Despite the billions of dollars spent on technology, not much money is spent on how major technology decisions get made.

Despite the billions of dollars spent on technology, not much money is spent on how major technology decisions get made.

The data from a recent Cutter Consortium study reveals that 55% of companies have modified their security processes since September 11.

Figure 1 -- Has your organization deployed an enterprise-wide security administration application since September 11?

Risk management plans, by virtue of their definition as a component of the project management plan, are too often perceived as being project specific but limited to an internal project focus. As a result, project risks that are identified frequently tend to be constrained to technical/resource issues within the management scope of the project/program manager (PM).

Risk management plans, by virtue of their definition as a component of the project management plan, are too often perceived as being project specific but limited to an internal project focus. As a result, project risks that are identified frequently tend to be constrained to technical/resource issues within the management scope of the project/program manager (PM).

Every so often, I'm reminded that I started writing about computing in the early 1980s and wrote primarily about artificial intelligence through most of that decade. Usually I think of it because I read of some new achievement by an AI system. In this case, I noticed that the current world champion chess master, Vladimir Kramnik, just achieved a draw with Deep Fritz, the current reigning chess program.

How much are you spending on technology? Who pays for what? How do you determine funding responsibilities? And how do you determine how to pay for infrastructure, applications, R&D, and ongoing technology management? These are huge issues -- especially when you consider that the US spends more than one trillion dollars a year on hardware, software, and services. Yes -- a trillion dollars!

How many of us wrestle with the question "who should report to whom?" several times a year? Have your efforts to "reorganize" the business-technology relationship been proactive or reactive? Often, because some influential people complain about the relationship, things change. But reactive changes usually don't last long.