In my last two Advisors (see "A Recipe for Success," 8 February 2007 and "A Recipe for Success, Part 2," 15 February 2007), I introduced David Anderson's recipe for success: focus on quality,

"We have extraordinarily low risk premiums now; risk is no longer perceived as major risk, at least as it was in years past, and that, I must say, I find disturbing," former US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said at a conference last week, in which he also said there was a possibility of a US recession before the end of 2007 [1].

"We have extraordinarily low risk premiums now; risk is no longer perceived as major risk, at least as it was in years past, and that, I must say, I find disturbing," former US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said at a conference last week, in which he also said there was a possibility of a US recession before the end of 2007 [1].

"We have extraordinarily low risk premiums now; risk is no longer perceived as major risk, at least as it was in years past, and that, I must say, I find disturbing," former US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said at a conference last week, in which he also said there was a possibility of a US recession before the end of 2007 [1].

Sourcing maturity has naturally led organizations to investigate the legitimacy of forging initiatives with a more strategic flavor. The next wave of sourcing -- mostly offshoring, but outsourcing too -- is likely to reveal attempts by some ambitious organizations to derive much more strategic sourcing value than those sometimes-elusive cost reductions. It is worth understanding what strategic sourcing might include and the management thinking applied to ensure their success.

Sourcing maturity has naturally led organizations to investigate the legitimacy of forging initiatives with a more strategic flavor. The next wave of sourcing -- mostly offshoring, but outsourcing too -- is likely to reveal attempts by some ambitious organizations to derive much more strategic sourcing value than those sometimes-elusive cost reductions. It is worth understanding what strategic sourcing might include and the management thinking applied to ensure their success.

Recently, a colleague asked me about my understanding of the reference architecture models for software-oriented architecture (SOA) initiatives. In particular, her question was related to how these architecture models stack up with other frameworks like information service bus (commercially known as enterprise service bus, or ESB).

Traditional project management techniques reveal their limitations when an organization is faced with achieving some business objective in which a number of IT projects require execution to realize that goal. Because the projects share a common objective of driving attainment of the objective, they require a unique management approach not found in traditional project management. The term of art for this enhanced way of managing is called a program management office (PMO).

Traditional project management techniques reveal their limitations when an organization is faced with achieving some business objective in which a number of IT projects require execution to realize that goal. Because the projects share a common objective of driving attainment of the objective, they require a unique management approach not found in traditional project management. The term of art for this enhanced way of managing is called a program management office (PMO).

The number of laws and regulations that govern how personal information must be handled continues to grow worldwide. Organizations, and the personnel handling the information, must understand and comply with the requirements and laws for all the locations in which personally identifiable information (PII) is handled.

You may have heard a big gasp the other day. That was the sound of Oracle Corporation sucking the air out of the other BI vendors' lungs with the announcement that it plans to buy business performance management and OLAP database vendor Hyperion Solutions Corporation for approximately US $3.3 billion.

Last weekend I had a conversation with an uncle who recently retired from his accounting job at a large university. His family was financially secure, the children were grown (with his first grandchild on the way), and he was healthy after going through a medical scare years ago.

Last weekend I had a conversation with an uncle who recently retired from his accounting job at a large university. His family was financially secure, the children were grown (with his first grandchild on the way), and he was healthy after going through a medical scare years ago.

In my last Advisor, "Collaborative Leadership Basics, Part 7: The Single Most Powerful Tool for Managing Peer Motivation" (25 January 2007), I told you about the best tool available for managing peer motivation.

In March 2006, the stories in the press about avian flu and the possibility of a large-scale pandemic were everywhere. The H5N1 virus had seemed to have escaped from its mostly Asian setting to have been found in Poland, Turkey, Azerbajian, Germany, Denmark, and Israel in rapid succession. Governments across the world, which had been mostly reactive to a possible pandemic in the early 2000s, were in full throttle mode to upgrade their pandemic planning and began in earnest to stockpile drugs like Tamiflu.

The 21st-century shift from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy envisioned by such thought leaders as Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Peter Drucker, and others is quickly materializing. The shift is clearly marked by the rising importance of the terms "innovation" and "innovation management" in many modern enterprises as well as the extension of the notion of innovation beyond the traditional area of invention.

The 21st-century shift from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy envisioned by such thought leaders as Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Peter Drucker, and others is quickly materializing. The shift is clearly marked by the rising importance of the terms "innovation" and "innovation management" in many modern enterprises as well as the extension of the notion of innovation beyond the traditional area of invention.

In the mid-1980s, I joined the Big Eight audit firm of Deloitte Haskins and Sells. I was to be in charge of their IT strategic planning practice on the US West Coast.

ar·chi·tec·ture (n) 4. What you need to know to build.

That very simple definition of architecture was provided to me by a mentor some 25 years ago and has helped me keep my head on straight through the barrage of concepts and models claiming to be architectures.

In Part I (Vol. 10, No. 3) of this two-part Executive Update series, we put forward the argument that integration in enterprise resource planning (ERP)-based environments can be achieved in ways other than adopting a software configuration-only approach.

Centralizing a corporation was once considered an efficient way to run an enterprise. Decisions and information processing occurred in an orderly, top-down, hierarchical manner.

Agent technology is now necessary to reduce costs; to improve efficiency and effectiveness; and to support the requirements of individuals, groups, companies, and universities as they collaborate globally.

In Part I (Vol. 10, No. 4) of this two-part series on service-oriented architecture (SOA), we provided a high-level review of SOA features, discussed some difficulties with a process-oriented SOA, and mentioned the need for unification of information and process in a SOA. In this Executive Update, we examine how this unification can be achieved.

There is no doubt that e-learning, as defined in this issue, is the next frontier of organizational knowledge and competence building. There are no silver bullets on the road to success, but I believe that the ideas and guidelines offered by our contributors will be instrumental in focusing your attention where it matters most: on the learners.