A colleague and I began talking and writing about energy informatics about three years ago as a result of a request from the Advanced Practices Council (APC) of the Society for Information Management (SIM) to make its members, typically CIOs, aware of developments in green IS.

A colleague and I began talking and writing about energy informatics about three years ago as a result of a request from the Advanced Practices Council (APC) of the Society for Information Management (SIM) to make its members, typically CIOs, aware of developments in green IS.

We're in the midst of another tough economic year. That's clear across the board for anyone who doesn't have his or her head in the sand, or in the clouds. Pick your metaphor here, but in either case it's a reality that almost all IT professionals and business managers are battling a continued tough slog through rough fiscal terrain. This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review is thus an especially important one in its relevance to the very real challenges that we all face these days.

We're in the midst of another tough economic year. That's clear across the board for anyone who doesn't have his or her head in the sand, or in the clouds. Pick your metaphor here, but in either case it's a reality that almost all IT professionals and business managers are battling a continued tough slog through rough fiscal terrain. This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review is thus an especially important one in its relevance to the very real challenges that we all face these days. It is the sixth installment in our annual series on IT budgeting, and we are now beginning to amass enough critical year-over-year data to truly evaluate some longer-term trends. The insight that our expert contributors were able to glean from this data and present to you in this issue will undoubtedly prove both interesting and instructive as you compare these trends with the decisions made within your own organizations.

We're in the midst of another tough economic year. That's clear across the board for anyone who doesn't have his or her head in the sand, or in the clouds. Pick your metaphor here, but in either case it's a reality that almost all IT professionals and business managers are battling a continued tough slog through rough fiscal terrain. This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review is thus an especially important one in its relevance to the very real challenges that we all face these days. It is the sixth installment in our annual series on IT budgeting, and we are now beginning to amass enough critical year-over-year data to truly evaluate some longer-term trends. The insight that our expert contributors were able to glean from this data and present to you in this issue will undoubtedly prove both interesting and instructive as you compare these trends with the decisions made within your own organizations.

We're in the midst of another tough economic year. That's clear across the board for anyone who doesn't have his or her head in the sand, or in the clouds. Pick your metaphor here, but in either case it's a reality that almost all IT professionals and business managers are battling a continued tough slog through rough fiscal terrain. This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review is thus an especially important one in its relevance to the very real challenges that we all face these days. It is the sixth installment in our annual series on IT budgeting, and we are now beginning to amass enough critical year-over-year data to truly evaluate some longer-term trends. The insight that our expert contributors were able to glean from this data and present to you in this issue will undoubtedly prove both interesting and instructive as you compare these trends with the decisions made within your own organizations.

We're in the midst of another tough economic year. That's clear across the board for anyone who doesn't have his or her head in the sand, or in the clouds. Pick your metaphor here, but in either case it's a reality that almost all IT professionals and business managers are battling a continued tough slog through rough fiscal terrain. This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review is thus an especially important one in its relevance to the very real challenges that we all face these days. It is the sixth installment in our annual series on IT budgeting, and we are now beginning to amass enough critical year-over-year data to truly evaluate some longer-term trends. The insight that our expert contributors were able to glean from this data and present to you in this issue will undoubtedly prove both interesting and instructive as you compare these trends with the decisions made within your own organizations.

Green, like greed, is good. With regards to sustainable IT, the two terms are often linked. After all, aren't all these improvements in virtualization and energy-efficient CPUs supposed to help reduce the energy consumption of IT and hence reduce the negative impact IT may have on the environment?

Green, like greed, is good. With regards to sustainable IT, the two terms are often linked. After all, aren't all these improvements in virtualization and energy-efficient CPUs supposed to help reduce the energy consumption of IT and hence reduce the negative impact IT may have on the environment?

This week, in recognition of International Green IT Awareness Week, Cutter is addressing the topic of green or sustainable IT. The question I'll explore is how to take an architectural approach to going green. First, let me propose the following definitions1:

It's been increasingly evident over the past three to four years that "going green" is a business movement that is here to stay -- partly out of necessity as businesses struggle with increasing costs from fuel and energy. But also partly out of having an environmental conscious. Certainly organizations, publications, activist groups, and news stories are making the masses aware of our duties to help protect and preserve the world we live in.

The outsourcing relationship is an amorphous, ambiguous thing yet crucial to the success of the outsourcing initiative. Relationships must be established within and across the client and supplier organization -- and at every level. This is where middle managers (MMs), with their skills and experience, become key. Individuals can get in the way of outsourcing success.

The outsourcing relationship is an amorphous, ambiguous thing yet crucial to the success of the outsourcing initiative. Relationships must be established within and across the client and supplier organization -- and at every level. This is where middle managers (MMs), with their skills and experience, become key. Individuals can get in the way of outsourcing success.

Going "green" and conducting a well-thought-out sustainability program can affect an organization's operating efficiency and corporate reputation, both of which can positively impact its bottom line. BI has a major role to play in an organization's efforts to improve sustainability and do something positive for the planet.

Cutter Consortium's Senior Consultants will help architect your enterprise for the cloud to addresses the entire range of issues including integration, semantics, security, data integrity, reliability, DR/BCP. Plus, we'll help you create and describe a framework that includes accountability and responsibility to govern cloud adoption.

In a global sense, intellectual property (IP) protection is both a help and a hindrance to innovation, and its role needs to be examined carefully. Protection helps where it provides the creator of a new idea with the means to capitalize upon that idea by the granting of a temporary monopoly.

In a global sense, intellectual property (IP) protection is both a help and a hindrance to innovation, and its role needs to be examined carefully. Protection helps where it provides the creator of a new idea with the means to capitalize upon that idea by the granting of a temporary monopoly.

As I reported in an earlier Advisor (see "An Enthusiastic Update on Kanban Adoption" 31 March 2011), Kanban is being adopted in all regions of the world.

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

General, that is a computer-enhanced hallucination!

-- Stephen Falken, Wargames (MGM, 1983)

A colleague and I started talking and writing about Energy Informatics about three years ago as a result of a request from the Advanced Practices Council (APC) of the Society for Information Management to make its members, typically CIOs, aware of developments in green IS. Our ideas were well received, and Energy Informatics emerged from the APC-funded research.