With larger organizations undertaking agile project management and development methods in significant ways, issues around what I've referred to as "agile integration" are becoming more and more important to successful agile implementation. Agile integration involves all the enterprise and organizational issues that must be addressed for agile practices and principles to become fully integrated into an organization's ways of doing business.

Early outsourcing deals typically reflected the fixed-price model, but today there are many more options. Choosing the right pricing model for your outsourcing contract can be a very difficult task. It must fit not only the predictability of your organization's demand for contracted services but the predictability of the underlying costs borne by the service provider as well.

Early outsourcing deals typically reflected the fixed-price model, but today there are many more options. Choosing the right pricing model for your outsourcing contract can be a very difficult task. It must fit not only the predictability of your organization's demand for contracted services but the predictability of the underlying costs borne by the service provider as well.

In this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, we focus on a topic that has been in and out of the limelight since the mid-1990s when it became one of the hottest topics in boardrooms, management publications, and consulting briefs: knowledge management (KM).

A cornerstone of the knowledge management (KM) movement has been that organizations house an abundance of knowledge and yet individuals have difficulty locating this knowledge and putting it to effective use. It has been common to hear of organizations not knowing what they know or, if they do know what they know, of not knowing where to find it. The chief knowledge officer of a large consulting organization once said to me, "We have 80,000 people scattered around the world that need information to do their jobs effectively.

In late 2005, Cutter Consortium conducted an international survey to explore knowledge management (KM) practices and issues among its clients. This survey cannot be expected to cover general KM issues and practices since the respondents for the most part represent information and communication technology perspectives; the survey results are considered with that view in mind.

With this issue of CBR, we set out to investigate an area of managerial practice that could be considered mature. It has been over a decade now that knowledge management has been defined, that its practice has been adopted by organizations, and that it has become an offering of consulting companies. Yet for as much attention that has been devoted to the topic, satisfactory results still elude a good portion of the organizations that attempt to use it.

With this issue of CBR, we set out to investigate an area of managerial practice that could be considered mature. It has been over a decade now that knowledge management has been defined, that its practice has been adopted by organizations, and that it has become an offering of consulting companies. Yet for as much attention that has been devoted to the topic, satisfactory results still elude a good portion of the organizations that attempt to use it.

This survey explored the use of knowledge management in 117 organizations worldwide. Of responding organizations, 47% are headquartered in North America, 21% in Europe, 17% in Asia/Pacific, and the remainder in South America (7%), the Middle East (4%), and Africa (4%). Forty-six percent of respondents identified their organization as being in the computer industry (computer software publisher, computer hardware manufacturer, computer consulting, outsourcing/Web services/ISPs); 12% are in financial services; and the remainder cover a broad range of industries.

This survey explored the use of knowledge management in 117 organizations worldwide. Of responding organizations, 47% are headquartered in North America, 21% in Europe, 17% in Asia/Pacific, and the remainder in South America (7%), the Middle East (4%), and Africa (4%). Forty-six percent of respondents identified their organization as being in the computer industry (computer software publisher, computer hardware manufacturer, computer consulting, outsourcing/Web services/ISPs); 12% are in financial services; and the remainder cover a broad range of industries.

In December 2005, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey of 140 companies worldwide to evaluate current business intelligence (BI) practices and the degree to which organizations are outsourcing or considering outsourcing their BI systems. This Executive Update is the second in a series that analyzes this survey data to gain a better understanding of corporate disposition toward BI outsourcing.

In December 2005, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey of 140 companies worldwide to evaluate current business intelligence (BI) practices and the degree to which organizations are outsourcing or considering outsourcing their BI systems. This Executive Update is the second in a series that analyzes this survey data to gain a better understanding of corporate disposition toward BI outsourcing.

Suppose that you wanted to build a new kind of software development organization -- one that could produce top-quality, feature-rich products year after year without burning out the engineers or their managers. What are the most important considerations in building an organization capable of sustainable development?

The interplay between "theory" and "practice" in IT education is well documented. Scholars and practitioners have been writing about it for decades. Many of these discussions have been about the roles that each community should play: educators should educate; practitioners should apply; educators should communicate principles; practitioners should train.

The interplay between "theory" and "practice" in IT education is well documented. Scholars and practitioners have been writing about it for decades. Many of these discussions have been about the roles that each community should play: educators should educate; practitioners should apply; educators should communicate principles; practitioners should train.

The interplay between "theory" and "practice" in IT education is well documented. Scholars and practitioners have been writing about it for decades. Many of these discussions have been about the roles that each community should play: educators should educate; practitioners should apply; educators should communicate principles; practitioners should train.

The interplay between "theory" and "practice" in IT education is well documented. Scholars and practitioners have been writing about it for decades. Many of these discussions have been about the roles that each community should play: educators should educate; practitioners should apply; educators should communicate principles; practitioners should train.

IT industry

A side effect of ever-higher-density electronics (e.g., blade servers) is the production of surprisingly much unwanted heat -- enough so that facilities costs over the next five years will grow to more than offset any expected Moore's Law savings.

IT industry

A side effect of ever-higher-density electronics (e.g., blade servers) is the production of surprisingly much unwanted heat -- enough so that facilities costs over the next five years will grow to more than offset any expected Moore's Law savings.