A new variant of outsourcing -- cloud computing -- is being trumpeted as a more advantageous way for executives and managers to pay someone else to worry about the reliability, integrity, and security of data processing activities.

Cloud computing has a lot in common with longstanding forms of outsourced data processing services. There are some key differences, however, and these differences need to be appreciated. The expertise that user organizations have garnered from these older practices will serve them well in harnessing cloud computing, but it is advisable to extend that expertise.

Cloud computing has a lot in common with longstanding forms of outsourced data processing services. There are some key differences, however, and these differences need to be appreciated. The expertise that user organizations have garnered from these older practices will serve them well in harnessing cloud computing, but it is advisable to extend that expertise.

Security

The value of digital assets and the negative impact of mishandling them are forcing organizations to make security and privacy a strategic and operational imperative.

Security

The value of digital assets and the negative impact of mishandling them are forcing organizations to make security and privacy a strategic and operational imperative.

When people tell me they are already practicing risk management on their projects, more often than not my skepticism is justified since all they are actually accomplishing is a cursory job of risk identification.

So said Theodore Roscoe of the US Navy's Mark XIV torpedo during the early stages of World War II in his book, United States Submarine Operations in World War II (US Naval Institute Press, June 1949).

Both the most devout and more moderate Luddites will have to gasp on this one.

Both the most devout and more moderate Luddites will have to gasp on this one.

As leadership guru John Kotter notes, "More change always requires more leadership." Effective project managers cannot be reduced to merely what they know (e.g., certification) and do (e.g., processes). So what makes a great project leader?

Value comes from embracing and managing risk. An absence of risk generally equates to an absence of value. But value must be measured, and the results, good and bad, must be analyzed for enterprise learning and to enhance future business developments, particularly with regard to developing more robust and complete business cases and promoting better-informed decision making for the future. A more positive and structured approach to enterprise governance of IT will help ensure the delivery of value. This is best achieved by building on what you have.

In my last Advisor (see "How The Checklist Manifesto Breaks Down Problems," 10 February 2010), I recommended the book The Checklist Manifesto -- How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande and promised to draw some parallels

A meeting was held at Motorola near Chicago several years ago, and nobody came. Well, almost nobody -- one guy did turn up. It was a good meeting, and several important decisions were made. Sandeep in Bangalore, India, dialed in, and so did Pat in Cork, Ireland, and Yaron in Tel Aviv, Israel.

A meeting was held at Motorola near Chicago several years ago, and nobody came. Well, almost nobody -- one guy did turn up. It was a good meeting, and several important decisions were made. Sandeep in Bangalore, India, dialed in, and so did Pat in Cork, Ireland, and Yaron in Tel Aviv, Israel.

I've noticed a growing interest by end-user organizations in using data mining technology -- particularly for predictive customer analytics. Several trends account for this. First, organizations now find themselves with so much data that they are looking for ways to capitalize on this valuable resource.

In 1980, Michael Porter wrote in his classic book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors that there are two generic strategies for companies competing in broad markets.

In 1980, Michael Porter wrote in his classic book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors that there are two generic strategies for companies competing in broad markets.

In this series of Advisors, I'm exploring some typical problems traditionally trained managers run into when their organization starts to use agile (see "Hidden Pitfalls of Agile: Self-Organization," 14 January 2010, "Hidden Pitfalls of Agile: User Contact

My 16 April 2009 Trends Advisor, "As the 'Net Kills Newspapers, Who Pays for Free?" received more comments than most. It raised the question: who pays for journalism and research when advertising disappears?

My 16 April 2009 Trends Advisor, "As the 'Net Kills Newspapers, Who Pays for Free?" received more comments than most. It raised the question: who pays for journalism and research when advertising disappears?

ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) continues to gain ground as a standard for IT governance, despite the current recession, and there have been significant changes to the standard in its upgrade from V2 to V3. Although ITIL V3 was officially launched in June 2007, adoption of the new version has lagged, and many organizations are remaining with V2. Uptake has been slowed particularly as a result of the ongoing economic crisis.

ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) continues to gain ground as a standard for IT governance, despite the current recession, and there have been significant changes to the standard in its upgrade from V2 to V3. Although ITIL V3 was officially launched in June 2007, adoption of the new version has lagged, and many organizations are remaining with V2. Uptake has been slowed particularly as a result of the ongoing economic crisis.

With the spate of unusual winter weather in the US this year, a classic IT quandary actually made itself evident once more. Is more technology actually better? It's analogous to the situations that actually arose as many parts of the country wrestled with the daunting notion of how to manage snow measured in feet, rather than inches.

The current economy has made enterprise architecture (EA) more significant for the IT industry than ever before. Most organizations have been forced to accept the enterprise-level transformational capabilities and associated impacts of EA as practice -- and plan to leverage its functions both in strategic and tactical ways.

Informatica Corporation has made several recent announcements pertaining to cloud data integration. These include the Informatica Cloud 9 data integration platform, specific cloud services for data integration, and on-demand data quality and address-correction tools and services -- including data quality software for use on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform.