A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.

-- J.R.R. Tolkien

While agile methods remain at the forefront in popularity and value, development effort is only a fraction of the overall time, money, and effort spent in maintaining systems.

The intersection between agile and mobile development is a natural one, grounded in the similarities between the demands of each. Mobile apps are generally small, frequently updated from an apps store, motivated by clear process requirements, and released almost immediately.

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him.

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him.

I sometimes describe architecture as fundamentally about managing complexity and change. Change comes from several different places at the same time. Technology is always evolving and, let's hope, we're used to managing this type of change with architecture.

I confess that while watching Star Trek as a kid, warp drives and dilithium crystals never really excited me much. Nor did I have any desire to be beamed up, down, or otherwise. Phasers and photon torpedoes only induced yawns.

I confess that while watching Star Trek as a kid, warp drives and dilithium crystals never really excited me much. Nor did I have any desire to be beamed up, down, or otherwise. Phasers and photon torpedoes only induced yawns.

I confess that while watching Star Trek as a kid, warp drives and dilithium crystals never really excited me much. Nor did I have any desire to be beamed up, down, or otherwise. Phasers and photon torpedoes only induced yawns.

Today's data production occurs at a faster and faster rate. The volume of data available within an enterprise -- and externally to it -- is phenomenal. As a consequence, the role of information architecture is changing, from the passive structuring and managing of data to a smarter, more active role of information effectiveness.

At the risk of gross simplification, when it comes to dealing with too much data, architecture needs to address two concerns:

Today's data production occurs at a faster and faster rate. The volume of data available within an enterprise -- and externally to it -- is phenomenal.

In my work with CEOs and other corporate executives, the question I get asked the most is (paraphrased): What don't I even know to ask? My response is that most CEOs, on the morning after launching an agile initiative, wake up with several concerns, most of them related to what I call the "five fears of an agile leader." These can be identified as the fear of:

While the so-called "Superstorm Sandy" that struck the East Coast of the United States last week did not inspire any Hurricane Katrina-like "heck of a job" mispronouncements in its aftermath, the effective communication of risk took more of a beating than it should have. And as with Katrina, a sizable portion of the US populace is suffering for it.

While the so-called "Superstorm Sandy" that struck the East Coast of the United States last week did not inspire any Hurricane Katrina-like "heck of a job" mispronouncements in its aftermath, the effective communication of risk took more of a beating than it should have. And as with Katrina, a sizable portion of the US populace is suffering for it.

While the so-called "Superstorm Sandy" that struck the East Coast of the United States last week did not inspire any Hurricane Katrina-like "heck of a job" mispronouncements in its aftermath, the effective communication of risk took more of a beating than it should have.

While the so-called "Superstorm Sandy" that struck the East Coast of the United States last week did not inspire any Hurricane Katrina-like "heck of a job" mispronouncements in its aftermath, the effective communication of risk took more of a beating than it should have.

Most mergers fail to live up to their promise, and the difference between success and failure lies mostly in the ability to integrate employees into a new whole after the merger

Most mergers fail to live up to their promise, and the difference between success and failure lies mostly in the ability to integrate employees into a new whole after the merger

Mergers are like marriages. Two entities come together to form a union that should, in theory, be greater than the sum of its parts, often with the goal of accelerating growth, cutting costs, increasing market share, or taking advantage of other synergies.

Mergers are like marriages. Two entities come together to form a union that should, in theory, be greater than the sum of its parts, often with the goal of accelerating growth, cutting costs, increasing market share, or taking advantage of other synergies.

We talk of "enterprise architecture," but there are clearly many different ways of architecting an enterprise.

We talk of "enterprise architecture," but there are clearly many different ways of architecting an enterprise.

In my work with CEOs and other corporate executives, the question I get asked the most is (paraphrased): What don't I even know to ask?

I recently had a conversation with several IT leaders about initiating an architecture program in their organization.

Thanks to some initial findings from a recent Cutter survey, we now have a better understanding of the extent that organizations are actually implementing (or planning to implement) enterprise app stores.