As we all know, achieving IT and business alignment is not easy. We must tie business strategy, technology, and people into a comprehensive and synergistic package that, as Paul Strassmann says, will demonstrate a positive relationship between IT and accepted financial measures of performance. As my mother used to say, though, be careful for what you wish for, because you might get it.

Last week, a group of computer scientists announced that they have created the world's third-fastest supercomputer from 1,000 Apple PCs for a mere US $3 million. Now, to some folks, that may seem like a lot of money, but when you consider that the fastest computer cost about $150 million and the second-fastest cost $10-$15 million, three big ones is not very expensive.

Overburdened IT organizations are seeking outsourcing relationships to gain agility; they view it as a way to access staff skills and capabilities that might take more time to grow organically from within. Sometimes these skills are seen to be available at low cost as well, as suggested by the wave of offshore outsourcing to providers in countries like India.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has implemented a data warehouse and accompanying business intelligence (BI) system designed to help public health personnel more effectively detect, track, and respond to disease outbreaks and bioterrorism attacks.

Based on replies given by 182 respondents, the salient facts are the following:

Here I will review the modeling tools themselves to see which products the developers favor and how buying patterns are likely to change in the future.

No survey of software modeling practice would be complete without mention of MDA -- the latest and most sophisticated technique based on UML from the OMG.