Large enterprises going through the Agile transformation journey tend to set up Agile coaching groups or centers of excellence to promote and scale Agile in the organization. In this Advisor, I share the benefits and challenges of having such a central group to drive enterprise agility.

Companies today require both an enduring focus on continuous improvement and an organization-wide emphasis on exceeding customer expectations to achieve operational excellence (OpX). In years past, the quality function most often drove OpX.

It is relatively easy to develop architectural capability through the first few levels of maturity. But it is the higher levels of maturity that deliver the most value and benefit from enterprise architecture (EA) efforts. In this Executive Report, we look at EA maturity, focusing on jumping the maturity gap and making the transition from average to excellent. We reveal the real issues behind the barrier and show how EA teams can bridge this barrier to reach higher levels of maturity.

Roger Evernden looks at EA maturity, focusing on jumping the maturity gap and making the transition from average to excellent. He reveals the real issues behind the barrier and show how EA teams can bridge this barrier to reach higher levels of maturity.

Microsoft has several projects in the works designed to extend its Azure cloud platform to support Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services. These platforms are currently in "limited public preview" but are expected to become generally available in the near future.

Microsoft has several projects in the works designed to extend its Azure cloud platform to support Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services. These platforms are currently in "limited public preview" but are expected to become generally available in the near future.

Those of you who have been anxiously following this series of Advisors about the advances in translation technology and who have dreamed of one day having your very own Babel fish may have been wondering when "instant translation" might be available . You are about to be shocked. As it turns out, one of the largest high-tech companies in the world has announced that you will be able to do instant translation next year! That's right, next year. And it's not coming from any of the companies I've been singling out -- not Google, not WebLens -- not any of the companies that I thought were leading the translation pack. No, this instant translation is coming from a subsidiary of Microsoft, namely Skype.

Given the major importance and impact of nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) on an operational system, it's worth focusing a bit more on them in the context of infrastructure and maintenance. These NFRs (often called "operational" requirements for obvious reasons) describe the many parameters of a system as it becomes operational.

In this recorded webinar, Cutter Senior Consultants Lynn Winterboer and Hubert Smits provide answers to questions commonly asked by product owners who need a deeper understanding of the art and science of acceptance criteria:

Domain analysis has been defined as "the process of identifying and organizing knowledge about some class of problems -- the problem domain -- to support the description and solution of those problems." Increasingly, such domain knowledge has been seen as a prerequisite for architectural understanding of a domain.

In this recorded webinar, Cutter Senior Consultants Lynn Winterboer and Hubert Smits provide answers to questions commonly asked by product owners who need a deeper understanding of the art and science of acceptance criteria.

The relationship between mobile and analytics is far from simple, and it is loaded with opportunity. There's an extraordinary number of mergers and acquisitions in this area, and companies developing services include Google, IBM, Amazon, Facebook, all of the analytics firms, and a host of relative newcomers. Why is this?

The relationship between mobile and analytics is far from simple, and it is loaded with opportunity. There's an extraordinary number of mergers and acquisitions in this area, and companies developing services include Google, IBM, Amazon, Facebook, all of the analytics firms, and a host of relative newcomers. Why is this?

A number of unrelated experiences over the past few years intersected recently and drove me to a new realization about organizational success:

A number of unrelated experiences over the past few years intersected recently and drove me to a new realization about organizational success:

Clients come in all shapes and sizes. Some are a veritable fountain that continually spews ideas and changes. This may seem like an enviable situation, but don't overlook the need for convergence to a solution.

The new buzzword for measures for improvement is "analytics." Unfortunately, there is no new thinking to go along with the new name. Many leaders still go about getting, analyzing, and using measures in the wrong way. Rather than being the "leader," they fall back into the role of doer. It's a fascinating phenomenon.

The new buzzword for measures for improvement is "analytics." Unfortunately, there is no new thinking to go along with the new name. Many leaders still go about getting, analyzing, and using measures in the wrong way. Rather than being the "leader," they fall back into the role of doer. It's a fascinating phenomenon.

One area of government where the Internet of Things (IoT) will have a big impact is in the administration and management of cities and other locales.

One area of government where the Internet of Things (IoT) will have a big impact is in the administration and management of cities and other locales.

This is CBR's ninth annual IT trends issue. For nearly a decade we've gathered and analyzed data across a broad range of IT topics: analytics, IT spending, hiring and outsourcing, IT's role in innovation and value creation, social media, mobile computing, the cloud, security, and so on. Like all issues of CBR, each IT trends issue gives you an up-to-the-moment look at the "vital signs" of the industry. But more importantly, because we are able to look at how signs change over time, every year each IT trends issue just keeps getting smarter and smarter.

As 2013 ended, a senior IT manager for a global energy company confided to me that he believes the world is becoming a "less friendly place" to do business. When asked what he meant, he told me that with the revelations of NSA spying, military posturing of the Russian government, and the continuing strife in the Middle East coupled with technology-related issues such as high-frequency trading and multinational hacking rings, it seemed that more and more people were making business decisions with an eye toward risk mitigation.

This is CBR's ninth annual IT trends issue. For nearly a decade we've gathered and analyzed data across a broad range of IT topics: analytics, IT spending, hiring and outsourcing, IT's role in innovation and value creation, social media, mobile computing, the cloud, security, and so on. Like all issues of CBR, each IT trends issue gives you an up-to-the-moment look at the "vital signs" of the industry. But more importantly, because we are able to look at how signs change over time, every year each IT trends issue just keeps getting smarter and smarter.