For a long time, I have been advocating that the right analogy for enterprise architecture is urban/transportation planning versus building architecture.

Traditionally, software has been perceived as a product, requiring possession and ownership in order to receive the desired performance. The transition from software as a product to software as a service (SaaS) is reflected in the distribution of software, where an application is offered as a service to customers through the Internet. The SaaS approach can be viewed as a combination of application service provision and outsourcing. 1

Traditionally, software has been perceived as a product, requiring possession and ownership in order to receive the desired performance. The transition from software as a product to software as a service (SaaS) is reflected in the distribution of software, where an application is offered as a service to customers through the Internet. The SaaS approach can be viewed as a combination of application service provision and outsourcing. 1

In the world in which we live, a world that changes almost daily, there are truths and untruths. There's hype, and there's reality. There are technologies that work, and there are technologies that stay forever in the trough of disillusionment. There are subtleties and nuances. There are smart people and nasty people.

In the world in which we live, a world that changes almost daily, there are truths and untruths. There's hype, and there's reality. There are technologies that work, and there are technologies that stay forever in the trough of disillusionment. There are subtleties and nuances. There are smart people and nasty people.

SAP AG just launched a new Business Objects BI product that combines BI reporting and analysis with functionality that is like an Internet search engine. SAP Business Objects Explorer combines the BI, search, and navigation capabilities of the Business Objects line with SAP's Business Warehouse and data warehousing accelerator appliance.

The term "service-oriented architecture" is relatively new, but the architecture is not. Even though architectures that used the CORBA or DCOM specifications in the 1990s were not called "service-oriented," they were essentially service-oriented architectures. Some other organizations preceded CORBA and DCOM with their own specifications and developed what we would today consider an SOA.

A business needs outstanding leadership to successfully navigate through today's complex, competitive world. Identifying and understanding the strategic orientation of your business toward customers and innovation is one thing; however, it is quite another to successfully reorient the organization in another direction.

A business needs outstanding leadership to successfully navigate through today's complex, competitive world. Identifying and understanding the strategic orientation of your business toward customers and innovation is one thing; however, it is quite another to successfully reorient the organization in another direction.

I remember a time when I was deeply interested in maturity.

Throughout history, major shifts in communication technology have brought on major changes in politics and business, exploited by imaginative politicians and businesspeople. In the 1930s, for example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler reached out via the radio to far more people than had ever heard directly from politicians. Businesses quickly began to use radio to advertise.

Throughout history, major shifts in communication technology have brought on major changes in politics and business, exploited by imaginative politicians and businesspeople. In the 1930s, for example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler reached out via the radio to far more people than had ever heard directly from politicians. Businesses quickly began to use radio to advertise.

Vendors such as Lawson and SAP have recently announced increases in their annual support fees to many already struggling clients. In any economy, organizations would meet these increases with skepticism. This article details options for organizations in response to these potential increases.

Vendors such as Lawson and SAP have recently announced increases in their annual support fees to many already struggling clients. In any economy, organizations would meet these increases with skepticism. This article details options for organizations in response to these potential increases.

There are so many different frameworks with which architects work -- TOGAF, Zachmann, FEAF, ITIL -- to name just a few. All have different goals, strengths, weaknesses, audiences, and so on. The one that I find to be the least well known among architects is COBIT.

Organizations today may choose from a broad range of on-demand and "cloud-based" BI and data warehousing options, ranging from reporting, dashboards, and focused analytic applications (offered as licensable services) to hosted data integration services and full-blown managed data warehouses.

Organizations today may choose from a broad range of on-demand and "cloud-based" BI and data warehousing options, ranging from reporting, dashboards, and focused analytic applications (offered as licensable services) to hosted data integration services and full-blown managed data warehouses.

Organizations today may choose from a broad range of on-demand and "cloud-based" BI and data warehousing options, ranging from reporting, dashboards, and focused analytic applications (offered as licensable services) to hosted data integration services and full-blown managed data warehouses.

Over the holidays I read a wonderful book by Atul Gawande called Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance.1 The book tells a variety of stories about improving all aspects of the medical profession. One thing that occurs in all the stories is the importance of metrics.

This is the fourth in a series of Executive Updates in which I analyze the results of a recent Cutter Consortium survey on the subject of open source Java frameworks (OSJFs). Part I1 explored Java EE's perceived strengths and weaknesses, to find out whether there is good reason for developers to look for alternatives.

Your training budget is gone and your staff may be downsized, but promising new technologies keep coming, and the need to innovate is relentless. So how can you improve your software developers, get your team to learn more effectively, and improve creativity in today's challenging business environment?

Your training budget is gone and your staff may be downsized, but promising new technologies keep coming, and the need to innovate is relentless. So how can you improve your software developers, get your team to learn more effectively, and improve creativity in today's challenging business environment?

The Eclipse Process Framework (EPF) is an open source initiative that aims to produce a customizable process engineering framework that supports a broad variety of project types and product development styles and takes open source collaboration to the process-authoring domain. The framework allows collaboration around any process definition, associated practices, and method content.

In Part I of this three-part Executive Update series, 1 I covered why smart business leaders need to provide their personnel with regular training about information security and privacy as well as ongoing awareness communications.

In Part I of this three-part Executive Update series, 1 I covered why smart business leaders need to provide their personnel with regular training about information security and privacy as well as ongoing awareness communications.