Front and back office application

A front office application is any software that has a direct relation to customers. In turn, a back office application has no such direct relation.

Examples

The software enabling the customer to order a product from a company is considered a front office application. Even a salesperson handles the actual typing of the order into the application, it is still considerered front office.

If the company uses a different piece of software to order the product from a manufacturer, it is considered a back office application.

If the same piece of software handles order from customers and orders to manufacturers, it would be considered both a front office and back office application.