CLOB is an acronym for “Custom Line Of Business”.
CLOB programs are written to computerize the unique business processes that companies perform.
Some business processes are similar across different companies. For example, programs to manage payroll for the company’s employees. Most companies have the same needs from a payroll program: hiring employees, recording hours worked, calculating paychecks, sending out paychecks, filing and paying taxes, etc. So, most companies use existing payroll programs.
However, each company also has their own business processes. They may have unique ways they build their products or perform their services. And there may not be existing programs that handle their business process. So, these companies may have someone write them a “Custom Line Of Business” program to handle their unique processes.
When you write a CLOB program, be aware that the company must first have a process before you can automate the process in a program. Something I’ve seen with smaller businesses is that they don’t really have processes – something they could write down as checklists and verify every step is done every time. Computers want yes/no, or true/false, not maybe/sometimes.