Companies don't set out to alienate their customers. Unfortunately, many interactions leave the consumer feeling dissatisfied and even downright hostile. All too frequently, these customer service disasters are linked to a failure in the use of technology.

Companies don't set out to alienate their customers. That's often just how it works out. Many interactions leave the consumer feeling dissatisfied, sometimes even downright hostile. All too frequently, technology plays a role in these customer service disasters.

In astrophysics, dark matter is responsible for the universe not flying apart, thus encouraging the growth and stability of the universe's cohesiveness and structure.

Enterprise architecture (EA) is grossly misunderstood. It's not an IT issue; it's an enterprise issue for the following reasons:

Architecture for anything is the total set of descriptive representations relevant for describing a complex object such that it can be created and constitutes a baseline for changing the object once it has been instantiated.1

In these five years of charting IT budgets and the budgeting process, we have documented the roller-coaster ride that IT shops around the globe have been on as things went from good times to perhaps the greatest economic crisis ever to strike the global economy to now slowly and gingerly climbing back out of the recession. Because we have been able to keep our team of experts intact and to maintain the core set of survey questions we ask of the respondents, we have learned quite a bit about the manner in which modern organizations react (and should react) to these kinds of events. We have learned, for example that the knee-jerk reaction typical of past crises whereby the firm would slash IT budgets seeking to "trim the fat" and "reduce overhead" wasn't exactly the case. In last year's survey, we found that "while organizations are indeed cutting projects and limiting their exposure by reducing investments in IT, they are also limiting reductions in the IT shop as much as possible knowing that IT assets and knowledge lost during a downturn cannot be readily rebuilt and scaled once the economy turns. As a consequence, the shape that this downturn has been taking for IT and IT professionals is likely different than the historical pattern of deep cost-cutting measures."

In these five years of charting IT budgets and the budgeting process, we have documented the roller-coaster ride that IT shops around the globe have been on as things went from good times to perhaps the greatest economic crisis ever to strike the global economy to now slowly and gingerly climbing back out of the recession. Because we have been able to keep our team of experts intact and to maintain the core set of survey questions we ask of the respondents, we have learned quite a bit about the manner in which modern organizations react (and should react) to these kinds of events. We have learned, for example that the knee-jerk reaction typical of past crises whereby the firm would slash IT budgets seeking to "trim the fat" and "reduce overhead" wasn't exactly the case. In last year's survey, we found that "while organizations are indeed cutting projects and limiting their exposure by reducing investments in IT, they are also limiting reductions in the IT shop as much as possible knowing that IT assets and knowledge lost during a downturn cannot be readily rebuilt and scaled once the economy turns. As a consequence, the shape that this downturn has been taking for IT and IT professionals is likely different than the historical pattern of deep cost-cutting measures."

In these five years of charting IT budgets and the budgeting process, we have documented the roller-coaster ride that IT shops around the globe have been on as things went from good times to perhaps the greatest economic crisis ever to strike the global economy to now slowly and gingerly climbing back out of the recession. Because we have been able to keep our team of experts intact and to maintain the core set of survey questions we ask of the respondents, we have learned quite a bit about the manner in which modern organizations react (and should react) to these kinds of events. We have learned, for example that the knee-jerk reaction typical of past crises whereby the firm would slash IT budgets seeking to "trim the fat" and "reduce overhead" wasn't exactly the case. In last year's survey, we found that "while organizations are indeed cutting projects and limiting their exposure by reducing investments in IT, they are also limiting reductions in the IT shop as much as possible knowing that IT assets and knowledge lost during a downturn cannot be readily rebuilt and scaled once the economy turns. As a consequence, the shape that this downturn has been taking for IT and IT professionals is likely different than the historical pattern of deep cost-cutting measures."

In these five years of charting IT budgets and the budgeting process, we have documented the roller-coaster ride that IT shops around the globe have been on as things went from good times to perhaps the greatest economic crisis ever to strike the global economy to now slowly and gingerly climbing back out of the recession. Because we have been able to keep our team of experts intact and to maintain the core set of survey questions we ask of the respondents, we have learned quite a bit about the manner in which modern organizations react (and should react) to these kinds of events. We have learned, for example that the knee-jerk reaction typical of past crises whereby the firm would slash IT budgets seeking to "trim the fat" and "reduce overhead" wasn't exactly the case. In last year's survey, we found that "while organizations are indeed cutting projects and limiting their exposure by reducing investments in IT, they are also limiting reductions in the IT shop as much as possible knowing that IT assets and knowledge lost during a downturn cannot be readily rebuilt and scaled once the economy turns. As a consequence, the shape that this downturn has been taking for IT and IT professionals is likely different than the historical pattern of deep cost-cutting measures."

