An old saying about armed conflict states, "You never see the one that gets you." The same can be said of a variety of liability and compliance risks affecting businesses. Sometimes the greatest legal threat to a company comes from a source that the company or its counsel never would have expected.

An old saying about armed conflict states, "You never see the one that gets you." The same can be said of a variety of liability and compliance risks affecting businesses. One source of such risk is a company's IT operations. Virtually every commercial or government entity now runs its daily operations using computers and networks, maintains a Web site, and communicates with its customers, suppliers, and remote offices via e-mail.

An old saying about armed conflict states, "You never see the one that gets you." The same can be said of a variety of liability and compliance risks affecting businesses. One source of such risk is a company's IT operations. Virtually every commercial or government entity now runs its daily operations using computers and networks, maintains a Web site, and communicates with its customers, suppliers, and remote offices via e-mail.

An automated modernization project (also referred to as a conversion, a migration, or a legacy renewal project) is inherently different from most projects that IT professionals will participate in during their careers -- in several different ways. When this specialized type of project goes awry, it is almost always due to a failure to appreciate these differences and to allow for them in the project plan.

An automated modernization project (also referred to as a conversion, a migration, or a legacy renewal project) is inherently different from most projects that IT professionals will participate in during their careers -- in several different ways. When this specialized type of project goes awry, it is almost always due to a failure to appreciate these differences and to allow for them in the project plan.

Outsourcing to Ireland has exploded during the last two decades, and some of the world's largest IT companies now have bases of operation in Ireland that provide products and support to their offices worldwide. What is perceived and actively encouraged by industry sources in Ireland is the continued promotion of the Irish marketplace as an environment for value-added services.

Outsourcing to Ireland has exploded during the last two decades, and some of the world's largest IT companies now have bases of operation in Ireland that provide products and support to their offices worldwide. What is perceived and actively encouraged by industry sources in Ireland is the continued promotion of the Irish marketplace as an environment for value-added services.

Over the past 20 years, outsourcing has shaped Ireland's economic development. What began as a way for companies from abroad to manufacture IT products cheaply has developed during the last decade into something that is of far more value not only to the multinational companies but to Ireland itself: value-added services.

Over the past 20 years, outsourcing has shaped Ireland's economic development. What began as a way for companies from abroad to manufacture IT products cheaply has developed during the last decade into something that is of far more value not only to the multinational companies but to Ireland itself: value-added services.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Cutter Consortium published a series of Executive Updates 1 based on the results of its first software-as-a-service (SaaS) survey, which dispelled many of the misconceptions about the relatively new phenomena at the time.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Cutter Consortium published a series of Executive Updates 1 based on the results of its first software-as-a-service (SaaS) survey, which dispelled many of the misconceptions about the relatively new phenomena at the time.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Cutter Consortium published a series of Executive Updates 1 based on the results of its first software-as-a-service (SaaS) survey, which dispelled many of the misconceptions about the relatively new phenomena at the time.

IT industry

After decades of employment gains in information technology, women have quickly reversed the trend and are now rapidly abandoning IT -- leading to the defeminization of IT.

IT industry

After decades of employment gains in information technology, women have quickly reversed the trend and are now rapidly abandoning IT -- leading to the defeminization of IT.

Gaming and simulation have been used for some time in education as "edutainment" -- from model UN and political scenarios in high schools to courtroom reenactments for those studying law. In business, role-playing games and simulations have long been a part of management training. Today, gaming and simulation are reaching entirely new levels and new audiences as they go online and merge with the vast and ever-growing video gaming sector.

Gaming and simulation have been used for some time in education as "edutainment" -- from model UN and political scenarios in high schools to courtroom reenactments for those studying law. In business, role-playing games and simulations have long been a part of management training. Today, gaming and simulation are reaching entirely new levels and new audiences as they go online and merge with the vast and ever-growing video gaming sector.

IT-enabled business transformations occur when technology is used to fundamentally alter the way business is conducted in an industry. The organization that successfully implements the industry-altering technology can gain a competitive advantage so profound that others in the industry can no longer compete and either go out of business or, upon implementing "me too" technologies, find regaining customers to be extremely difficult.

By far the biggest news out of the Oracle OpenWorld Conference was Oracle's announcement that it will "support" Red Hat Linux. Just in case you missed this bombshell, the new "Oracle Unbreakable Linux" will be almost exactly like the open source operating system (OS) distributed by Red Hat. The main differences are that Oracle will strip the Red Hat trademarks from the software and Oracle will offer support services for about half of what Red Hat charges. Oracle also says it will support older versions of the OS.

By far the biggest news out of the Oracle OpenWorld Conference was Oracle's announcement that it will "support" Red Hat Linux. Just in case you missed this bombshell, the new "Oracle Unbreakable Linux" will be almost exactly like the open source operating system (OS) distributed by Red Hat. The main differences are that Oracle will strip the Red Hat trademarks from the software and Oracle will offer support services for about half of what Red Hat charges. Oracle also says it will support older versions of the OS.

It's hardly news to anyone that innovation in software represents a competitive necessity for vendors and a source of performance improvement and even competitive advantage for the organizations that invest in it. Open Source software development models are grabbing the attention of managers from both populations, as these arrangements can accelerate both innovation and performance improvements; Open Source might represent the single most fascinating trend in enterprise software going forward.

It's hardly news to anyone that innovation in software represents a competitive necessity for vendors and a source of performance improvement and even competitive advantage for the organizations that invest in it. Open Source software development models are grabbing the attention of managers from both populations, as these arrangements can accelerate both innovation and performance improvements; Open Source might represent the single most fascinating trend in enterprise software going forward.

It's hardly news to anyone that innovation in software represents a competitive necessity for vendors and a source of performance improvement and even competitive advantage for the organizations that invest in it. Open Source software development models are grabbing the attention of managers from both populations, as these arrangements can accelerate both innovation and performance improvements; Open Source might represent the single most fascinating trend in enterprise software going forward.

Where are we going and why? These are simple questions that should be answered at the start of every project and are, at least in theory, answered by the stakeholders and sponsors rather than by the project team itself. A problem arises when the team doesn't own the mission and the goal -- then what gets delivered never matches the desired result.

All big failures look alike.

-- Ken Orr

All big failures look alike.

-- Ken Orr