Welcome to the fifth-anniversary edition of my New Year's resolutions for enterprise architects. I hope the following five will provide food for thought and some inspiration:

The presumption behind sourcing is that the vendor will, and generally does, bring in technical depth and hands-on expertise for IT projects and programs where it is engaged. Traditionally, inhouse architects, designers, and other senior technologists would be involved in complex technology initiatives. As they helped to solve problems -- say, configuring networks, servers, and firewalls or defining key interfaces with external partners -- enterprise architects would add back to the organizational knowledge ecosystem.

The presumption behind sourcing is that the vendor will, and generally does, bring in technical depth and hands-on expertise for IT projects and programs where it is engaged. Traditionally, inhouse architects, designers, and other senior technologists would be involved in complex technology initiatives. As they helped to solve problems -- say, configuring networks, servers, and firewalls or defining key interfaces with external partners -- enterprise architects would add back to the organizational knowledge ecosystem.

Although it may not be as trendy or sound as cutting edge as some of the other analytic applications I've been covering (social network analysis, data mining, etc.), I can almost guarantee that more organizations will be examining workforce analytics as the new year progresses. Here's why.

Although it may not be as trendy or sound as cutting edge as some of the other analytic applications I've been covering (social network analysis, data mining, etc.), I can almost guarantee that more organizations will be examining workforce analytics as the new year progresses. Here's why.

Innovation is everyone's job. Regardless of where we sit in an organization, innovation is essential to survival and therefore a core competency of every competitive organization on the planet. But how will 21st-century companies innovate?

Innovation is everyone's job. Regardless of where we sit in an organization, innovation is essential to survival and therefore a core competency of every competitive organization on the planet. But how will 21st-century companies innovate?

My last Advisor on leading agility focused on the fact that agility was not reaching far enough into organizations (see "Making Middle Managers Catalysts for Agility," 25 November 2009).

There are analogies that make it possible for a new field like software engineering to make progress, and there are analogies that confuse the basic issues. One of the latter is comparing software elements (objects, components, services, etc.) with Lego blocks. Now, my criticism is not against Lego blocks; I love Legos, my kids love Legos, and my grandkids love Legos....

Why is it that silos, like weeds in a garden, sprout perennially and require vigilance and hard work to remove? Those whose work spans silos see clearly the cost of silos in terms of cash and calories. Organizations with strong silos have a harder time coordinating processes and integrating data across those silos.

Occasionally, I will ask my students, "Why is the Roman Coliseum still standing?" The answer that I'm fishing for is, "Because the folks who tried to tear it down in the Middle Ages for building material were not as good engineers as the folks who put it up hundreds of years earlier." All this was recently brought to mind because I've been reading a series of historical novels set in 9th centu

Several weeks ago when I issued my predictions for the coming year, I said that I expected that the use of software and services for analyzing social networking/media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Yelp, would begin to increase in 2010 (see "BI and Data Warehousing Predictions for 2010," 22 December 2009).

Several weeks ago when I issued my predictions for the coming year, I said that I expected that the use of software and services for analyzing social networking/media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Yelp, would begin to increase in 2010 (see "BI and Data Warehousing Predictions for 2010," 22 December 2009).

Forecasting trends is a perilous exercise, particularly in times of great uncertainty. We are in the midst of revolutionary technological change within an uncertain economy. For decision makers, the result is unease, as we throw the die and bet either on embracing new opportunities or remaining with the status quo.

Forecasting trends is a perilous exercise, particularly in times of great uncertainty. We are in the midst of revolutionary technological change within an uncertain economy. For decision makers, the result is unease, as we throw the die and bet either on embracing new opportunities or remaining with the status quo.

Abstract

It is very challenging to negotiate when the other party is more powerful than you are. While differences in power do exist in negotiations, power is complex, with some factors acting for you and others against you. You need to be able to understand and exploit these dynamics.

Abstract

It is very challenging to negotiate when the other party is more powerful than you are. While differences in power do exist in negotiations, power is complex, with some factors acting for you and others against you. You need to be able to understand and exploit these dynamics.

Everyone loves to negotiate from a position of power. It is satisfying, easy, and fun to play the game when you hold all of the aces in your hand. It is much more challenging to try and negotiate effectively when you have a disadvantage in power, when the other party is bigger, better funded, and more experienced or has access to information that you cannot obtain.

Everyone loves to negotiate from a position of power. It is satisfying, easy, and fun to play the game when you hold all of the aces in your hand. It is much more challenging to try and negotiate effectively when you have a disadvantage in power, when the other party is bigger, better funded, and more experienced or has access to information that you cannot obtain.

Abstract

Enterprise architecture (EA) can be traced back to 1987 and has continually evolved ever since. In this Executive Report by Claude R.

Abstract

Enterprise architecture (EA) can be traced back to 1987 and has continually evolved ever since. In this Executive Report by Claude R.

The Zachman Framework, initially published in 1987, generally marks the birth of enterprise architecture (EA). Accordingly, EA reached a symbolic milestone at the start of the 2008 meltdown, when it turned 21.

 

This month's installment of Cutter Benchmark Review is the fifth effort in our yearly series on IT trends and technologies for the coming year. As you know if you have been following CBR, at the beginning of every year we ask our practicing and academic contributors to take stock of current trends. Based on our benchmarking survey of investment priorities, we ask them to explain the results and extrapolate some guidelines for our readers on how to tackle the new year in the IT shop.

As 2009 came to a close, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it would be outsourcing thousands of its jobs to low-cost, low-wage countries. While IT outsourcing is not uncommon, what made this news unusual was that some of those outsourced jobs were in finance operations. To be sure, the scope of Shell's IT outsourcing is significant and noteworthy in its sheer size.

To rephrase an old line, 2009 came in like a lion and seems to have gone out as one, too. Never before in my lifetime, with more than 30 years in IT, have I seen so much uncertainty in issues that can have a dramatic impact on the operation of so many businesses.

The year 2009 was one that had some level of negative impact for most companies, especially those in retail, manufacturing, and finance. On the flip side, healthcare and government appear to be thriving in the tough economy.