Anyone who spends time supporting complex IT environments will experience a major outage at some point in his or her career. In many cases, the experience is traumatic, leaving a lasting and painful impression. Companies can avoid this and other potentially major incidents if they implement an after-action review (AAR) process. AAR processes are found in the military, medical communities, the safety engineering discipline, and are normally embedded in total quality management (TQM) frameworks. Despite the rather widespread adoption elsewhere, most IT shops do not make rigorous use of AARs. This needs to change. This Executive Report explains AARs in detail by describing the steps within an AAR process and discussing the cultural and organizational tricks and traps that IT executives need to consider when implementing an AAR process.

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Let's role-play. Pretend that you are either starting a new company or -- with the help of a magic wand -- completely reengineering the technology delivery model at your current company. What do you do? Here are 10 steps to follow.

I've been conversing with colleagues. Some are CIOs in traditional industries, some are entrepreneurs, some are in nonprofits, some in international businesses, and some smack dab in the middle of the financial meltdown. Some are front-line managers, some are middle-level, and some are precariously high. They can feel the ground shaking.

Join Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Bob Benson in an interactive webinar in which he reveals two often-overlooked areas business and IT exec can carefully explore to uncover the less-obvious opportunities for IT cost reduction: the project's capital and expense budget, and the ongoing IT expense budget.