Adoption of high-performance analytic databases1 by end-user organizations has experienced moderate but steady growth since their inception. According to Cutter research, about 18% of end-user organizations use high-performance analytic databases to support their BI data management and data analysis efforts.

As we move well into the 21st century, there will be several skill sets critical to the impact of IT on the businesses we enable. One of those skills is business relationship management (BRM). Others include vendor management, business intelligence, architecture, and mobility. BRM is all about relationships and collaboration. It's also about subject matter expertise, models, and methodologies.

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a way of thinking about the IT assets that a company possesses. It consists of various tools and is built on concepts that can be used in many ways, but the "EA way of thinking" should be applied consistently and appropriately.

Governance just ain't what it used to be.

Governance just ain't what it used to be.

Event analysis is a counterintuitive but "easy to understand and use" approach for designing or redesigning processes and systems. If used consistently and extensively, it simplifies architectures, increases structural parallelism, identifies needed controls, and expedites the eventual enhancements of applications, middleware, and operating systems.

Innovation has never been more important to business survival. The ever-quickening pulse of business shortens the time in which a new product or process can be of value and increases the number of new ideas that must be in the pipeline. At the same time, continued focusing on core competency has reduced the diversity of internal resources, and limited funding has resulted in a need for greater efficiency.

Innovation has never been more important to business survival. The ever-quickening pulse of business shortens the time in which a new product or process can be of value and increases the number of new ideas that must be in the pipeline. At the same time, continued focusing on core competency has reduced the diversity of internal resources, and limited funding has resulted in a need for greater efficiency.

"You did not finish the stories you committed to!" a product owner at a client of mine recently raged against the team. "What the hell are you doing all day long? This commitment was pointless!" And he was right.

Two government reports published this past week again highlight the old adage "Any fool can make a project late or overbudget; all he or she need to do is not give the project enough time or money."

As the result of a life in the trenches, I have a reading list that is quite broad. One of the journals that I subscribe to is TR News.

As the result of a life in the trenches, I have a reading list that is quite broad. One of the journals that I subscribe to is TR News.

During this webinar, Cutter Senior Consultant Bob Benson will explain the ways that governance best practices have evolved over the last two years, emphasizing what Cutter research has discovered about evolving governance practices around the world.

Business legend has it that Henry Ford waited three days before reading any memos that appeared on his desk. It drove his managers to make autonomous decisions on anything pressing or urgent. It ensured they weren't waiting for blessings from "on high" before taking action. They knew that his responsibility was the longer term, not the short term, and they acted accordingly.

This summer, Cutter conducted a survey of EA programs with the subscribers to our Enterprise Architecture practice. Among other issues, we looked into the perceived effectiveness of EA programs. Unfortunately, the results were a little disappointing.

The first view of outsourcing contracts argues that the contract is the most important part in the client-vendor relationship. The second view, while far from advocating that a contract is unnecessary, places its importance significantly beneath that of the relationship. The contract has its place, but it alone cannot produce results. An experienced contract-management team focused on cooperation, common interests, and earning trust over time creates the results and efficiencies. A mere piece of paper cannot achieve such results.

The first view of outsourcing contracts argues that the contract is the most important part in the client-vendor relationship. The second view, while far from advocating that a contract is unnecessary, places its importance significantly beneath that of the relationship. The contract has its place, but it alone cannot produce results. An experienced contract-management team focused on cooperation, common interests, and earning trust over time creates the results and efficiencies. A mere piece of paper cannot achieve such results.

Last week, it was in the news that a Pacific Gas & Electric executive admitted to having used an assumed name to infiltrate an online discussion group organized by consumers who are against the deployment of the utility company's smart electricity-usage metering devices. The executive indicated that his goal was simply to get a better understanding of what his company's customers are thinking.

Technical innovation is widely viewed in the developed and developing world as the driver for economic and cultural growth and prosperity. The growth of network services and social media have made new innovation processes feasible, and the members of the next generation of knowledge workers often have been among the leaders in such approaches.

Technical innovation is widely viewed in the developed and developing world as the driver for economic and cultural growth and prosperity. The growth of network services and social media have made new innovation processes feasible, and the members of the next generation of knowledge workers often have been among the leaders in such approaches.

Every good manager knows statistical data is always subject to interpretation. A poor interpretation could be disastrous. For some time, my attention has been drawn to how frequently Standish Chaos Reports are used and how almost nobody who uses or refers to the data remarks on their inadequacy.

On the recent Apple investor call, CEO Steve Jobs made an impassioned plea for the superior usability of the single-vendor Apple products, contrasting its usability with Google's many-hardware-devices mobile experience. Jobs critiqued the use of the word "open," which Google uses to describe its platform.

On the recent Apple investor call, CEO Steve Jobs made an impassioned plea for the superior usability of the single-vendor Apple products, contrasting its usability with Google's many-hardware-devices mobile experience. Jobs critiqued the use of the word "open," which Google uses to describe its platform.

Agile software development involves people working together, across disciplines, to deliver business value efficiently. While the Agile Manifesto states that agile development values "responding to change over following a plan" and "working software over documentation," that does not mean plans are not important. A plan allows you to measure your progress, focus your efforts, or, more important, present a target that stakeholders can invest in.

Thus far in this series ("Part I: Basic Concepts," 15 September 2010; "Part II: Let's Get Critical, 13 October 2010), we