It is all too easy to make high-level general statements about CIOs and IT organizations. Often these statements work from the assumption that all CIOs and all IT organizations are alike. For example, since the turn of the year, we've seen a lot of "CIO's Concerns for 2011" and similar articles.

In last week's Advisor (see "Short-Term Tactical Approaches to Application Modernization and Rationalization, Part I," 9 March 2011), I provided some background about the problems associated with many legacy modernization

In Part I of this Executive Update series,1 we discussed modernizing core banking systems through the analogy of heart surgery as well as the approaches I have seen as banking IT strategies evolve in this era of change in the financial industry. In particular, we covered "putting shunts" in the "patient" through application transformation and integration.

Server virtualization has become embedded in enterprise data center architecture, providing numerous efficiencies in processing, reducing costs, and adding to flexibility and scalability across the IT environment. Virtualization is at the root of the evolving data center infrastructure and is the foundation of cloud IT. However, even as virtualization becomes embedded in the enterprise, support continues to evolve.

Bringing BI down to the coalface has long been a goal for both vendors and IT managers -- in light of the fact that BI remains largely confined to the 15%-20% of workers in an organization who analyze data.

A great deal of attention has been given to the design, deployment, and management of Web services as part of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) within the enterprise. The attention is well warranted as SOA represents a substantial advance in the architecture of enterprise systems. However, I've seen relatively little discussion related to Web services that face outside of the organization.

A great deal of attention has been given to the design, deployment, and management of Web services as part of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) within the enterprise. The attention is well warranted as SOA represents a substantial advance in the architecture of enterprise systems. However, I've seen relatively little discussion related to Web services that face outside of the organization.

In an age when rates of project failure sadly top 50%, having the chance to actually restart a project that has been stalled, cancelled, or put on hold for whatever reason, can be very positive. But it is definitely not without great challenges. Often, the project manager asked to restart the engagement is not the same one who ended its previous iteration. It's worth noting here before we go further that restarts -- like second marriages -- are just as likely, if not more likely, to fail than the original engagement.

In this on-demand webinar, we will take an in-depth look at where enterprise risk management has been, where it is today, and where it needs to go if it wishes to become relevant to organizations today, and more importantly, tomorrow.

We're now seeing organizations across almost every industry develop mobile BI applications that employ interactive dashboards, reporting, visualization, and other functionality tailored to specific users or groups that extend the usefulness of their BI and performance management systems.

In this on-demand webinar, we will take an in-depth look at where enterprise risk management has been, where it is today, and where it needs to go if it wishes to become relevant to organizations today, and more importantly, tomorrow.

With the increasing importance of information systems for business success, the risks associated with the temporary inaccessibility of information due to any unplanned failure of computer systems have significantly increased. Failure of a computer system may be the result of various factors, such as faulty or improper actions of users, or external factors, including man-made or natural disasters.

With the increasing importance of information systems for business success, the risks associated with the temporary inaccessibility of information due to any unplanned failure of computer systems have significantly increased. Failure of a computer system may be the result of various factors, such as faulty or improper actions of users, or external factors, including man-made or natural disasters.

The title "project manager" is cheap. In some organizations it is given to administrative assistants, lead technicians, or senior business analysts in lieu of a raise. Senior PMs play a vital role on large, complex, mission-critical projects.

Once again, I am sitting here, sipping a cup of coffee at my local McDonald's, looking across the parking lot at the steady stream of people going into the H.H. Gregg electronics store that took up residence in what previously was a Circuit City electronics store.

Once again, I am sitting here, sipping a cup of coffee at my local McDonald's, looking across the parking lot at the steady stream of people going into the H.H. Gregg electronics store that took up residence in what previously was a Circuit City electronics store.

This is the sixth and final Advisor in this series on green IT. In it, I briefly outline the importance and usage of the ISO14000 family of standards associated with carbon emissions.

This is the sixth and final Advisor in this series on green IT. In it, I briefly outline the importance and usage of the ISO14000 family of standards associated with carbon emissions.

If I could summarize my experience in presenting business cases into one sentence, it would be the following: it is more important to be credible rather than accurate.

Do you have a new development project in planning that will replace an existing application? If so, then it is likely that you are planning a legacy modernization. According to a conversation with Capers Jones, 70% of "new" application development is to replace a legacy system.

Just as the word "computing" has lost its original association with mathematics and now refers to the entire range of information systems, "cloud computing" does not denote just the provision of compute servers. The distinction among IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS already indicates a broader scope.

Just as the word "computing" has lost its original association with mathematics and now refers to the entire range of information systems, "cloud computing" does not denote just the provision of compute servers. The distinction among IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS already indicates a broader scope.

Over the last two weeks, we've seen two moves by enterprise vendors making acquisitions of high-performance analytic DB vendors:1 Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquired Vertica, and Teradata bought Aster Data Systems.

Are your business units and IT solution teams speaking the same language? The business capability provides a common vocabulary in business terms. This report reveals how capability mapping enables business analysis and business/IT architecture alignment. You’ll gain step-by-step guidance that will help you define your business capabilities and use them to drive business-IT transformation initiatives. Not yet a Cutter client? Download your complimentary copy of the report now.

Are your business units and IT solution teams speaking the same language? The business capability provides a common vocabulary in business terms. This report reveals how capability mapping enables business analysis and business/IT architecture alignment. You’ll gain step-by-step guidance that will help you define your business capabilities and use them to drive business-IT transformation initiatives. Not yet a Cutter client? Download your complimentary copy of the report now.