The latest news to set the social analytics world buzzing is retailing giant Walmart's "Shopycat" social shopping application for Facebook.

The latest news to set the social analytics world buzzing is retailing giant Walmart's "Shopycat" social shopping application for Facebook.

I have three related predictions for Enterprise Architects in 2012. Actually they are more like ongoing trends, but they are the ones that I think will be most relevant when making architectural decisions next year. All three could be summarized as a need to focus on environment as context, rather than enterprise.

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an exploration of open innovation, crowdsourcing, peer production (such as open source software and Wikipedia), and related phenomena.

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an exploration of open innovation, crowdsourcing, peer production (such as open source software and Wikipedia), and related phenomena.

When making investment decisions that could impact the business for multiple decades, it is vital to take a measured approach. Forward-thinking leaders and stakeholders should evaluate choices and trade-offs based on a long-term view with a broad historical perspective.

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an exploration of open innovation, crowdsourcing, peer production (such as open

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an exploration of open innovation, crowdsourcing, peer production (such as open

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an enthusiastic and far-ranging exploration of various kinds of openness. We've explored open data standards and open application platforms as well as the concept of open innovation in which we seek to leverage both the intellectual property and exploitive capability of external individuals and organizations.

Over the last decade, we've been engaged in an enthusiastic and far-ranging exploration of various kinds of openness. We've explored open data standards and open application platforms as well as the concept of open innovation in which we seek to leverage both the intellectual property and exploitive capability of external individuals and organizations.

In my recent Cutter Webinar "Implementing a Technical Debt Prevention, Measurement, and Reduction Program in Your Company" (8 June 2011

The business analysis profession is in the midst of change. Work is underway within organizations and associations to formalize and standardize what it means to be a business analyst (BA). The role has had a long and tortuous existence. A child of necessity, the role evolved to bridge the gap between what those responsible for operating an organization wanted to do and what those responsible for implementing technology were able to deliver.

Watch Ken Collier in this on-demand webinar to learn how to enable the collaboration and continuous realignment of expectations between developers, customers, and managers that agile analytics requires; who makes up the core group of critical project community members without whom the agile analytics project cannot succeed?; the collaboration characteristics shared by effective analytics teams, and how you can become an effective leader who fosters these characteristics.

Watch Ken Collier in this on-demand webinar to learn how to enable the collaboration and continuous realignment of expectations between developers, customers, and managers that agile analytics requires; who makes up the core group of critical project community members without whom the agile analytics project cannot succeed?; the collaboration characteristics shared by effective analytics teams, and how you can become an effective leader who fosters these characteristics.

Enterprise portfolio management has been evolving for the past several years toward a unified vision that incorporates the diverse areas of portfolio concepts, bringing them tog

If there were any lingering doubts as to social media's potential to attack an organization's brand or reputation, they now have been laid to rest. The most recent incident involves an undercover video circulated by an animal rights group that shows alleged cruelty at a

My objective in this Executive Update is to provide some perspective on social media and the implications of what we call the "social media opportunity" when your company assesses its IT investment opportunities.

In case you have forgotten your high school biology, convergent evolution occurs when different organisms from different genetic lineages acquire the same trait. Bats and birds both have wings, even though they do not share any ancestor with wings.

David Anderson describes Kanban as an evolutionary change method.1 In comparison to other agile methods, Kanban can be introduced with little changes. But what are the differences between different methods? And is there a way to handle changes more successfully?

I've been doing architecture for close to 20 years now and have built my practices based on what I've read, studied, and researched, and also from my experience of what works with clients.

For the last decade I have been asked, "What is the ROI for collaboration?" I have come to several conclusions about this: one, that it is the wrong question to ask (and is a trap in itself) and two, everyone wants collaboration, but no one seems willing to pay fo

Agile methods provide a very efficient way to develop software. But efficiency is not the point. As we explore in this Executive Report, the point is that in the rush to experience the virtues of this effective development method, and the excitement of the surrounding publicity, an important question is left unanswered: Does efficient software development (read "agile") necessarily bring a real advantage to the owner of that software? A growing number of our clients are concerned about business value and that the software they take delivery of is not fully exploiting the potential value. To put it another way, there is real business value to be had, but the software development process alone does not deliver it. Clients complain about the lack of innovation coming from agile development teams, and they report that their new software is often not that different from the previous incarnation of the functionality -- a few extra bells and whistles, yes, but not the breakthrough implementation that delivers a significant business advantage.

Agile methods provide a very efficient way to develop software, but in the rush to experience the virtues of this effective development method, an important question is left unanswered: Does efficient software development (read "agile") necessarily bring a real advantage to the owner of that software? In the accompanying Executive Report, we explore this question.

One of my favorite sayings is from former US President Teddy Roosevelt, who once said that “Risk is like fire: If controlled it will help you; if uncontrolled it will rise up and destroy you.”

Mobility is now one of the top strategic priorities for organizations. In fact, supporting mobility is seen as so important that some organizations are offering employees the option of using their own personal devices.