It's hard to open a newspaper these days and not read about the purported economic slowdown. Indeed, anything compared to the ferocious growth of the 1990s would suffer. Pressures brought about from these conditions make negotiation very difficult for IT organizations under the gun.

It's hard to open a newspaper these days and not read about the purported economic slowdown. Indeed, anything compared to the ferocious growth of the 1990s would suffer. Pressures brought about from these conditions make negotiation very difficult for IT organizations under the gun.

We recently faced a dilemma while updating our outsourcing training program: how to find out how companies are really doing with outsourcing.

We recently faced a dilemma while updating our outsourcing training program: how to find out how companies are really doing with outsourcing.

Have you ever wondered if you could find out how companies are really doing with outsourcing? To answer that question, we created a list of we-always-wanted-to-know questions and conducted individual, face-to-face interviews with a select list of people who are involved in outsourcing.

Have you ever wondered if you could find out how companies are really doing with outsourcing? To answer that question, we created a list of we-always-wanted-to-know questions and conducted individual, face-to-face interviews with a select list of people who are involved in outsourcing.

This Executive Update contains the third, and last, part of our series containing advice from a panel of Cutter Consortium Senior Consultants -- Mike Epner, Ian Hayes, David Herron, and Wendell Jones -- on the outsourcing process.

This Executive Update contains the third, and last, part of our series containing advice from a panel of Cutter Consortium Senior Consultants -- Mike Epner, Ian Hayes, David Herron, and Wendell Jones -- on the outsourcing process.

In Part 1 of this Executive Update (Vol. 2, No. 5), we looked at internal strategy and process maturity and their respective impacts on offshore outsourcing. In this Update, we'll continue to look at the management of offshore service providers.

In Part 1 of this Executive Update (Vol. 2, No. 5), we looked at internal strategy and process maturity and their respective impacts on offshore outsourcing. In this Update, we'll continue to look at the management of offshore service providers.

© 2001 by Johanna Rothman. All rights reserved.

© 2001 by Johanna Rothman. All rights reserved.

E-Business

E-Business

Telecommuting is both a familiar concept and a popular buzzword in today's high-tech, Internet-enabled society. As we suggested in a Cutter Consortium Business Technology Trends E-Mail Advisor last year (" Telecommuting Still Has a Long Way to Go," 9 November 2000):

Telecommuting is both a familiar concept and a popular buzzword in today's high-tech, Internet-enabled society. As we suggested in a Cutter Consortium Business Technology Trends E-Mail Advisor last year (" Telecommuting Still Has a Long Way to Go," 9 November 2000):

The Cutter Technology Council's Assertion #13 reads: "E-business and e-commerce will continue to fuel explosive growth in, and unending confusion about, the middleware portion of IT architectures." The purpose of this Executive Update is to consider whether there is evidence of this trend in industry today.