In these five years of charting IT budgets and the budgeting process, we have documented the roller-coaster ride that IT shops around the globe have been on as things went from good times to perhaps the greatest economic crisis ever to strike the global economy to now slowly and gingerly climbing back out of the recession. Because we have been able to keep our team of experts intact and to maintain the core set of survey questions we ask of the respondents, we have learned quite a bit about the manner in which modern organizations react (and should react) to these kinds of events. We have learned, for example that the knee-jerk reaction typical of past crises whereby the firm would slash IT budgets seeking to "trim the fat" and "reduce overhead" wasn't exactly the case. In last year's survey, we found that "while organizations are indeed cutting projects and limiting their exposure by reducing investments in IT, they are also limiting reductions in the IT shop as much as possible knowing that IT assets and knowledge lost during a downturn cannot be readily rebuilt and scaled once the economy turns. As a consequence, the shape that this downturn has been taking for IT and IT professionals is likely different than the historical pattern of deep cost-cutting measures."

Read the Executive Summary

Read the Executive Report

The agile movement has reached a tipping point. It can either remain a powerful approach to software and business product development, or it can evolve and expand into an even more powerful business and cultural paradigm.

In his powerful manifesto The Future of Management, Gary Hamel argues that a disruptive change in culture and management practice is required for many organizations to survive in the new global environment. Agile business is the key to successfully executing this change.

The global financial crisis and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlight the significance of risk in business and the need to embed capacities and capabilities for the management, mitigation, and response to risk.

The global financial crisis and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlight the significance of risk in business and the need to embed capacities and capabilities for the management, mitigation, and response to risk.

The global financial crisis, the Iceland volcanic ash events, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have alerted us once again to the nature of risk, including both the opportunities and the potential impacts it can have on the business. In response to the demands of the modern dynamic business world and to general uncertainty in a global environment, businesses are seeking to formalize a risk-based approach to business (also called enterprise risk management -- ERM) because of the importance of risk to profit and cash flow.

The global financial crisis, the Iceland volcanic ash events, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have alerted us once again to the nature of risk, including both the opportunities and the potential impacts it can have on the business. In response to the demands of the modern dynamic business world and to general uncertainty in a global environment, businesses are seeking to formalize a risk-based approach to business (also called enterprise risk management -- ERM) because of the importance of risk to profit and cash flow.

Recent media coverage of BP and the spill in the Gulf of Mexico reveals that BP's management decisions and actions have been dominated by cost considerations. Rather than taking lower-risk actions or investing in better solutions, BP apparently took the low road. The low-cost road, that is. We in IT of course are very familiar with this.

Several forces are converging in the industry to spotlight the idea of architecture certification. First, EA has become a commonly accepted practice. As the complexity of IT continues to increase, so does the need for architecture. Yet, few organizations really understand what EA is, how to apply it, or what an architect does.

A lot of advice has been given about the "how" and "why" of agile. Yet, in human resources (HR), there is still a need for an internal push on several counts. What would enable HR to create and support an agile environment? First, the ability to let go of all the earlier beliefs about people's functions and requirements, and second, a move to experiencing and understanding the agile employee from a different paradigm.

Due to the depressed economy, many companies have sought to streamline processes and reduce staff, leaving many compliance organizations leaner while new regulations and updates to existing regulations continue.

Based on our research over the past few years, it's apparent that the need to consolidate disparate data warehouses and data marts has become an ongoing trend among organizations wanting to upgrade their BI capabilities.

Based on our research over the past few years, it's apparent that the need to consolidate disparate data warehouses and data marts has become an ongoing trend among organizations wanting to upgrade their BI capabilities.

A potential customer who owns lots of commercial real estate asked me to make an assessment of the operations automation software system it has been developing inhouse to control, administer, and service clients at an upscale, long-stay business hotel it opened not long ago. The hotel offers fabulous accommodations.