I'm afraid that some of the superficial approaches to "Agile" and "lightweight methods" have put design, planning, and software tools in a bad light.

Scrum is not about planning! It is also not about story points nor sprint commitment nor backlog grooming. Scrum is about delivery in the first place, and about learning in the second.

As Agile methodologies become increasingly embedded in corporate software development, it becomes necessary to look more closely at how they are integrated into the environment. 

Measurement is not a new concept. We deal with measurement in some form or another in our daily lives. When talking about metrics for business processes, we can sum up the concept with this well-known statement: "You cannot manage what you cannot measure. And you cannot improve something that you cannot manage properly."

Privacy is about to collide with big data. We are seeing some of the opening moves in different areas across the globe. In Europe, Google Maps has been criticized for portraying unauthorized images of people in street views. More recently in the US, we have seen the collapse of talks about use of facial recognition, where privacy advocate groups walked out of regulatory discussions because companies refused to acknowledge a need for prior permission if images were to be used for this purpose.

Privacy is about to collide with big data. We are seeing some of the opening moves in different areas across the globe. In Europe, Google Maps has been criticized for portraying unauthorized images of people in street views. More recently in the US, we have seen the collapse of talks about use of facial recognition, where privacy advocate groups walked out of regulatory discussions because companies refused to acknowledge a need for prior permission if images were to be used for this purpose.

An ongoing issue with enterprise architecture (EA) is how to make a compelling case for its value with business decision makers and stakeholders. This Executive Report positions EA as the inclusive, pervasive, joined-up view of the enterprise and explores 12 areas where EA can deliver unique value. The report expresses these benefits in terms that executives readily understand and appreciate. We cover the potential and real impact of EA on cost, revenue, time to market, brand image, regulatory compliance, and other issues that occupy the attention of senior management.

The world of civic apps is much like any other corporate philanthropic effort, but when there's corporate involvement (perhaps involving some of your corporation's specific skills), the efforts can help highlight your capabilities and can provide new opportunities for developing corporate expertise and resources.

This Executive Report develops a simple microarchitecture framework as a foundation for additional innovative architectural views of the structure and behavior of enterprises. The framework helps revitalize EA for the era of digital transformation, services-based enterprises, and a new generation of Web-savvy leaders.

This Executive Report develops a simple microarchitecture framework as a foundation for additional innovative architectural views of the structure and behavior of enterprises. The framework helps revitalize EA for the era of digital transformation, services-based enterprises, and a new generation of Web-savvy leaders.

In the report, we first review the current state of the EA discipline in terms of successes and ongoing obstacles that call for further development of the profession in terms of delivering true business value. Next, we introduce a services-based architectural viewpoint and model kind: the service-role-player (SRP) viewpoint.

In the report, we first review the current state of the EA discipline in terms of successes and ongoing obstacles that call for further development of the profession in terms of delivering true business value. Next, we introduce a services-based architectural viewpoint and model kind: the service-role-player (SRP) viewpoint.

The accompanying Executive Report is certainly not the first attempt to articulate an inclusive set of value propositions for enterprise architecture (EA). The scope of this discipline is matched only by the purview of the CEO and board of directors, or, say, an executive director in a public sector organization. The EA function is responsible for the joined-up representation of the enterprise elements and interfaces. This inclusive definition requires EA to provide joined-up views of the elements of the enterprise, along with their static and dynamic interfaces.

While all the trappings of my hometown are largely still there -- the park, the DQ, the cinema on the square -- none of them are run the same way or operate the way they did when I was young. As our enterprises flourish, we need to realize that there are inherently some operational aspects that will neither require nor get our personal touch. It doesn't mean they aren't functioning. It means that they are functioning without our oversight. As such, they will evolve organically to some degree.

We work in business environments where the focus is often mainly on quickly achieving results. In many companies, making a group decision can create long debates that can rage on extensively for the sake of making the perfect decision and not making a mistake.

When it comes to IoT applications, high-performance analytic databases typically serve to handle in-depth analytic processing needs -- especially applications that require combining machine data analysis with other forms of enterprise data analysis (e.g., billing, customer profiles, mobile usage) to support comprehensive analytic requirements.

This Executive Summary outlines some of the actions your organization can take to benefit from Agile practices applied to BI projects.

This Executive Update explores a structured and integrated approach to EA governance, one that has clear alignment to business and IT objectives and is integrated effectively with existing processes, helping your organization achieve its business and IT objectives.

The impact of robotics is hot in current debates, but this must be seen within a larger context and on a longer time horizon. Automation, involving all the SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud) technologies, and not just from robotics, may have the biggest impact of all, both on outsourcing and on its character. One of the reasons automation is compelling is the rapid decline in the cost of computing relative to the cost of labor.

The impact of robotics is hot in current debates, but this must be seen within a larger context and on a longer time horizon. Automation, involving all the SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud) technologies, and not just from robotics, may have the biggest impact of all, both on outsourcing and on its character. One of the reasons automation is compelling is the rapid decline in the cost of computing relative to the cost of labor.

Enterprise-grade data warehouse (DW) and business intelligence (BI) projects are still perceived as "heavy" and believed to be successful only by attacking them with waterfall-style software development processes. While there are specific DW/BI endeavors that project teams can safely execute as waterfall, most can be successfully transformed into Agile projects. This Executive Report shares experiences gained while applying an Agile approach to a complex BI project.

The recent Cutter Summit 2015 presented many enlightening and inspiring presentations, including the "lightning talks," in which 12 participants spent five minutes each describing a current noteworthy development or result. Very impressive. This was after Cutter Fellow Steve Andriole encouraged us to review our resumes, as he described the imminent demise of the IT organization in most enterprises. This situation evolves through recent technology developments and organizational patterns, such as cloud.

There's managing the project, then there is managing the project with the future in mind. By that I don't mean, "What can I up sell to the client to make him come back for another project?" We should already be doing that to some degree, though trying not be too obvious about it. Our organizations are already looking to us as salespeople: looking for change orders, suggesting areas where other products or capabilities of our companies can help the project customer out. If you are a consultant like me, you are likely doing this all the time -- probably even in your sleep.

Data is now recognized as the heart of every organization. No longer limited to retrospective analysis, it can be applied for predictive, strategic purposes as well as empower new capabilities.