanish: la entrada
Russian: инпут, входные данные
Polish: element wejściowy
45/ Issue log
Daily-managed list of issues or incidents affecting the project.
French: le journal des questions
Spanish: el registro de cuestiones o problemas
Russian: список проблем
Polish: lista zagadnień
46/ Kick-of meeting
Get-together done usually at the end of the initiating stage to formally start a project.
French: le kick-off, la réunion de lancement
Spanish: el kick-off, la reunión de lanzamiento
Russian: кик-офф, собрание для начала проекта
Polish: kick off spotkanie
47/ Legacy
The set of current IT systems of a company, often creating constraints, dependencies and bottlenecks.
French: un système hérité, un système obsolète
Spanish: un legacy, un sistema heredado
Russian: легаси, текущая система
Polish: przestarzały system
48/ Lessons Learned
Experiences distilled from past activities that should be actively taken into account in future projects.
French: le retour d’expérience (REX)
Spanish: las lecciones aprendidas
Russian: уроки
Polish: wnioski wyciągnięte
49/ Library
Set of functions, objects or classes ready to use and possibly customize.
French: une bibliothèque
Spanish: una biblioteca
Russian: библиотека
Polish: biblioteka
50/ Loop
Sequence of instructions that is continually repeated until a certain condition is reached.
French: une boucle
Spanish: un bucle
Russian: петля
Polish: pętla
51/ Maintenance
Processes for maximising availability of IT operations.
French: la maintenance
Spanish: el mantenimiento
Russian: поддержка
Polish: utrzymanie
52/ Milestone
An agreed point in the project, usually used for reporting. For example; the UAT of the payment gateway is a milestone.
French: un jalon
Spanish: el hito
Russian: майлстоун, контрольный пункт, веха
Polish: kamień milowy, etap projektu
53/ Net present value (NPV)
Difference between the project’s cash value now and in the future. If the NPV is negative, doing the project will result in an useless endeavour.
French: Valeur actuelle nette (VAN)
Spanish: el valor actual neto (VAN)
Russian: NVP, Чистая приведённая стоимость (ЧПС)
Polish: NVP, Wartość bieżąca netto (WBN)
54/ North Star Metric (NSM)
Main criteria of success for a product.
French: la métrique NSM
Spanish: la métrica NSM
Russian: метрика полярной звезды, NSM
Polish: metryka NSM
55/ Offer
Proposition done by the contractor for executing IT services or products.
French: la proposition
Spanish: la propuesta
Russian: ТКП (Торговое-Коммерческое Предложение)
Polish: oferta
56/ Out-of-scope (OOS)
All features that are not included in the scope of a project but could potentially add value. We agree not to include them in order to avoid scope creep.
French: le hors-périmètre
Spanish: lo fuera del alcance
Russian: исключено из спектра работ, вне скоупа (не формально)
Polish: poza zakresem
57/ Payback period
Time necessary to regain the project costs from the project benefits.
French: le DRCI (Délai de Récupération du Capital Investi)
Spanish: el periodo de recuperación
Russian: срок окупаемости
Polish: okres zwrotu
58/ Procurement
Activity of gathering the equipment or resources needed for executing the project.
French: les achats
Spanish: el suministro, las compras
Russian: снабжение, закупки для проекта
Polish: zaopatrzenie
59/ Product Backlog Refinement (PBR)
Meeting aiming to clarify the work to be done, usually takes place before the Sprint planning meeting, but can also occur when needed.
French: Le backlog refinement, le grooming
Spanish: el refinamiento del backlog.
Russian: груминг, рифайнмент
Polish: Product Backlog Refinement
60/ Progress Report
A snapshot of project status, milestones achieved, and tasks in progress.
French: rapport d’avancement
Spanish: el reporte de progreso
Russian: отчет о продвижении проекта, промежуточный отчет
Polish: sprawozdanie z realizacji
61/ Project charter
Also referred to as the ‘project brief,’ it is a document prepared during the initiating stage that defines the project scope, grants authority to the project manager, and provides information at the corporate level.
French: la charte du projet
Spanish: la carta del proyecto
Russian: чартер проекта, бриф проекта
Polish: zarządzanie projektem
62/ Project governance
Rules and procedures put in place by the project stakeholders aiming to reach project objectives and keep the project aligned with the company’s strategy.
French: la gouvernance du projet
Spanish: la gobernanza del proyecto
Russian: говерненс проекта, управление проектем
Polish: zarządzanie projektem
63/ Project Owner support
Also, assistant to the contracting authority. A project management role at client’s side, understanding the project business needs, and working in partnership with the technical project manager.
