Boards of directors have a lot of committees: compensation committees, audit committees, M&A committees, among others. But what about IT? Are there committees that focus squarely on the acquisition, deployment, and support of IT? Most companies do not segment IT as a unique activity. Perhaps this means that they see technology as more tactical than strategic. Perhaps they don't have enough expertise to actually staff a technology committee.

Boards of directors have a lot of committees: compensation committees, audit committees, M&A committees, among others. But what about IT? Are there committees that focus squarely on the acquisition, deployment, and support of IT? Most companies do not segment IT as a unique activity. Perhaps this means that they see technology as more tactical than strategic. Perhaps they don't have enough expertise to actually staff a technology committee.

Boards of directors have a lot of committees: compensation committees, audit committees, M&A committees, among others. But what about IT? Are there committees that focus squarely on the acquisition, deployment, and support of IT? Most companies do not segment IT as a unique activity. Perhaps this means that they see technology as more tactical than strategic. Perhaps they don't have enough expertise to actually staff a technology committee.

Anyone running a complex business requires regular information about key operational, sales, and financial matters. A CEO we know remarked, "If you don't have the right data, how can you manage the place?" Otherwise, you're relying on luck and momentum.

Those who have been involved in litigious disputes over failed computer software projects and/or contracts readily agree that, whatever their size in terms of the financial amounts at stake, whatever the facts and circumstances of the contract between the parties, and whatever the conduct of the software development project, software construction and implementation cases present complex, interwoven technical and legal issues -- and therefore prove very costly and time consuming to unravel.

Those who have been involved in litigious disputes over failed computer software projects and/or contracts readily agree that, whatever their size in terms of the financial amounts at stake, whatever the facts and circumstances of the contract between the parties, and whatever the conduct of the software development project, software construction and implementation cases present complex, interwoven technical and legal issues -- and therefore prove very costly and time consuming to unravel.

Last month, I covered the "blending" of business rules management (BRM) and business process management (BPM) technologies (see "Business Rules and Business Process Management: Separate But Complementary," 22 February 2006). This month, I want to discuss the use of BRM applications for multichannel decision automation.

Any doubt about where the market for business intelligence (BI) and data management is heading was shattered by IBM's recent announcement that it is launching a company-wide initiative that will invest US $1 billion over the next three years to expand its information management software and services offerings.

Over the past year, I've noticed increasing attention being directed at the use of text mining to enhance customer relationship management (CRM), knowledge management (KM), enterprise information portals (EIP), and other applications by automating the analysis, categorization, indexing, summarization, and association of high volumes of text-based information.

Over the past year, I've noticed increasing attention being directed at the use of text mining to enhance customer relationship management (CRM), knowledge management (KM), enterprise information portals (EIP), and other applications by automating the analysis, categorization, indexing, summarization, and association of high volumes of text-based information.

Senior managers -- the people who make strategic product decisions -- need to know when they can expect those products to release. The organization of current product releases against a timeline is a project portfolio. And, planning the project portfolio in an agile environment is different -- but not harder -- than planning the project portfolio in a non-agile environment.

"Omigod, what happened to you?" asked my friend Jenny when we saw each other after dropping off our 4th-graders at school this week. My shoulder was heavily bound with a most impressive arm sling. It was throbbing like crazy, but the attention that my fancy sling garners me everywhere in town is almost worth it.

"Omigod, what happened to you?" asked my friend Jenny when we saw each other after dropping off our 4th-graders at school this week. My shoulder was heavily bound with a most impressive arm sling. It was throbbing like crazy, but the attention that my fancy sling garners me everywhere in town is almost worth it.

The concept of an independent organizational risk office has an amazing appeal. If we just open a risk office, they'll be able to channel the practice in the proper direction and get everyone on board. The allure of consistency, common understanding, and professional vision is almost too tempting to resist. This is a call to resist it.

The concept of an independent organizational risk office has an amazing appeal. If we just open a risk office, they'll be able to channel the practice in the proper direction and get everyone on board. The allure of consistency, common understanding, and professional vision is almost too tempting to resist. This is a call to resist it.

The Windows Communication Framework (WCF) is one of the most interesting and exciting innovations in Microsoft's long-awaited Windows Vista (née Longhorn). Previously known by its internal codename Indigo, WCF is one of an array of developer frameworks that make up Vista's Windows .NET Framework Extension (WinFX).

With the rapid growth of offshore service delivery, many firms are questioning which model of outsourcing is optimal for their business operations. One of the main decision points is whether to partner with a service vendor in running an offshore operation or to do it yourself. Firms may also choose different degrees of partnerships, including short- and long-term contracting, offshore development centers, joint ventures, and build-operate-transfer models.

With the rapid growth of offshore service delivery, many firms are questioning which model of outsourcing is optimal for their business operations. One of the main decision points is whether to partner with a service vendor in running an offshore operation or to do it yourself. Firms may also choose different degrees of partnerships, including short- and long-term contracting, offshore development centers, joint ventures, and build-operate-transfer models.

Technology roadmapping, and its many derivatives, has become one of the most widely used approaches for supporting innovation and strategy at firm, sector, and national levels. First developed by Motorola more than 25 years ago, the roadmapping approach has been adopted (and adapted) by many organizations, initially within large technology-intensive organizations in the consumer electronics, aerospace, and defense sectors.

Technology roadmapping, and its many derivatives, has become one of the most widely used approaches for supporting innovation and strategy at firm, sector, and national levels. First developed by Motorola more than 25 years ago, the roadmapping approach has been adopted (and adapted) by many organizations, initially within large technology-intensive organizations in the consumer electronics, aerospace, and defense sectors.

Technology roadmapping, and its many derivatives, has become one of the most widely used approaches for supporting innovation and strategy at firm, sector, and national levels. First developed by Motorola more than 25 years ago, the roadmapping approach has been adopted (and adapted) by many organizations, initially within large technology-intensive organizations in the consumer electronics, aerospace, and defense sectors.

In this final Executive Update of my latest series, we conclude our examination into the subject of lessons learned based upon the results of a recent Cutter Consortium survey. In our survey of 105 IS/IT managers from around the world (for more information on survey demographics, see Part I [Vol. 2, No. 22]), we sought to discover what processes organizations are using for gathering and disseminating lessons learned, as well as the perceived usefulness of those lessons learned.

GM's recent decision to initiate a "multisourcing" strategy that will result in it parceling out its IT outsourcing responsibilities to multiple solution providers has gained a lot of attention within the IT industry, as well as among corporate management and business publications.

Maybe I've been in the IT industry too long, but I don't get what all the commotion is about.

GM's recent decision to initiate a "multisourcing" strategy that will result in it parceling out its IT outsourcing responsibilities to multiple solution providers has gained a lot of attention within the IT industry, as well as among corporate management and business publications.

Maybe I've been in the IT industry too long, but I don't get what all the commotion is about.