Traditionally, risk management is advocated and assumed to be a self-evidently correct framework. It offers a planning method for individual risks yet ignores systemic, complex risk and uncertainty. Often, ways of managing risk are established based on compliance with process. The process itself and its application are not themselves questioned.

In this issue we take a close look at application programming interfaces (APIs). Now, APIs are both perennial and ubiquitous in computing. They've been around since the beginning and occur at every level of the IT stack -- from software-hardware interaction through system software to applications. They reside in protocols, libraries, and frameworks; in fact, they are intrinsic to the design of programming languages themselves. This raises the question: how can something so commonplace be causing so much excitement?

We have examined the results of CBR's survey on the implementation and management of an API program, trying to analyze not only what the survey tells us directly, but also the "white space" between the survey questions and answers. This admittedly involves some speculation on our part. However, comparing what would logically be expected from the theory of what the API economy is, with what the survey reveals, gives us some interesting insights.

Over the last decade, consumers have leveraged the Internet and phones to interact with businesses and thereby obtain a degree of self-service that did not exist before. These systems have provided consumers with access to information and the ability to execute transactions from anywhere. However, in the last few years we witnessed a drastic change in consumer behavior as smartphones started flooding the market and applications were developed to do almost everything from mobile devices.

First, there is the need for big-picture thinking and high levels of abstraction.

This survey examined whether and how organizations are implementing and managing API programs, the drivers behind such programs, the factors that make for a successful API strategy, the challenges and risks, and deployment strategies and value creation. Sixty-one percent of the 152 responding organizations are headquartered in North America, another 20% in Europe, 11% in Asia/Australia/Pacific, 4% in Africa, 3% in Central and South America, and 1% in the Middle East.

This survey examined whether and how organizations are implementing and managing API programs, the drivers behind such programs, the factors that make for a successful API strategy, the challenges and risks, and deployment strategies and value creation. Sixty-one percent of the 152 responding organizations are headquartered in North America, another 20% in Europe, 11% in Asia/Australia/Pacific, 4% in Africa, 3% in Central and South America, and 1% in the Middle East.

In this Update, we focus on the corporate adoption, usage trends, and satisfaction with high-performance analytic databases.

Even today with Agile software development, it's comfortable to think that prescriptive strategies such as managing changing requirements in the form of a product backlog, holding a daily meeting where everyone answers three questions, having a single requirements owner (and thereby one neck to wring), and other such ideas will get the job done. But we all know that some of these "rules" are meant to be broken.

The assumptions that programmers do semiskilled blue-collar work -- and hence that they are virtually interchangeable and can be hired and fired at will -- are reminiscent of Taylorism as it came to be understood. Yet there can hardly be any domain in which those assumptions are less appropriate than software development.

In an ongoing effort to add some sizzle to the BPM steak, analysts and educators are finding descriptors to add to BPM. A couple of years ago, there was some buzz around intelligent business process management suites, or iBPMS.

Transcending software development, this Executive Report outlines fundamental reasons for the popularity of Agile, the risks associated with the subjective element of Agile, and how to balance the flexibility with planning through a well-established Composite Agile Method and Strategy (CAMS).

The psychology of Agile discusses, in a practical way, the importance and impact of the disciplines of psychology and sociology in using and deploying Agile as an overall organizational culture. The Agile Manifesto heralded a quantum shift in the way we work: moving away from the rigors of planned, formal approaches to one that is based on collaboration, communication, and trust.

Social media is touted increasingly as an important source for identifying key indicators pertaining to consumer sentiment, product/brand preferences, market volatility, buying habits, and other trends that organizations can apply in their efforts to understand and influence consumer purchasing, opinion, and other behaviors.

"Agile" has become a big word these days. In the context of this issue of Cutter IT Journal, we are referring to the practice of satisfying our customers "through early and continuous delivery of valuable software."1 DW/BI teams that embrace an Agile approach work on the requirements that provide the most business value first. They ensure they are building the right things through regular customer reviews and short learning cycles and by working together as cross-functional, collaborative, and self-organizing teams. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

In the end, the success or failure of your implementation of Agile data warehousing at scale starts and ends with your leadership. Leaders with a unquenchable thirst for knowledge combined with a kaizen mindset have a distinct advantage when it comes to putting theory into practice. As a leader, you must carve time out of your hectic schedule to learn about both the methodologies you aspire to use and the system in which your organization operates. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

Data warehousing/business intelligence (DW/BI) development is one of the few "final frontiers" remaining for wide-scale adoption of Agile solution delivery strategies. Several people have led the way in applying Agile techniques in the DW/BI field,1-3 but their advice is just now being adopted by mainstream data practitioners. Having said that, I believe we are quickly reaching a tipping point where Agile strategies will become mainstream within the data community. This article overviews the strategies and techniques that a disciplined Agile DW/BI team will follow. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

The Extreme ScopingTM method presented in this article is such a Data-Agile approach. It is designed to apply most Agile principles to a robust soup-to-nuts spiral data integration methodology that includes all the data management activities so crucial for enterprise-class data integration projects. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

There are tools that can help BI professionals make the right moves, and make the results stick. A growing collection of serious games -- the application of game-like activities to business, education, politics, and other "serious" settings -- provide direct benefits to BI projects. They already mesh well with Agile development practices, making their application in Agile BI projects that much easier. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

This article recommends a number of techniques and best practices that retain the benefits of a central data warehouse while reducing the expense and lack of responsiveness to business needs and change. This data-focused approach offers a way to define user stories in a complex data warehouse architecture, addressing both application and information value to users and delivering a data warehouse that provides high-quality information and is resilient to change. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

Despite advances in tools, technologies, and practices, a large percentage of DW/BI projects continue to fail, and project managers are looking for critical advice. Agile is clearly one remedy for raising the success rate of DW/BI projects. Not a client? Download your complimentary copy here.

Cutter Fellow Ron Blitstein, Piet Ribbers, and I have just finished a new book, due out in April.

I often get questions from management and teams about how many ScrumMasters they will need as an organization, how many product owners are sufficient, how many QA professionals they need, and so on. I think the better question concerns the number of nondeveloper, value-providing friends an Agile team needs and then finding a continuum to answer the question at the enterprise level.