This week, we're taking a look back at the five most intriguing articles published in Cutter's Sourcing & Vendor Relationships practice over this past year. As you might imagine, it was no small task to cull the list and pare it down to just five articles. Look for these lists from each of our nine practice areas for a compilation of Cutter's 45 most intriguing articles of the year.

This week, we're taking a look back at the five most intriguing articles published in Cutter's Sourcing & Vendor Relationships practice over this past year. As you might imagine, it was no small task to cull the list and pare it down to just five articles. Look for these lists from each of our nine practice areas for a compilation of Cutter's 45 most intriguing articles of the year.

This week, we're taking a look back at the five most intriguing articles published in Cutter's Business Intelligence practice over this past year. As you might imagine, it was no small task to cull the list and pare it down to just five articles. Look for these lists from each of our nine practice areas for a compilation of Cutter's 45 most intriguing articles of the year.

Enterprise architecture (EA) managers often wonder about the best way to organize the EA department, but before addressing that issue, we first must answer the question, "How many architects do we need in the first place?" Of course, there is a difference between needing them and getting the budget for them.

Some interesting directions were visible during the SOA Consortium meeting, in September 2009, in San Antonio, Texas, USA, collocated as usual with the technical meetings of its parent organization, the Object Management Group (OMG).

Hello, my name is Dave. I'm addicted to flow.

When an organization decides to hire an outside IT provider, it first must review its previously established IT requirements and set guide

When an organization decides to hire an outside IT provider, it first must review its previously established IT requirements and set guide

Web 2.0 and social networking sites are continuing to develop in response to user needs. They provide an important new form of communication and social interaction with numerous repercussions in the world outside, as reflected in recent stories about Facebook and YouTube celebrity and use in the 2008 US presidential campaigns.

Web 2.0 and social networking sites are continuing to develop in response to user needs. They provide an important new form of communication and social interaction with numerous repercussions in the world outside, as reflected in recent stories about Facebook and YouTube celebrity and use in the 2008 US presidential campaigns.

A few months back I was at eBay's headquarters in San Jose, California, USA, having a conversation about performance reviews with one of its executives. Like most large companies, eBay offers bonuses to its employees based on individual performance, which is expected to have improved from the previous work period, be it yearly, semiannually, or quarterly.

Hace algunos meses estuve en las oficinas generales de eBay en San Jose, California, conversando con uno de sus ejecutivos acerca de evaluaciones de desempeño de empleados.

It's hard to discuss transformation when the current state is so anchored in the previous century. But as more and more 20th-century warriors pass the baton to the next generation of business technology leaders, we'll see major changes in the whole business technology relationship.

It's hard to discuss transformation when the current state is so anchored in the previous century. But as more and more 20th-century warriors pass the baton to the next generation of business technology leaders, we'll see major changes in the whole business technology relationship.

I had the pleasure of hearing Cutter Senior Consultant Michael Mah present to Latin American CIOs at the recent Cutter Latin America Summit in Mexico City.

I had the pleasure of hearing Cutter Senior Consultant Michael Mah present to Latin American CIOs at the recent Cutter Latin America Summit in Mexico City.

Last week, while in a discussion about architecture, someone in the group said, "We don't really have architecture, we're not big enough to justify the cost." Unfortunately, this is a common misconception about the size of a company and the value of architecture. Actually, it is often smaller companies that can demonstrate the benefits most quickly.

Since we're approaching the end of the year, I thought I'd offer some predictions and comments on some of the key developments I see taking place with the market for, and the application of, BI and data warehousing in the New Year.

Since we're approaching the end of the year, I thought I'd offer some predictions and comments on some of the key developments I see taking place with the market for, and the application of, BI and data warehousing in the New Year.

Organizations today have the option of choosing from a variety of on-demand or cloud-based BI and data warehousing solutions. These range from reporting, dashboards, and focused analytic applications offered as licensable services to hosted data integration services and full-blown managed data warehouses.

Cost reductions in business operations in this turbulent economy have affected IT spending for software and application or system development as well as for integration projects. Many companies and their visionary leaders have used agile methodologies, including XP, Scrum, and Feature-Driven Development, with mixed success.

"How are you doing"

There's a nice, benign, safe question. But in today's economy, I've noted that I get one of two very dichotomous responses:

Response #1: "We're holding it together. I think we're going to make it, but it's been a tough year."

"How are you doing"

There's a nice, benign, safe question. But in today's economy, I've noted that I get one of two very dichotomous responses:

Response #1: "We're holding it together. I think we're going to make it, but it's been a tough year."

There is nothing like the prospect of getting hanged in the morning to focus one's attention.