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27 Cliches, Geek Terms Banned From CompTIA AMM Stage: The Banned List 2.0

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Vince Tinnirello
Vince Tinnirello
Chris Phillips

Before you take the stage at your next IT conference, consider this advice: Say less -- especially if a few less words allow you to avoid some of the most annoying cliches and jargon in the IT market.

Not sure where to start -- or stop? Consider this expanded list of banned cliches and geek terms, care of Anchor Network Solutions CEO Vince Tinnirello and CompTIA's Chris Phillips. The original 1.0 list emerged at CompTIA Annual Member Meeting 2016. But some fresh (actually, stale) additions surfaced last week at CompTIA AMM 2017.

And just to clarify: CompTIA itself doesn't develop or endorse the list. Instead, it remains a member-driven revolution. Here's the upgrade lineup of banned terms so far -- call it The Banned List 2.0:

  1. At the End of the Day
  2. Bandwidth -- new for 2017
  3. Big Data
  4. Born in the Cloud
  5. Circle back -- new for 2017
  6. Echo That
  7. Ecosystem
  8. Engage
  9. Holistic
  10. Game Changer -- new for 2017
  11. Grass Roots
  12. Go-to-Market Strategy
  13. Low-hanging fruit -- new for 2017
  14. Nail in the Coffin -- new for 2017
  15. Paradigm Shift
  16. Pick Up Where You Left Off
  17. Piggy Back
  18. Ping Me -- new for 2017
  19. Reach Out
  20. Single Pane of Glass -- new for 2017
  21. Skin in the Game
  22. Sooner rather than later
  23. Strategic
  24. Traction
  25. Trusted Advisor
  26. Value Proposition
  27. Vis-a-vis

On the Waiting List for 2018:

  • Digital Business Transformation

The Original Manuscript, Circa 2016-2017

Here's a look at the official scribe. Black ink reflects 2016 entries. Carefully inserted blue items represent 2017 entries. Handwriting analysis suggests Phillips's fingerprints are all over the updates.

So what's next? I don't know if the list keepers plan a 2.5 rev for CompTIA ChannelCon 2017 in July-August, or if the next revision is scheduled for a 3.0 rev at CompTIA AMM 2018...

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.