Enterprise architecture (EA) has taken on renewed importance in the past few years. Yet this is in contrast to the fact that EA has largely had a history of failure to deliver on promised value. Much of this disappointment can be traced to a lack of alignment with business drivers and requirements. As enterprise architects, it is incumbent upon us to understand and address these failures and to deliver value that aligns with business goals.

Enterprise architecture (EA) has taken on renewed importance in the past few years. Yet this is in contrast to the fact that EA has largely had a history of failure to deliver on promised value. Much of this disappointment can be traced to a lack of alignment with business drivers and requirements. As enterprise architects, it is incumbent upon us to understand and address these failures and to deliver value that aligns with business goals.

Enterprise architecture (EA) has taken on renewed importance in the past few years. Yet this is in contrast to the fact that EA has largely had a history of failure to deliver on promised value. Much of this disappointment can be traced to a lack of alignment with business drivers and requirements. As enterprise architects, it is incumbent upon us to understand and address these failures and to deliver value that aligns with business goals.

Enterprise architecture (EA) has taken on renewed importance in the past few years. Yet this is in contrast to the fact that EA has largely had a history of failure to deliver on promised value. Much of this disappointment can be traced to a lack of alignment with business drivers and requirements. As enterprise architects, it is incumbent upon us to understand and address these failures and to deliver value that aligns with business goals.

WinFS is one of a set of frameworks that make up Vista's "Windows .NET Framework Extension" (WinFX). This is a superset of the .NET Framework, which is at the heart of Microsoft's .NET.1 Alongside WinFS, WinFX also includes Windows Communication Foundation (WCF, previously Indigo), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF, previously Avalon), and Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF).

In this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, we focus on the corporate applications of wireless networking. We chose this topic because we seem to be on the threshold of wireless networking moving from being an interesting new development with some potential, to it becoming a staple technology of modern organizations. More importantly, while much of the current focus is on wireless as the backbone of communication introduced to create efficiencies, it may be time to think about how to use the wireless and mobile infrastructure to build innovative applications.

Wireless networking at the local, campus, and global levels continues to expand at a rapid pace. Cutter's survey on wireless networking shows that approximately two-thirds of participating organizations are currently supporting or utilizing wireless networks, such as Wi-Fi, for corporate applications (see Graph 20 in the Survey Data section).

In this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, we focus on the corporate applications of wireless networking. We chose this topic because we seem to be on the threshold of wireless networking moving from being an interesting new development with some potential, to it becoming a staple technology of modern organizations. More importantly, while much of the current focus is on wireless as the backbone of communication introduced to create efficiencies, it may be time to think about how to use the wireless and mobile infrastructure to build innovative applications.

In this issue of CBR, we focus on the corporate uses and applications of wireless networking. Wi-Fi (adopted by 67% of our respondents), BlackBerries, and cellular data connectivity (adopted by over 40% of our respondents) are now a staple in many organizations; and with the emergence of WiMAX networks and laptops with embedded 3G connectivity on the horizon, organizations are starting to approach wireless networking more strategically and systematically.

This survey examined the adoption and use of wireless networking technology in 82 organizations, 45% of which are headquartered in North America; of the remainder, 26% are headquartered in Europe, 13% in Asia, 12% in Australia/Pacific, and 4% in South America or Africa. Twenty-six percent of responding organizations have annual revenues of more than US $1 billion, 16% have annual revenues between $100 million and $1 billion, 22% have annual revenues between $10 million and $100 million, and 36% have annual revenues less than $10 million.

Thousands of organisations (large and small) in every business sector around the world are achieving remarkable gains from well-managed reengineering and process change projects. Their secret? They have distilled the real "wisdom" of reengineering and applied it to their key business processes. This is business process management in action.

-- Business Process Management Journal [3]

Business process management (BPM), also called business process modeling, is a hot topic these days: as a standalone solution; as the impetus for the customer relationship management and supply chain management categories; and perhaps most importantly, as a critical enabling technology for the orchestration function in service-oriented architecture (SOA).

In April 2006, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey that asked 106 end-user organizations about their use of open source business intelligence (BI) tools. The goal was to determine the degree to which companies are using or planning to use open source BI tools. In particular, the survey was designed to identify the issues and trends being encountered in these efforts and to provide statistics useful for benchmarking and measuring your own organization's use of open source BI tools.

At the heart of customer relationship management (CRM) is the customer, and knowing the customer is key. Next month you’ll learn why it's vital to determine not just the customer’s propensity to buy but her capacity to buy — and why companies whose CRM systems leverage broader market data and predictive analytics will surpass those that get their CRM functionality out of a box.

At the heart of customer relationship management (CRM) is the customer, and knowing the customer is key. Next month you’ll learn why it's vital to determine not just the customer’s propensity to buy but her capacity to buy — and why companies whose CRM systems leverage broader market data and predictive analytics will surpass those that get their CRM functionality out of a box.

Business insights that reveal transformative opportunities are the holy grail of the 21st-century enterprise. To date, executives have discerned business intelligence through a combination of market research, consumer insights, and marketing analytics.

Business insights that reveal transformative opportunities are the holy grail of the 21st-century enterprise. To date, executives have discerned business intelligence through a combination of market research, consumer insights, and marketing analytics.

Whether based in fact or fiction, the anecdote about the grocer, the old woman, and her dog is legendary among CRM detractors. The woman -- we'll call her Mrs. Brown -- has been buying dog food at a national grocery chain for years. Suddenly, without warning, she stops.

Whether based in fact or fiction, the anecdote about the grocer, the old woman, and her dog is legendary among CRM detractors. The woman -- we'll call her Mrs. Brown -- has been buying dog food at a national grocery chain for years. Suddenly, without warning, she stops.

While many companies have implemented CRM solutions to collect more behavioral data about their customers, savvier firms are beginning to realize that returning to the more qualitative and psychological roots of marketing science while attending to the full customer experience may lead to better success with CRM initiatives.

In the past 10 years, business-to-business (B2B) customer experiences have been more affected by changes deployed by IT functions than by changes in any other discipline (marketing, sales, accounting, finance, operations, etc.). Has IT responsibly delivered? This may seem like an odd question, since I just referred to the "customer experience." How did IT suddenly become accountable for this, too?

In the past 10 years, business-to-business (B2B) customer experiences have been more affected by changes deployed by IT functions than by changes in any other discipline (marketing, sales, accounting, finance, operations, etc.). Has IT responsibly delivered? This may seem like an odd question, since I just referred to the "customer experience." How did IT suddenly become accountable for this, too?

The linkage to customers is everywhere. Gaining insight by understanding customers and their behaviors and attitudes has emerged as one of the most fundamental of business strategies. The relevance of CRM to business processes, communication channels, and touchpoints (the Web, stores, service centers, call centers) is quite evident, and thus interest in CRM is gaining momentum.

The linkage to customers is everywhere. Gaining insight by understanding customers and their behaviors and attitudes has emerged as one of the most fundamental of business strategies. The relevance of CRM to business processes, communication channels, and touchpoints (the Web, stores, service centers, call centers) is quite evident, and thus interest in CRM is gaining momentum.

In order to achieve truly agile, innovative organizations, a change in our approach to performance management systems is necessary. This Executive Report introduces a new measurement system, the adaptive performance management system (APMS).