French: AMOA (Assistance à la Maîtrise d’Ouvrage), often seen in French
Spanish: la asistencia de gestión de proyectos
Russian: поддержка в управлении проекта
Polish: wsparcie projektu
64/ Proof of Concept (PoC)
Study aiming to prove the feasibility of a deliverable, for example for a pre-sale or for a project go / no go milestone.
French: une preuve de concept
Spanish: la prueba de concepto
Russian: proof of concept, проверка жизнеспособности концепта
Polish: proof of concept
65/ Quality Assurance (QA)
Function aiming to prevent defects reaching the customer.
French: le contrôle de la qualité (CQ)
Spanish: el control calidad, las pruebas
Russian: QA, тестирование
Polish: QA, zapewnianie jakości
66/ Quote
Commercial proposal from a contractor, given for informative purposes and usually not legally binding.
French: un devis, une proposition
Spanish: un presupuesto
Russian: смета
Polish: wycena
67/ Release
Launch of the first, or successive software versions to the public.
French: la release (d’une nouvelle version), la mise en production
Spanish: el release, el lanzamiento (de la nueva versión)
Russian: запуск, релиз
Polish: wydanie nowej wersji
68/ Requirements
Needs and characteristics, including functional and technical, of the project product.
French: les spécifications, les exigences
Spanish: los requisitos
Russian: требования
Polish: wymagania
69/ Requirement gathering workshop
Series of meetings destined to gather as much as possible information about the requirements and the customer’s needs.
French: un atelier spécifications client
Spanish: un workshop para requisitos, un taller para requisitos
Russian: воркшоп для сбора требований
Polish: warsztat dla zbioru wymagań
70/ Resource Allocation
Determining which team member does which work package.
French: l’assignation des ressources
Spanish: la asignación de recursos
Russian: назначение задач по ресурсам
Polish: alokacja zasobów
71/ Resource leveling
Action of balancing workload between busy and available people
French: le nivellement des ressources
Spanish: la nivelación de recursos
Russian: нивелирование ресурсов
Polish: równoważenie zasobów, bilansowanie zasobów
72/ Resource capacity
The amount of time a team member can work per day, used for planning schedule
French: la capacité en temps d’une ressource
Spanish: la capacidad de los recursos
Russian: капасити, доступность человека
Polish: pojemność zasobów
73/ Responsive Design
A design approach ensuring a product works and looks good on various devices and screen sizes, from desktops to smartphones.
French: le design responsif
Spanish: un diseño responsivo
Russian: респонсивный дизайн
Polish: responsywny design
74/ Risk Assessment
Measuring the potential impact of a risk.
French: l’évaluation des risques
Spanish: la evaluación de riesgos
Russian: оценка рисков
Polish: ocena ryzyka
75/ Roadmap
High-level project plan, with milestones, destined for top-management.
French: la feuille de route
Spanish: la hoja de ruta
Russian: роадмап
Polish: mapa drogowa
76/ Return on Investment (ROI)
Basic profitability indicator; ROI rate = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment.
French: ROI, le retour sur investissement
Spanish: el ROI, el retorno de la inversión
Russian: ROI, окупаемость инвестиций
Polish: ROI, zwrot z inwestycji
77/ Rollback
Action to cancel the last command in an SQL database.
French: un rollback, un retour en arrière
Spanish: un rollback, un comando de reversión
Russian: рольбэк, откатка
Polish: rollback, wycofanie zmian
78/ Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
Finding the origin of an issue, using methods such as ‘5 whys’ or Ishikawa diagram.
French: analyse des causes profondes
Spanish: el análisis de la causa raíz
Russian: анализ корневых причин
Polish: analiza przyczyn źródłowych
79/ Sandbagging
Communicating longer schedules and bigger costs to the client to lower expectations.
French: communiquer les coûts maximum
Spanish: sobreestimar los costos y el tiempo de ejecución
Russian: подстраховаться по срокам и костам перед клиентом
Polish: zwiększyć koszty i czas
80/ Sandbox
A testing environment usually separated from other systems.
French: une sandbox
Spanish: un entorno de espacio aislado, un entorno de pruebas
Russian: песочница
Polish: środowisko piaskownicy
81/ Scope of work (SOW)
The total amount of work in a project. SOW can also be used for Statement of Work, which is a shorter document, usually used in contracts.
French: le périmètre du projet
Spanish: el alcance del proyecto
Russian: скоуп проекта
Polish: zakres prac
82/ Scope creep
Unplanned additional features added to the project scope, causing delays and higher costs.
French: la dérive des objectifs
Spanish: el desplazamiento del alcance
Russian: скоуп крип, неконтролируемый рост объема проекта
Polish: niekontrolowane rozszerzanie zakresu projektu
83/ Sponsor
A person, usually at the senior management level, responsible for the success of a project and for providing necessary guidance and resources to the project team
French: le sponsor du projet
Spanish: el patrocinador
Russian: спонсор
Polish: sponsor
84/ Stage
Depending on methodologies, the term “stage” can be interpreted in various ways. Most commonly, it is a subdivision of the project lifecycle, such as development, testing…
French: une phase, une tranche (in hardware building)
Spanish: una fase del proyecto
Russian: фаза проекта, этап проекта
Polish: etap projektu
85/ Staged environment
Testing environment aiming to be as close as possible to the production environment.
