The professional life of architects is tough, often dealing with tasks typically not performed in everyday non-IT life. They always must support a “future state,” a situation not yet in existence that users or stakeholders can’t predict if not stressed with the proper questions. This Advisor explores how architects look “beyond the hill” and impose superstructures and patterns that may appear unnecessary today but are useful when things ultimately change.

Get a C-suite perspective on why so many tech projects fail, find out why companies who don't adapt to the quantum era may be doing business on an abacus — in this week's edition of The Cutter Edge!

Get a C-suite perspective on why so many tech projects fail, find out why companies who don't adapt to the quantum era may be doing business on an abacus — in this week's edition of The Cutter Edge!

Government agencies were investing in automation long before COVID-19. But as the pandemic has dragged on, they are increasingly turning to RPA and IPA platforms whose capabilities are bolstered by artificial intelligence technologies in order to better meet the expectations and demands placed on them by citizens. This Advisor identifies some of the more popular IPA applications in government.

This Executive Update highlights the advantages and challenges in using deep learning for business decision making and outlines a high-level dynamic deep learning architecture.

The CPO role is emerging as the business’s product portfolio equivalent of the CTO on the technical side of an organization. The CPO leads the product development team and oversees the product portfolio. This Advisor looks at the CPO role and discusses how and when companies—even smaller ones—can benefit from establishing the CPO position.

Keren Joseph-Browning analyzes gender stereotypes that may be holding back female leaders. Her research shows there isn’t a lack of qualified women in the pipeline, though many believe the opposite. Joseph-Browning then draws a line between these beliefs and the stereotypes impeding women’s ascension into leadership positions.

Benjamin Duke hammers home the need for more actions and fewer words. He highlights how companies have stated their verbal commitment to DEI, but their results do not reflect these commitments. Black employees are left feeling a misalignment between their company’s public comments about supporting racial justice while failing to address the concerns of their Black employees.

As a former technology industry executive and current VP responsible for the development of Black and Latinx technology professionals, Cutter Fellow Robert D. Scott is uniquely positioned to share insights into the hiring, retention, and advancement myths that are pervasive in corporate America. He explains why the needle is not moving, and asks, “What needs to happen to truly make a system change this time, versus the many previous attempts?”

In this Executive Update, we reflect on the legacy of Steve Jobs and explore some of his most enduring lessons that we can emulate for our own success.

In this issue, we hope to remind CEOs of the challenges that remain unaddressed and out of balance when it comes to diversity in technology. The authors speak from personal experiences, extensive research, and a deep desire to contribute toward changing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) narrative. They share proven best practices and procedural changes that must be followed so that this time, the outcomes of CEOs’ commitments will look differently, and those impacted will finally be able to have more equitable work and life experiences.

Noelle Silver focuses on the challenges women of color and other underrepresented groups face in the technology industry at all points along the career continuum. She discusses how hiring and promotion practices aren’t designed to embrace the uniqueness of these women, often resulting in their inability to be given a fair chance at open positions.

Damon Carter shares examples of what hasn’t worked in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and provides practical solutions. While calling for progressive leadership, he outlines a key pathway to launching a successful DEI journey with measurable and sustainable results.

When companies grow beyond a handful of individuals or teams, many changes will affect the organization of work and people. At small scale, and for a limited period of time, a team can organically "remember" its own history. This Advisor explores mechanisms beyond that small scale that encourage learning and sharing across the organization.

When companies grow beyond a handful of individuals or teams, many changes will affect the organization of work and people. At small scale, and for a limited period of time, a team can organically "remember" its own history. This Advisor explores mechanisms beyond that small scale that encourage learning and sharing across the organization.

Prof. Darren Meister will help you understand how to achieve balance between incremental and radical innovation, and how product developers can integrate AI into product development and innovation while avoiding the tunnel vision than can sometimes result from relying on AI.

Working in partnership with many other teams across the strategy execution lifecycle, business architects play an important role to translate business direction into an actionable future state vision that everyone can work toward. In this Advisor, we explore a few scenarios where business architecture is being used or emerging in practice to architect across organizational boundaries.

In a recent webinar, Cutter Fellow William Ulrich and Giovanni Traverso explored the circular economy, the strategic challenges it presents, and business architecture’s role in transitioning an organization into becoming a player in the sustainable economy. This Advisor shares the Q&A session that followed the presentation. We hope the advice will spark some new ideas for how your organization can participate in the circular economy.

Ensuring that analytics projects create value for the business is easier said than done, and expensive, complex data projects are prime targets for (the wrong kind of) management attention. In this Advisor, we identify the four fundamental requirements for successful analytics projects (sponsor, tools, team, and project/problem). These key attributes can assist project managers in setting priorities.

In Part X of this Executive Update series on IPA in the enterprise, we examine findings covering the key industries in which organizations see IPA having its greatest impact.

This Advisor explores five communication actions that will help propel a team toward project success: refine the content, select the methods, manage the velocity, review the process, and define the frequency. These insights may be useful while considering the structure of a project communication management plan.

The adoption of automation in the healthcare industry has really taken off since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Advisor, we look at a few examples of how healthcare and medical organizations utilize IPA to enhance and improve operations.

In this Advisor, we discuss statistical project management through three perspectives: the rational view, the behavioral view, and the complex adaptive systems view.

In this Advisor, we discuss statistical project management through three perspectives: the rational view, the behavioral view, and the complex adaptive systems view.