"We don't test for hedgehog, either."

Operational risks are the most challenging for any organization, but most can be controlled, if not avoided, as long as the organization builds and implements effective enterprise risk management (ERM) strategies. While there are certainly mature methodologies available for risk identification and assessment, today's organizations fail to build and implement them effectively due to limited practice of these methodologies.

Operational risks are the most challenging for any organization, but most can be controlled, if not avoided, as long as the organization builds and implements effective enterprise risk management (ERM) strategies. While there are certainly mature methodologies available for risk identification and assessment, today's organizations fail to build and implement them effectively due to limited practice of these methodologies.

Here, we discuss the Web roadblocks ahead for anything as a service (XaaS).

Devops has only been around for a brief few years, and it is already having a significant impact throughout the development community. While there are those who might view the integration of development and operations as a useful fad that serves a limited number of situations, evidence suggests that there are serious advantages to this approach.

To enhance customer satisfaction and improve user responsiveness, a common ingredient of choice in today's modern, pan-enterprise, services-oriented enterprise is cloud computing. So what really is cloud computing? It is a way to run a data center that allows users to serve themselves and gives your staff the opportunity to go home on time. I'm being facetious but that's the bottom line. It's an efficient manner for users (end users and developers) to help themselves to computing resources.

Various vendors, including Greenplum (EMC), Kognitio, ParAccel, Teradata, and Vertica Systems (HP), have offered versions of their high-performance analytic databases tailored for use in cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platforms for several years now.

Various vendors, including Greenplum (EMC), Kognitio, ParAccel, Teradata, and Vertica Systems (HP), have offered versions of their high-performance analytic databases tailored for use in cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platforms for several years now.

Various vendors, including Greenplum (EMC), Kognitio, ParAccel, Teradata, and Vertica Systems (HP), have offered versions of their high-performance analytic databases tailored for use in cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platforms for several years now.

In today's rapidly changing business environment, innovation is key for survival. Companies may become obsolete in no time in the absence of new and innovative products. A classic example of this phenomenon is the demise of Kodak. At the same time, companies like Apple and Google have not only contributed toward building innovative products but at the same time made their investors many times richer.

Building executive support from a business perspective is often the most challenging aspect of launching and delivering a business-IT transformation initiative. The first step requires understanding what role the business must play and how to overcome common roadblocks.

Good architects also need to be good "marketects": they must be able to sell and promote their cause as well as publicize their achievements, outcomes, and results. But how do they do this? What tips and guidelines from the world of marketing can architects adopt to their advantage?

Good architects also need to be good "marketects": they must be able to sell and promote their cause as well as publicize their achievements, outcomes, and results. But how do they do this? What tips and guidelines from the world of marketing can architects adopt to their advantage?

In today's rapidly changing business environment, innovation is key for survival. Companies may become obsolete in no time in the absence of new and innovative products. A classic example of this phenomenon is the demise of Kodak. At the same time, companies like Apple and Google have not only contributed toward building innovative products but at the same time made their investors many times richer.

Everything in life is a game. Someone is always keeping score. Everyone is being measured, whether we like it or not. Gamification, a technique that all business leaders need to become familiar with, takes advantage of this fact.

I have written a lot lately about the definition of architecture, such as the fairly abstract statement: "the structure of the fundamental elements and their relationships in an environment," which, by the way, I think is a good description.

Many, many years after enterprise resource planning and over two decades into data warehousing, many business executives are still frustrated over their inability to trust their company's data. They have spent millions on new technologies, only to find that the state of their data assets has deteriorated. This significantly reduces the business value of their investments. One big reason for this continuing data chaos is that companies do not manage their data as a business asset, and there is no one watching the store. In this Executive Report, we look at the role of chief data officer and why this role is so important. Not a Cutter client yet? Download a free copy of the report now.

Many, many years after enterprise resource planning and over two decades into data warehousing, many business executives are still frustrated over their inability to trust their company's data. They have spent millions on new technologies, only to find that the state of their data assets has deteriorated. This significantly reduces the business value of their investments. One big reason for this continuing data chaos is that companies do not manage their data as a business asset, and there is no one watching the store. In this Executive Report, we look at the role of chief data officer and why this role is so important. Not a Cutter client yet? Download a free copy of the report now.

Let's be clear: data is a critical asset along the same lines as inventory, cash, buildings, personnel, and accounts receivable. Without good data, we are unable to make the correct operational, tactical, and strategic decisions that are the difference between those organizations that live and those that die. Yet there are very few organizations that have stepped up and established the role of a chief data officer (CDO) with the responsibility and authority to deal with the many complex and interrelated issues, both political and technical, that swirl around data. In the accompanying Executive Report, we look at this role and its responsibilities.

Let's be clear: data is a critical asset along the same lines as inventory, cash, buildings, personnel, and accounts receivable. Without good data, we are unable to make the correct operational, tactical, and strategic decisions that are the difference between those organizations that live and those that die. Yet there are very few organizations that have stepped up and established the role of a chief data officer (CDO) with the responsibility and authority to deal with the many complex and interrelated issues, both political and technical, that swirl around data. In the accompanying Executive Report, we look at this role and its responsibilities.

"Today, social, mobile, analytics, and cloud are the cornerstone technologies driving innovation inside many if not most enterprises."

-- Vince Kellen, Guest Editor

Implementation of social media crowdsourcing helped Starbucks understand customer preferences and generate new ideas that resulted in US $180 million in revenue in the first year, making a big impact on the top line.1

Amazon reported that 30% of sales were due to its analytics-based recommendation engine.2

The world is going through a massive digitalization in the consumer ecosystem due to the influence of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC). The evolution of SMAC throws integration challenges in front of enterprises, forcing them to handle various SMAC endpoints in the simplest way.

From time to time, the corpus of information technologies absorbs new classes of technology, often in one fell swoop. The collection of technologies discussed here -- social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) -- represents such a bundle. A decade ago, social, mobile, and cloud technologies were more a gleam in the eye of innovators than part of the CIO repertoire. Back then, analytics were frozen in a period of glacial change that was moving far too slow to attract much attention except from analysts trying to divine which bigger vendor was going to buy which smaller vendor. Today, social, mobile, analytics, and cloud are the cornerstone technologies driving innovation inside many if not most enterprises. In this issue of Cutter IT Journal, we bring together five articles with some different looks at the opportunities and challenges SMAC poses.

While adoption of social technologies may lag behind the others due to their newness, IT leaders have had the concept drilled into their heads constantly over the past few years. In our first article, Cutter Senior Consultant Dave Higgins and coauthor Sam Clark rightfully point out the distinction between public social networks (e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) and private social networks (those dedicated to a specific company or organization). After all, the way human beings network with each other is complex. Humans may maintain different sets of relationships for different purposes. For example, many of us have a Facebook presence for connecting with friends and family and a LinkedIn presence for more professional needs.