A few months ago, a client asked me about the wisdom of moving toward a more centralized organization. Since I've been known in the past to sing the praises of just such an organization, I was surprised to find myself strongly recommending against it.

A few months ago, a client asked me about the wisdom of moving toward a more centralized organization. Since I've been known in the past to sing the praises of just such an organization, I was surprised to find myself strongly recommending against it.

One of the myths about software-as-a-service (SaaS) is that it is primarily suited to address a narrow range of customer-facing or end-user-oriented horizontal applications.

One of the myths about software-as-a-service (SaaS) is that it is primarily suited to address a narrow range of customer-facing or end-user-oriented horizontal applications.

In my last Executive Update, "What to Expect in 2007 -- and Beyond" (Vol. 8, No. 1), I looked at 10 things likely to come true in 2007. Here, I revisit those issues, forecasting how these trends will unfold and focusing on specific steps companies should take to prepare for them.

In my last Executive Update, "What to Expect in 2007 -- and Beyond" (Vol. 8, No. 1), I looked at 10 things likely to come true in 2007. Here, I revisit those issues, forecasting how these trends will unfold and focusing on specific steps companies should take to prepare for them.

Over the years, I have learned one thing really well. That is, it doesn't matter how good or how influential a consultant you may be -- when it comes to making a change happen in an individual client organization or for the entire client company, you really don't own anything. In my experience, you are a facilitator, supporting your client executive(s) to make the change happen.

Over the years, I have learned one thing really well. That is, it doesn't matter how good or how influential a consultant you may be -- when it comes to making a change happen in an individual client organization or for the entire client company, you really don't own anything. In my experience, you are a facilitator, supporting your client executive(s) to make the change happen.

Every once in awhile, you stumble across something interesting in a related area that could have some relevance to your job or otherwise. This week I'd like to share such a discovery with you. While researching collaboration, I bumped into SCORM, the Shared Content Object Reference Model.

Business process management (BPM) is a hot management topic and an equally compelling IT product subject these days. True believers are setting up business process management as one of the last remaining sources of competitive advantage as other sources have evaporated. While BPM is a management philosophy first and a class of packaged application second, you wouldn't know it from the way vendors convey the value of their products.

Business process management (BPM) is a hot management topic and an equally compelling IT product subject these days. True believers are setting up business process management as one of the last remaining sources of competitive advantage as other sources have evaporated. While BPM is a management philosophy first and a class of packaged application second, you wouldn't know it from the way vendors convey the value of their products.

I've been working with a client that is trying to learn about SOA, helping the team to implement a pilot project. Although it's a fairly junior team, the problems they are encountering are not limited to inexperience. I've seen the same confusion at many different clients. They don't understand the relationship -- or difference -- between SOA and the user interface (UI).

Open source BI tools leader JasperSoft Corporation has released an open source data extract, transformation, and loading (ETL) tool. Called "JasperETL," this tool adds data integration capabilities for data warehousing and BI to the JasperSoft BI Suite, which consists of JasperServer (report server), JasperAnalysis (OLAP), JasperReports (end-user reporting), and iReport (report designer).

A year ago, my friend and Cutter associate Enterprise Architecture Practice Director Mike Rosen was waxing enthusiastic about a new Bluetooth headset that he had just acquired. What impressed him was the "smart button" on the device. Depending on what you were doing, it would put a call on hold, retrieve a call, or do a couple of other things.

A year ago, my friend and Cutter associate Enterprise Architecture Practice Director Mike Rosen was waxing enthusiastic about a new Bluetooth headset that he had just acquired. What impressed him was the "smart button" on the device. Depending on what you were doing, it would put a call on hold, retrieve a call, or do a couple of other things.

A year ago, my friend and Cutter associate Enterprise Architecture Practice Director Mike Rosen was waxing enthusiastic about a new Bluetooth headset that he had just acquired. What impressed him was the "smart button" on the device. Depending on what you were doing, it would put a call on hold, retrieve a call, or do a couple of other things.

One of the reasons the Agile Manifesto has had significant influence on software development is its simplicity: individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, responding to change over following a plan.

Once conventional becomes, well, conventional, offering an alternative reality bears similarity to standing in front of a downhill runaway train and thinking this will stop it. It's conventional wisdom's fierce momentum that prevents a competing worldview from getting any mindshare.

Once conventional becomes, well, conventional, offering an alternative reality bears similarity to standing in front of a downhill runaway train and thinking this will stop it. It's conventional wisdom's fierce momentum that prevents a competing worldview from getting any mindshare.

Once conventional becomes, well, conventional, offering an alternative reality bears similarity to standing in front of a downhill runaway train and thinking this will stop it. It's conventional wisdom's fierce momentum that prevents a competing worldview from getting any mindshare.

Offshoring risks are many and they are generally understood in the same contexts as risks related to IT project or information security management. First, in terms of probabilities that identified undesirable events will or will not occur as the project or initiative is executed. And secondly, in terms of the source of the occurrence of those bad events -- financial, people, technical, geographic, and so on. But another approach to risk assessment exists that can provide managers a fresh understanding of the risks involved in offshoring.

Offshoring risks are many and they are generally understood in the same contexts as risks related to IT project or information security management. First, in terms of probabilities that identified undesirable events will or will not occur as the project or initiative is executed. And secondly, in terms of the source of the occurrence of those bad events -- financial, people, technical, geographic, and so on. But another approach to risk assessment exists that can provide managers a fresh understanding of the risks involved in offshoring.

Offshoring risks are many and they are generally understood in the same contexts as risks related to IT project or information security management. First, in terms of probabilities that identified undesirable events will or will not occur as the project or initiative is executed. And secondly, in terms of the source of the occurrence of those bad events -- financial, people, technical, geographic, and so on. But another approach to risk assessment exists that can provide managers a fresh understanding of the risks involved in offshoring.

There is a lot of talk in the EA community about the increased focus on the business architecture (see for example, Enterprise Architecture Practice Director Mike Rosen's "The Rise of Business Architecture," 10 January 2007).

collaboration = innovation