I noticed on recent trip to New York that "The Miracle Worker" was back on Broadway. Unfortunately, after only a few months, it closed before I could see it. But that ad for the current run got my mind going about the most the most important thing in semantics and data modeling.

Many enterprise architecture (EA) departments struggle with the transition of EA to projects. The issue is how to make sure that EA deliverables are actually used. The idea is simple: project start architecture (PSA) provides a relevant summary of EA artifacts to projects. The value of the PSA is to ensure that the results of each project will adhere to the overall architecture and blend with the IT landscape.

Everyone knows estimating work in IT can be difficult.

Whenever you ask an IT expert for an estimate, the sequence of events can look like this:

Every once in a while, it's therapeutic to vent.

While many users may join Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other popular social networks in the hopes of connecting with other users of similar interests, the majority of these social networks are actually leading to the foundation for the 21st-century collaborative enterprise.

The agile movement was founded on two key purposes: to deliver value to customers and to improve workplace satisfaction, making work more fun. Agile Software Development Ecosystems summarizes an interview with several agile founders, including Kent Beck:

Mike is the CIO of a medium-sized industrial firm. His firm outsourced the provision of IT services to a major multinational outsourcing firm. The outsourcing arrangement has now been in place for seven years, and therefore his own internal IS team and the outsourced providers have had ample time to learn how to work with each other.

Mike is the CIO of a medium-sized industrial firm. His firm outsourced the provision of IT services to a major multinational outsourcing firm. The outsourcing arrangement has now been in place for seven years, and therefore his own internal IS team and the outsourced providers have had ample time to learn how to work with each other.

In December, I said that, to the best of my knowledge, MapReduce [1] -- the "non-SQL" data-crunching programming model -- and its open source implementation, Hadoop, were being used primarily by such Internet companies as Facebook, Google, and MySpace to optimize their online operations, as opposed to being used by more traditional enterprises looking for a way to support their data analysis capabili

Throughout the 1990s, many organizations gradually retired their homegrown legacy systems and replaced them with COTS equivalents. Large software vendors, such as Oracle, SAP, and PeopleSoft, saw their revenues and profits skyrocket as the dominoes fell.

Throughout the 1990s, many organizations gradually retired their homegrown legacy systems and replaced them with COTS equivalents. Large software vendors, such as Oracle, SAP, and PeopleSoft, saw their revenues and profits skyrocket as the dominoes fell.

Throughout the 1990s, many organizations gradually retired their homegrown legacy systems and replaced them with COTS equivalents. Large software vendors, such as Oracle, SAP, and PeopleSoft, saw their revenues and profits skyrocket as the dominoes fell.

When the going gets tough, it is an opportunity for IT to shine. The IT organization offers more leverage for a company than do other departments. The IT organization is the only organization in a company that can positively affect every other organization in that company by helping it reduce costs and/or improve the productivity of its people.

When the going gets tough, it is an opportunity for IT to shine. The IT organization offers more leverage for a company than do other departments. The IT organization is the only organization in a company that can positively affect every other organization in that company by helping it reduce costs and/or improve the productivity of its people.

The Agile Triangle, shown in Figure 1, was introduced in Agile Project Management, 2nd Edition and has been the subject of several Cutter Advisors. The Agile Triangle encourages teams to be flexible, agile, and adaptable -- it alters how we view success.

I've not always been a fan of the CMM® (Capability Maturity Model). One of the problems with CMM is that it implies a level of precision that is not normally found in the real world. In my experience, I have found that not only is Level 4 very difficult to attain, but it is also hard to maintain.

Recent advances in source code analysis techniques enable us to quantify technical debt. By so doing, software quality can be tied to cost and value through a common denominator: the dollar. This tie enables the governing of the software development process with great effectiveness at both the tactical and strategic levels, as we examine in this Executive Report by Israel Gat. Such governance is applicable to any software method/process, enabling "apples to apples" management across a diverse portfolio of projects.

A new generation of customer relationship management (CRM) is emerging. Social CRM brings the promise of Web 2.0 together with the allure of social networks. Is this a breakthrough for CRM? Or is it just another case of overpromise and underdeliver?

The need has never been greater. The promises are many. A new generation of customer relationship management (CRM) is combining with the promise of Web 2.0 and the promise of social networks. Is this finally the elusive breakthrough that we have been searching for so long to find? Or is it just another case of overpromise and underdeliver?

Every discipline goes through a phase when the terminology is ambiguous or requires frequent explanations. Business process management (BPM) is currently in that immature state.

Every discipline develops its own terminology, and there is a period of time when those terms need to be explicitly defined every time they are used, because they have not yet become household words.

In this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, we turn to a topic discussed previously in November 2008 (Vol. 8, No. 11) and July 2007 (Vol. 7, No. 7): project management. As readers of CBR know, we get our inspiration and ideas for topics from two sources. First, we get inspiration from current events, new trends, new technologies, and generally from being aware and plugged into what is going on in the world of IT. At the same time, we maintain a constant ear to the ground and stick with a reality check by being attentive and responsive to the Cutter Consortium client base. We pay close attention to the kinds of jobs that Cutter Consortium Senior Consultants are bidding for and working on. We also monitor the types of requests that Cutter clients make and we apply firsthand research at Cutter Summits held across the globe.

Figure 1 -- Reality in project management.

This issue ushers in a big innovation for us. Along with our standard survey-based installments of CBR, we will now have shorter, focused "opinion pieces," which will better enable our contributors from the academic and practice traditions to address emerging technologies, new trends, or old but still polarizing issues with precision and efficiency.