Each of the lessons, or "apparent truths," presented in this Executive Report by David Spann was discovered by one or more firms who actually went through an agile implementation process.

The purpose of the accompanying Executive Report is to look back over the past seven-plus years, as if it was the end of an agile project's first iteration, reflect on the things I've learned through the agile movement, offer some recommendations for change, and provide a case study illustrating one c

Many people treat outsourcing as a task, something that most people can do in addition to their "real job." But once you look at the entire process required for an outsourcing lifecycle, you will see that there are a number of competencies required if you want the entire deal -- from womb to tomb -- to be a success.

Many people treat outsourcing as a task, something that most people can do in addition to their "real job." But once you look at the entire process required for an outsourcing lifecycle, you will see that there are a number of competencies required if you want the entire deal -- from womb to tomb -- to be a success.

Innovation

Today's harsh economic realities threaten to drive the creative spirit from IT organizations, throttling back the flow of capital and new ideas; the innovation agenda in IT is on life support.

Innovation

Today's harsh economic realities threaten to drive the creative spirit from IT organizations, throttling back the flow of capital and new ideas; the innovation agenda in IT is on life support.

Innovation

Today's harsh economic realities threaten to drive the creative spirit from IT organizations, throttling back the flow of capital and new ideas; the innovation agenda in IT is on life support.

Innovation is a buzzword that has been overused during the last few years. The sad truth is that almost everyone would like to be innovative, but only a few can be. The good thing is that many could be much more creative than they are; it only requires establishing values and the borders of an environment within which such creativity is possible.

The myth surrounding agile projects goes something like this: a small team of developers who can handle any coding task (database, business logic, user interface, middleware, etc.) works hand-in-hand with the end user who talks with the development team about the details of the work requirements.

The history of American politics is punctuated with a variety of technological breakthroughs that changed the course of elections and, as a result, of government policies for decades. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt was able, through the magic of a new medium (radio), to speak directly to millions more people than ever before.

The history of American politics is punctuated with a variety of technological breakthroughs that changed the course of elections and, as a result, of government policies for decades. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt was able, through the magic of a new medium (radio), to speak directly to millions more people than ever before.

Many IT shops suffer from chronic organizational distress. I'm sure you have seen the patient before. The complaints from stakeholders inside the firm typically are:

Insufficient customer-service orientation

Failure to adequately show an interest in understanding the business

Not enough capacity to tackle the important projects queued up

Many IT shops suffer from chronic organizational distress. I'm sure you have seen the patient before. The complaints from stakeholders inside the firm typically are:

Insufficient customer-service orientation

Failure to adequately show an interest in understanding the business

Not enough capacity to tackle the important projects queued up

Earlier this month, Gartner issued a press release saying that SOA adoption is falling dramatically. With the election finally over, news is slow, and it seems everyone and his or her uncle has jumped on this revelation with something to say on the topic. Not wanting to be left out of the party, I feel it my duty to chime in. Of course, I'm not unbiased.

Approximately 10% of end-user organizations indicate they are using enterprise information integration technology to support their BI efforts. This finding comes from a recent Cutter Consortium survey (conducted in October 2008) of 85 end-user organizations based worldwide.

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."

-- Charles Dickens

The good news: The American presidential election is finally over.

This is the final installment of our three-part Executive Updates series on the topic of operational business patterns. In Parts I and II, we showed how operational business patterns describe the essence of how an enterprise is organized to realize its value proposition, and we reviewed two example patterns.1

The enterprise innovation Executive Update series was conceived initially through a short poll on innovation practices at Cutter Summit 2006. This networking initiative has evolved into a more thorough survey conducted first in 2007 1 -- and then repeated in 2008 on a larger scale.

The enterprise innovation Executive Update series was conceived initially through a short poll on innovation practices at Cutter Summit 2006. This networking initiative has evolved into a more thorough survey conducted first in 2007 1 -- and then repeated in 2008 on a larger scale.

The enterprise innovation Executive Update series was conceived initially through a short poll on innovation practices at Cutter Summit 2006. This networking initiative has evolved into a more thorough survey conducted first in 2007 1 -- and then repeated in 2008 on a larger scale.

It's one thing to know generally how enterprise search can perform and in what specific markets -- it's another to understand the unique capabilities of representative products. This Executive Update is the last in a three-part series about enterprise search.

If you've been succeeding with agile in your organization for a while, you've experienced projects that make more visible progress, are done earlier, and provide a high level of satisfaction for everyone involved.

The current financial crisis has a lot to say on many subjects, which is why its epitaph will take years and many authors to write. Like many cautionary tales, some lessons are available for learning immediately; the story of risk happens to be one of them.

The current financial crisis has a lot to say on many subjects, which is why its epitaph will take years and many authors to write. Like many cautionary tales, some lessons are available for learning immediately; the story of risk happens to be one of them.

When I wrote my last Advisor, "An Agile View of Software Engineering" (16 October 2008), I did not expect to start such an intense discussion as it turned out to be. The reactions were intense both in terms of quantity and of quality -- a deep discussion on the relationship between software engineering and agile.