The increasing focus on analytics-based competition has reinvigorated the debate about the potential economic value of data. The debate, however, has narrowly focused on the use of data, rather than on the process of its generation.

While agile practices improve the odds of success in many situations, neither agile practices nor any others are silver bullets. There are situations in which projects will fail, regardless of methodology. For example, one of the Agile Manifesto principles is that people are more important than process.

For the past few years, I've covered the use of business rules management systems (BRMS) due to their ability to add automated decision-making capabilities to applications in domains such as personalization, marketing, compliance, fraud, and business process management (BPM), to name a few.

An effective plan provides guidance and direction to the people who will implement the plan. Regardless of the type of initiative that is being planned (business, investment, marketing, project, etc.), the plan describes not only the business problem and proposed solution, but also the strategies and tactics to be followed during implementation.

Aligning IT execution with IT strategy means knowing the value projects bring to the table. This value has to be measured in some way meaningful to those providing the funding or consuming the benefits. The units of measure for both the cost and benefits is usually in dollars or some percentage of dollars. The physical prioritization of suggested projects starts with a "paired comparison" analysis rather than a linear ranking. The linear approach falsely sorts the projects by failing to distinguish between real need and perceived need.

For me, the most telling and important statistic in Cutter's recent survey on the state of BI is the percentage of employees that use BI tools: 57% of respondents indicate 0%-9.99% and 70% indicate 0%-14.99% (see Cutter Benchmark Report, "Successful Business Intelligence: Moving Beyond the Obvious," Vol. 7, No. 9).

Two weeks ago, I was practically bombarded with e-mail from readers asking if I knew anything about the possibility of Business Objects being acquired. Like many, I'd heard the rumors, but I couldn't really say anything definite because they had been circulating for at least a year. Turns out that all the increased "chatter" was right after all.

Two weeks ago, I was practically bombarded with e-mail from readers asking if I knew anything about the possibility of Business Objects being acquired. Like many, I'd heard the rumors, but I couldn't really say anything definite because they had been circulating for at least a year. Turns out that all the increased "chatter" was right after all.

Author's note: The phrase "IT asset management" used in this Update is a term of art and should not be confused with "IT Asset Management" as a defined IT management discipline that includes software license management, configuration management, and a host of other techniques.

Few areas of technology law may be as frustrating to business owners as the law of database rights. Databases represent a significant investment in time, energy, and, in many cases, money by the businesses that compile them. However, depending on where the business that compiles the database is located, the databases may have a great deal, some, or virtually no protection.

Few areas of technology law may be as frustrating to business owners as the law of database rights. Databases represent a significant investment in time, energy, and, in many cases, money by the businesses that compile them. However, depending on where the business that compiles the database is located, the databases may have a great deal, some, or virtually no protection.

Simply put, open source software is software that can be freely used, modified, and redistributed by anyone. These terms of release have two key implications. First, they create the potential for software products to be collaboratively developed by communities of developers (both individuals and organizations) in a mode of production and innovation that Yochai Benkler termed "peer production" [1].

Who knows what Visicalc is? It is a nifty little software application, and if you are 30 years old or younger, then Visicalc is older than you.

For most businesses, buying the items needed to run the business is simple: order the item, pick it up or have it delivered, perhaps inspect it, pay for it, and it belongs to the business. Whether the item is a box of paper clips or a supertanker, the process is essentially the same.

For most businesses, buying the items needed to run the business is simple: order the item, pick it up or have it delivered, perhaps inspect it, pay for it, and it belongs to the business. Whether the item is a box of paper clips or a supertanker, the process is essentially the same.

This Executive Update looks at the changes that were made to the Villanova University undergraduate MIS, MBA, and Executive MBA (EMBA) programs in response to lessons learned from the development and delivery of a corporate executive education program in business technology leadership.

This Executive Update looks at the changes that were made to the Villanova University undergraduate MIS, MBA, and Executive MBA (EMBA) programs in response to lessons learned from the development and delivery of a corporate executive education program in business technology leadership.

This Advisor suggests you take a hard look at your strategic technology alliances. How many do you have? Are they productive? How do you decide which ones to pursue -- and which ones to terminate? Some of the alliances you may have include:

Channel alliances to sell your hardware, software, or services

This Advisor suggests you take a hard look at your strategic technology alliances. How many do you have? Are they productive? How do you decide which ones to pursue -- and which ones to terminate? Some of the alliances you may have include:

Channel alliances to sell your hardware, software, or services

This Advisor suggests you take a hard look at your strategic technology alliances. How many do you have? Are they productive? How do you decide which ones to pursue -- and which ones to terminate? Some of the alliances you may have include:

Channel alliances to sell your hardware, software, or services

My 2 August 2007 Advisor discussed the need for, and lack of in many instances, good release planning (see "Release (Project) Planning"). In the rush to deliver in short iterations (weeks), teams often suboptimize their pursuit of business value.

Last Wednesday was like any other Wednesday. I was busy working on some reports when at 0819 I received an e-mail from a person named Alex stating that he was changing jobs in a few weeks, and that he would like to receive the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) daily reports at his new e-mail address.

Last Wednesday was like any other Wednesday. I was busy working on some reports when at 0819 I received an e-mail from a person named Alex stating that he was changing jobs in a few weeks, and that he would like to receive the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) daily reports at his new e-mail address.

Last Wednesday was like any other Wednesday. I was busy working on some reports when at 0819 I received an e-mail from a person named Alex stating that he was changing jobs in a few weeks, and that he would like to receive the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) daily reports at his new e-mail address.

As a kid growing up in a musical family, I was trained as a classical violinist. My favorite musical settings were ensembles; whether playing chamber music with my mom, dad, and brother, or playing the great symphonic works in youth orchestra.