Organizational matters

The provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, especially Section 404, represent the new standard for corporate governance. CIOs may have to attest to the accuracy and reliability of systems controls so that the CEO and CFO can sign attestations with confidence.

Using objective metrics puts IT executives in an excellent position to succeed when outsourcing IT projects. At the project level, the executive managing the request for proposal (RFP) process can use metrics to empower negotiations by:

Using objective metrics puts IT executives in an excellent position to succeed when outsourcing IT projects. At the project level, the executive managing the request for proposal (RFP) process can use metrics to empower negotiations by:

"Trends in Risk Management." That was one of the topics of a lively discussion following Cutter Business Technology Council Fellows Tim Lister and Tom DeMarco's keynote on risk management at the sellout Cutter Summit 2003 conference.

"Trends in Risk Management." That was one of the topics of a lively discussion following Cutter Business Technology Council Fellows Tim Lister and Tom DeMarco's keynote on risk management at the sellout Cutter Summit 2003 conference.

"Trends in Risk Management." That was one of the topics of a lively discussion following Cutter Business Technology Council Fellows Tim Lister and Tom DeMarco's keynote on risk management at the sellout Cutter Summit 2003 conference.

Clearly, the US economy is beginning to gain momentum after about 18 months of very slow growth. Companies are reporting profits and buying new inventory, and consumers are increasing their spending. The recovery has taken a while, but it now seems to be fully underway -- or is it? The growth in jobs is picking up, but at a slower rate than normal for such a period.

Clearly, the US economy is beginning to gain momentum after about 18 months of very slow growth. Companies are reporting profits and buying new inventory, and consumers are increasing their spending. The recovery has taken a while, but it now seems to be fully underway -- or is it? The growth in jobs is picking up, but at a slower rate than normal for such a period.

"Can-do thinking makes risk management impossible. Since acknowledging real risk is defeatism, the risk management function in a can-do organization is restricted to dealing with those smallish risks that can be mitigated by quick action. That means you confront all the risks except the ones that really matter." (Tom DeMarco, Why Does Software Cost So Much? .)