This issue of CBR is on crafting better business cases. Our intent is to evaluate how the organizations in our base of respondents make business cases today; to benchmark the success (or lack thereof); and to provide tangible guidance on improving the quality of your arguments and the odds of receiving approval for the projects that you propose.

Studies continue to show that as many as 70% to 85% of IT investments fail to deliver the expected benefits [3, 4]. Our research and work with companies over the last decade have shown us that the preparation and use of a comprehensive and robust business case is a major contributor to improving the success rate of IT projects. The results of the Cutter survey presented in this issue of CBR underline this fact; better business cases not only increase the chances of getting investments funded, but they also increase the overall business value delivered from projects.

Have you heard this (or something similar) before?

"Next week, I have an opportunity to present my technology initiative recommendations to our company's senior management team for the members to review and hopefully endorse. What can I do to help ensure they understand the importance of each initiative and will agree to fund and support them?"

This issue of CBR was extremely useful to me. There are a number of nuggets and insights in the articles produced by our contributors that made me reflect on the communication and partnership process that is the writing, discussion, and decision about business cases.

This survey examined the creation of business cases for IT projects, with the business cases being presented to senior management with the aim of obtaining approval for the projects. Almost half of the 84 respondents (49%) hold senior management/policymaking or IS/IT management titles, with consulting, project management, and marketing/sales being among the other job titles reported. Forty-six percent of responding organizations are headquartered in North America, 24% in Europe, and 22% in Asia/Pacific, with the remainder in the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

In this Executive Report, Ken Orr discusses the major sets of options currently available to business and IT planners today concerning their current legacy systems: leave them alone, replace them with COTS, replace them with open source applications and components, or replac

It has been said that Cuba has the best auto mechanics in the world, especially when it comes to repairing American cars from the 1950s. Because of the trade embargo by the US government, Cubans have not been able to purchase American cars or parts since 1959. But there are still lots of 1950s vintage cars on the roads.

In January 2008, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey of 101 end-user organizations regarding their use of business performance management practices. The goal was to determine the degree to which companies are implementing business performance management techniques and technologies.

Information technology was put "in play" by Year 2000 (Y2K) remediation, the dot-com crash of 2000, and the "IT doesn't matter" argument that first appeared in 2003. People began to think about technology differently after so many events and so much attention. Was technology a blessing or a curse? Could it transform business models -- or just enable existing ones?

Information technology was put "in play" by Year 2000 (Y2K) remediation, the dot-com crash of 2000, and the "IT doesn't matter" argument that first appeared in 2003. People began to think about technology differently after so many events and so much attention. Was technology a blessing or a curse? Could it transform business models -- or just enable existing ones?

Agile development has moved beyond its niche movement and an increasing number of organizations are adopting agile development for more projects. But regardless of its success, there are still many skeptics regarding its application to very large and/or complex systems.

Agile development is a major force in the world of software development, and more organizations are using it for various projects with increasing success. Agile development has taught the software world the virtue of breaking large software projects down into a number of small, timeboxed iterations.

Barry Boehm recently told us something that we all know but which many of us don't want to believe. The prominent University of Southern California professor stated that every software project has a lower bound on its development time.

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is founded on the relatively recent understanding that bringing together the many and diverse silos of risk management within an organization will result in a more efficient and cost-effective approach as well as yield additional benefits from natural synergies.

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is founded on the relatively recent understanding that bringing together the many and diverse silos of risk management within an organization will result in a more efficient and cost-effective approach as well as yield additional benefits from natural synergies.

In Parts I and II of this Executive Update series (Vol. 8, Nos. 17 and 19), we started to look at how "measuring what matters" can add value to and drive success of an IT outsourcing relationship.

In Parts I and II of this Executive Update series (Vol. 8, Nos. 17 and 19), we started to look at how "measuring what matters" can add value to and drive success of an IT outsourcing relationship.

IT technology

Present advances in home media promise to be the tail that wags the dog of organizational computing.

IT technology

Present advances in home media promise to be the tail that wags the dog of organizational computing.

Grid Computing Now! is a UK-based knowledge-transfer network aimed at championing the adoption of grid computing technologies to IT leaders in UK public and private sectors.

Grid Computing Now! is a UK-based knowledge-transfer network aimed at championing the adoption of grid computing technologies to IT leaders in UK public and private sectors.

I'm a bit of an armchair climber and mountaineer. I don't have much talent or experience, but I'm fascinated by the trials and travails of climbing high mountains like Everest, Annapurna, and others that rise to over 8,000 meters above sea level.

Andrew Keen's book The Cult of the Amateur pours buckets of cold water onto the heads of Web 2.0 enthusiasts, accusing them of "worshipping the creative amateur" -- regardless of how poorly educated and inarticulate they may be.

Andrew Keen's book The Cult of the Amateur pours buckets of cold water onto the heads of Web 2.0 enthusiasts, accusing them of "worshipping the creative amateur" -- regardless of how poorly educated and inarticulate they may be.