French: l’environnement pré-prod
Spanish: el entorno stage
Russian: стейдж
Polish: środowisko stage
86/ Stakeholders
All the people impacted by the project, such as the management and the users from the departments where the system will be implemented.
French: les stakeholders, les parties prenantes
Spanish: los interesados
Russian: стейкхолдеры, люди вовлеченные в проекте
Polish: interesariuszy
87/ Steering committee
A committee made of key project stakeholders, working as a team to make decisions regarding the normal execution of the project, especially during regular meetings.
French: le COPIL (le Comité de pilotage)
Spanish: el comité directivo
Russian: управляющий комитет проекта
Polish: komitet sterujący
88/ Technical debt
Accumulation over time of non-optimized technical decisions that lead to a weaker product.
French: la dette technique
Spanish: la deuda técnica
Russian: техдолг
Polish: dług techniczny
89/ Technical Project Manager
Working with the project owner support, translates the functional requirements into technical specifications.
French: MOE (le Maître d’Œuvre), often used in French
Spanish: el gerente técnico de proyectos
Russian: технический проект менеджер
Polish: techniczny menedżer projektu
90/ Technical specifications
Requirements for an IT system, on which the end-user has no expectations, for example from an integration or architecture standpoint.
French: Cahier des charges technique (ou CDCT)
Spanish: las especificaciones técnicas
Russian: технические спецификации
Polish: specyfikacje techniczne
91/ Technical support
The service that ensures the systems remain available, often referred to as the ongoing operation and stabilization of a system after its release.
French: le support technique
Spanish: el soporte tecnico
Russian: тех-поддержка, саппорт
Polish: wsparcie techniczne
92/ Times and Materials (T&M)
Contract involving paying the contractor per time spent on a task instead of per result.
French: un contrat en régie
Spanish: un acuerdo de tiempo y materiales
Russian: times and materials, по времени
Polish: umowa time & material
93/ Total cost of ownership (TCO)
Financial estimate to help determine the direct and indirect costs of a product in the long term.
French: le TCO, le coût total de possession
Spanish: el coste total de propiedad
Russian: TCO, совокупная стоимость владения
Polish: całkowity koszt posiadania
94/ User
Those who will use the software, but not necessarily those paying for or ordering it.
French: un utilisateur
Spanish: un usuario
Russian: пользователь
Polish: użytkownik
95/ User Interface (UI)
Point of human-computer interaction in a device, including display screens, keyboards, etc…
French: l’UI, l’IU (Interface Utilisateur), IHM (Interface Homme-Machine)
Spanish: la interfaz de usuario
Russian: UI, интерфейс
Polish: interfejs użytkownika
96/ Variable
Element in a line of code that may take on more than one value.
French: une variable
Spanish: una variable
Russian: переменная
Polish: zmienna
97/ Waterfall
Project life cycle, focusing on planning and successive stages.
French: un projet en cycle en V, projet en cascade
Spanish: un proyecto en cascada
Russian: проект по водопаду
Polish: projekt w kaskadowym modelu
98/ Wireframe
A simplified drawing, used for agreement on a screen UI
French: une maquette fonctionnelle
Spanish: un wireframe
Russian: ваерфрейм
Polish: wireframe, makieta
99/ Work-around
A quick fix to an issue, or its avoidance
French: une solution de contournement
Spanish: una solución alternativa
Russian: ворк араунд, костыль
Polish: rozwiązanie obejściowe
100/ Work in Progress (WIP)
Work being done, but not finished yet, thus bringing no value and using resources.
French: le travail en-cours
Spanish: el trabajo en progreso
Russian: незавершенное производство (НЗП)
Polish: praca w toku
101/ Workload
Quantity of work, expressed in man-hours, needed by team members for executing a task.
French: la charge de travail
Spanish: la carga de trabajo
Russian: объем работы
Polish: obciążenie pracą
102/ Work package
Group of tasks, usually given to one person responsible for it. Often used as “Epic” in Jira.
French: le lot de travaux, une épique
Spanish: el paquete de trabajos, una épica
Russian: work package, подзадача проекта, эпик
Polish: pakiet pracy
103/ Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Tree-like breakdown of all work packages of the project.
French: la structure de découpage de projet WBS
Spanish: la estructura de desglose de trabajo (EDT)
Russian: структурная декомпозиция проекта
Polish: struktura podziału pracy (SPP), WBS