Driven by several converging and complementary factors, cloud computing is advancing as an IT service delivery model at a staggering pace. It is also causing a paradigm shift in the way we deliver and use IT.

Last week, CNN reported on the "biggest Cyberattack in history" involving two Internet companies in Europe. Apparently the scale exceeded any previous attack by, maybe, a factor of 10.

A user experience analysis framework (UXAF) is an all-encompassing view of a user's experience with a business that transcends the "known" areas of usability of systems.

A user experience analysis framework (UXAF) is an all-encompassing view of a user's experience with a business that transcends the "known" areas of usability of systems.

The accompanying Executive Report presents a user experience analysis framework (UXAF) as an all-encompassing view of a user's experience with a business that transcends the "known" areas of usability and usage-centered designs of software systems.

The accompanying Executive Report presents a user experience analysis framework (UXAF) as an all-encompassing view of a user's experience with a business that transcends the "known" areas of usability and usage-centered designs of software systems.

Does this quote from Moore's Crossing the Chasm feel like the agile adoption marketplace today?

When a product reaches this point in the market development, it must be made increasingly easier to adopt in order to continue being successful. If this does not occur, the transition ... may very well stall or never happen.

For the past few years, we've argued that business architecture is important, its use is growing, and it is being used to deliver value to organizations.

SORs are the transactional, back-office systems that IT has been building for the last 40 years. They are the things that we typically call our "core" systems, including custom applications, ERP, and other COTS applications. In contrast to the core SORs are the SOEs: Web-based, user-friendly, social network consumer systems that focus on engaging with employees, partners, and customers and creating an environment of collaboration and community.

Big Data has frequently been described as differing from standard BI and analytics by volume, velocity, and variety. These factors describe most of the current initiatives within the area and point to issues that make analysis difficult.

Big Data has frequently been described as differing from standard BI and analytics by volume, velocity, and variety. These factors describe most of the current initiatives within the area and point to issues that make analysis difficult.

Big Data is not only knocking at your business executives' doors, it is being pushed in their faces with dire warnings that if they don't adopt it, their business is doomed for failure. Just consider some of these recent headlines meant to get business leaders to start using Big Data sooner rather than later:

Big Data is not only knocking at your business executives' doors, it is being pushed in their faces with dire warnings that if they don't adopt it, their business is doomed for failure. Just consider some of these recent headlines meant to get business leaders to start using Big Data sooner rather than later:

Big Data is not only knocking at your business executives' doors, it is being pushed in their faces with dire warnings that if they don't adopt it, their business is doomed for failure. Just consider some of these recent headlines meant to get business leaders to start using Big Data sooner rather than later:

"[T]he nation's top intelligence official, James R. Clapper Jr., warned Congress that a major cyber attack on the United States could cripple the country's infrastructure and economy, and suggested that such attacks now pose the most dangerous immediate threat to the United States, even more pressing than an attack by global terrorist networks."

Expanding agile in development to end-to-end agile was always a tricky business. You could, of course, drive success in agile downstream, using your success in development as the lever for change, provided you had carefully thought through three major aspects:

At every turn it seems leaders are being told to embrace Big Data. They are urged to make "data-driven decisions" and to mine their warehouses of all the buried data gold. The problem? This is absolutely the wrong direction to go in. In a past Executive Update, Cutter Fellow Vince Kellen suggested that the problem is that leadership isn't using their data properly.1 But the real problem I see is that we're letting the tail wag the dog.

At every turn it seems leaders are being told to embrace Big Data. They are urged to make "data-driven decisions" and to mine their warehouses of all the buried data gold. The problem? This is absolutely the wrong direction to go in. In a past Executive Update, Cutter Fellow Vince Kellen suggested that the problem is that leadership isn't using their data properly.1 But the real problem I see is that we're letting the tail wag the dog.

Back in September of 2012, I discussed business video and issues associated with implementation and usage (see "Catch the Wave of Business Video").

Two years ago, I examined Watson-IBM's natural language question answering system (see "How Smart Is Watson, and What Is Its Significance to BI and DSS?").

Two years ago, I examined Watson-IBM's natural language question answering system (see "How Smart Is Watson, and What Is Its Significance to BI and DSS?").

"Cloud service providers, the IT industry, professional and industry associations, governments, and IT professionals all have a role to play in shaping, fostering, and harnessing the full potential of the emerging cloud ecosystem."

-- San Murugesan, Guest Editor