This Executive Update discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with the IoT and its impact on all areas of business and IT.

Serious games provide an attractive alternative to traditional innovation techniques for both participants in the innovation process: technology producers and technology consumers. Whether or not producers and consumers behave like innovation partners, or even realize they are engaged in this partnership, innovation does require at least two participants to play. In the best of all possible partnerships, there is a smooth collaboration between the two players, but, as you'll discover in this issue of Cutter IT Journal, this often this isn't the case.

Serious games provide an attractive alternative to traditional innovation techniques for both participants in the innovation process: technology producers and technology consumers. Whether or not producers and consumers behave like innovation partners, or even realize they are engaged in this partnership, innovation does require at least two participants to play. In the best of all possible partnerships, there is a smooth collaboration between the two players, but, as you'll discover in this issue of Cutter IT Journal, this often this isn't the case.

Innovation is the primary driver of sustained business and societal success. Essentially, innovation involves the discovering of unmet, inadequately met, or unarticulated market, organizational, or societal needs and the offering of better products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas to meet those needs. The challenge lies in identifying the needs and designing and implementing solutions that have high market desirability.

Innovation is the primary driver of sustained business and societal success. Essentially, innovation involves the discovering of unmet, inadequately met, or unarticulated market, organizational, or societal needs and the offering of better products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas to meet those needs. The challenge lies in identifying the needs and designing and implementing solutions that have high market desirability.

Each year the US Navy spends billions of dollars to maintain and upgrade the readiness of war-fighting systems on its sea-, air-, and land-based platforms. The Navy must find ways to meet its growing maintenance needs at ever lower cost as defense budgets continue to shrink. This requires changes in business relationships between acquisition organizations and their contractors to identify new acquisition strategies, policies, processes, and technical architectures.

Each year the US Navy spends billions of dollars to maintain and upgrade the readiness of war-fighting systems on its sea-, air-, and land-based platforms. The Navy must find ways to meet its growing maintenance needs at ever lower cost as defense budgets continue to shrink. This requires changes in business relationships between acquisition organizations and their contractors to identify new acquisition strategies, policies, processes, and technical architectures.

Two decades ago, I began my "virtual life" within online worlds -- specifically, what have become known as "social" virtual worlds, "open" virtual worlds, or (my personal favorite) "co-created" virtual worlds.

Two decades ago, I began my "virtual life" within online worlds -- specifically, what have become known as "social" virtual worlds, "open" virtual worlds, or (my personal favorite) "co-created" virtual worlds.

Ever since the notion of a serious game was spawned by the use of video games like America's Army for serious purposes, there has been a growing acceptance of the importance and relevance of video games and "immersive technologies" as a driver for innovation. Several factors have made these game technologies and strategies successful as innovation tools, including the gradual replacement of immersion with gamification and enabling technologies.

Ever since the notion of a serious game was spawned by the use of video games like America's Army for serious purposes, there has been a growing acceptance of the importance and relevance of video games and "immersive technologies" as a driver for innovation. Several factors have made these game technologies and strategies successful as innovation tools, including the gradual replacement of immersion with gamification and enabling technologies.

Social collaboration is not about technology. It's about connecting people, and it's changing the way business is being conducted. Similarly, gamification is not about games. It's about motivating the personal and professional behaviors that drive business value. Together, social collaboration and gamification help companies reap great benefits -- among them, the ability to deepen customer relationships, drive operational efficiencies, and optimize their workforce.

Social collaboration is not about technology. It's about connecting people, and it's changing the way business is being conducted. Similarly, gamification is not about games. It's about motivating the personal and professional behaviors that drive business value. Together, social collaboration and gamification help companies reap great benefits -- among them, the ability to deepen customer relationships, drive operational efficiencies, and optimize their workforce.

Q: Why did one of the largest US chemical companies recently spend nearly US $1 billion to purchase a startup company focusing on applying big data analytics to weather forecasting?

A: To help agricultural companies take advantage of the integration of modern technologies!

Great conductors are known to be supremely confident: in their technique and in themselves. You can see the confidence when you watch video clips of giants like Mengelberg, Toscanini, Furtwangler, Kleiber, or Bernstein. Moreover, you sense their confidence when you listen to an audio recording of theirs: they are sure-footed with each and every note in the symphony they are conducting.

One of the great things about working with Cutter is the access to a lot of great information from really smart people -- and also the ability to have serious sessions with

Mobile devices and cloud computing continue to redefine basic concepts of IT and challenge the concepts taken for granted over the preceding decades. One of the issues in ferment today is that of defining access and providing secure and differential availability of computing resources to users as needed.

Mobile devices and cloud computing continue to redefine basic concepts of IT and challenge the concepts taken for granted over the preceding decades. One of the issues in ferment today is that of defining access and providing secure and differential availability of computing resources to users as needed.

As Agile practices move into mainstream development, the need to clarify product ownership has become increasingly acute. Where does the product owner fit in with respect to the project? Where does he or she fit in with respect to the organization? And what are the product owner's responsibilities in large projects, or projects that fall outside the normal territory of Agile development? This Executive Update looks to answer these questions.

Many years ago I served as the Chairman of the Privacy, Confidentiality and Security Committee of what is now the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).

In my last Advisor (see "Can You Be 'Too Agile'?"), we considered the question: "Is it possible to be too Agile?" The question itself is a sign of Agile's successful adoption by businesses and their development teams.

Most of the news regarding privacy and wearable computers and camera-equipped devices like Google Glass has focused on the rights of individuals when it comes to being recorded in public places or commercial establishments like bars and restaurants.

Most of the news regarding privacy and wearable computers and camera-equipped devices like Google Glass has focused on the rights of individuals when it comes to being recorded in public places or commercial establishments like bars and restaurants.

The question is: do we need standards for performance measures? I've long opposed the request for canned measures and championed the use of personalized metrics. Your metrics should answer your root questions and fulfill your specific needs. However, I also teach that metrics are built from measures. It's these performance measures that would greatly benefit from a common language.

The question is: do we need standards for performance measures? I've long opposed the request for canned measures and championed the use of personalized metrics. Your metrics should answer your root questions and fulfill your specific needs. However, I also teach that metrics are built from measures. It's these performance measures that would greatly benefit from a common language.