Have you overseen or been part of a successful agile pilot that was followed by several lukewarm agile adoptions? Has agile been very successful at the tactical level but caused so many problems as it spread inside the organization that it was eventually dropped or changed beyond all recognition?

Open source software (OSS) is becoming increasingly important within the enterprise as it moves out from its original base within the IT infrastructure and server environment.

Open source software (OSS) is becoming increasingly important within the enterprise as it moves out from its original base within the IT infrastructure and server environment.

Open source software (OSS) entered the enterprise gradually and almost invisibly, generally with Linux in technical and infrastructure areas frequently buried in the IT department and below the corporate radar. However, open source has grown in importance and gained a retinue of powerful supporters such as IBM, HP, and Novell.

System architecture

SOA has reached a tipping point in organizations' abilities to deliver business value.

The September issue of the Cutter Benchmark Review (CBR) focuses on IT governance. In this Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor, we examine current practices and the relationship of governance to IT's value. For example, we examine whether IT governance contributes to the value IT delivers.

In my previous Advisor ("Defining Architectures for the Cloud, Part I," 23 September 2009), I looked at the enterprise architecture domains of business, information, and application and how cloud computing would affect those areas.

As an agile evangelist, your ultimate job is to transform your organization's culture so you are faster at noticing and responding effectively to opportunities. The first agile project will enable you to show the benefits of a new way of working and enroll the support of others for future organizational transformation.

This week saw an interesting development in which Actuate and Infobright teamed up to offer an open source BI solution that combines the former's open source reporting tools with the latter's open source data warehousing database. This effort is interesting for several reasons.

There was a time in the early 1990s when a good laptop computer cost upwards of US $4,000. This was for a computer with a 10-inch screen, four or eight MB of memory, and a 100-MB disk. Communications for this computer were limited to a slow-speed, dial-up line.

Before you invest heavily in an outsourcing initiative, you must make sure there is a compelling rationale based on sound economic analysis. An outsourcing business case is the basis on which each "go/no-go" decision will be made.

A general approach to business cases covers an assessment of the following:

Before you invest heavily in an outsourcing initiative, you must make sure there is a compelling rationale based on sound economic analysis. An outsourcing business case is the basis on which each "go/no-go" decision will be made.

A general approach to business cases covers an assessment of the following:

In a recent discussion, a manager kept asking me about requirements management in agile development, and it dawned on me that many traditionalist continue to focus on requirements, whereas agilists focus on features, capabilities, and stories.

Recently, a well-known IT advisory group brashly announced a "new" approach to enterprise architecture that it described as "emergent" and "nondeterministic," with central IT and its architects ceding some control and choice to constituents rather than trying to design and control everything.

"Be afraid ... be very afraid."

"Be afraid ... be very afraid."

Cloud computing is the current state of the art in data center infrastructure and provision of computing resources as a service. It offers numerous advantages to businesses. The cloud makes it possible to outsource applications and infrastructure to companies whose core competence lies in providing these services as well as in maintaining the required infrastructure.

Cloud computing is the current state of the art in data center infrastructure and provision of computing resources as a service. It offers numerous advantages to businesses. The cloud makes it possible to outsource applications and infrastructure to companies whose core competence lies in providing these services as well as in maintaining the required infrastructure.

Cloud computing is the current state of the art in data center infrastructure and provision of computing resources as a service. It offers numerous advantages to businesses. The cloud makes it possible to outsource applications and infrastructure to companies whose core competence lies in providing these services as well as in maintaining the required infrastructure.

Many of our business processes -- operating over the Internet or otherwise -- remain wedded to a production-line mindset that is stuck in the world of the 1980s. A well-planned business process managemenht (BPM) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy needs to encourage the use of services as a tool to improve processes and solve specific business problems.

Many of our business processes -- operating over the Internet or otherwise -- remain wedded to a production-line mindset that is stuck in the world of the 1980s. A well-planned business process managemenht (BPM) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy needs to encourage the use of services as a tool to improve processes and solve specific business problems.

In my previous two Advisors ("Selected Innovations in Cloud Products," 9 September 2009, and "SOA and the Cloud: Getting Past the Hype," 19 August 2009), I talked about the different styles of the cloud (infrastructure as a service [IaaS], platform as a

Many organizations assume that if an obligation has been stated in a contract, the provider will comply with it and no further work needs to be done. However, astute organizations do not assume compliance; they ensure it. The time to discover the provider has not done so is not when your organization is seeking to invoke the clause, as the next case illustrates.

Many organizations assume that if an obligation has been stated in a contract, the provider will comply with it and no further work needs to be done. However, astute organizations do not assume compliance; they ensure it. The time to discover the provider has not done so is not when your organization is seeking to invoke the clause, as the next case illustrates.

All the recent talk in the US surrounding proposed healthcare reform has inspired me to take a look at how BI and data warehousing are making an impact on healthcare and medicine. For our international readers who've not been following the healthcare debate in the US, the political discourse has reached a level of circuslike behavior.