Last month I talked about the effect that "politics" has on business technology decision-making (see " Politics, Smolitics ...," 13 December 2004). This month I'd like to expand the "context" discussion to include the rest of the variables that influence the technology acquisition, deployment, and support processes.

Last month I talked about the effect that "politics" has on business technology decision-making (see " Politics, Smolitics ...," 13 December 2004). This month I'd like to expand the "context" discussion to include the rest of the variables that influence the technology acquisition, deployment, and support processes.

The last on-site meeting of the Trends Council was pervaded by a sense of technology malaise. This feeling emanated not just from the subgroup of uber geeks present (and of which I am a proud member) but also from those who would be considered IT users or managers. As I pondered this phenomenon, I wondered if it actually indicated an overall positive development.

A survey Cutter conducted (in November 2004) of 110 end-user organizations' business performance management practices indicates that more than one-quarter are providing proactive alerting capabilities for use with their business performance management solutions.

A survey Cutter conducted (in November 2004) of 110 end-user organizations' business performance management practices indicates that more than one-quarter are providing proactive alerting capabilities for use with their business performance management solutions.

A survey Cutter conducted (in November 2004) of 110 end-user organizations' business performance management practices indicates that more than one-quarter are providing proactive alerting capabilities for use with their business performance management solutions.

A survey Cutter conducted (in November 2004) of 110 end-user organizations' business performance management practices indicates that more than one-quarter are providing proactive alerting capabilities for use with their business performance management solutions.

[Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the Cutter IT Journal . We are rerunning it here because of its relevance to IT professionals worldwide.]