provisioning - technical definition

Setting up a telecommunications service for a particular customer. Common carriers provision circuits by programming their computers to switch customer lines into the appropriate networks. Self-provisioning is when customers are able to set up their own service and/or make adjustments to it from a Web-based interface or some other client interface.

The term provisioning is actually centuries old. Before ships would sail from Europe to the New World, they had to be "provisioned" (supplied) with food, rope, weapons, instruments and more. See also user management and provisioning.