To be effective, business-IT alignment must be practiced as a continuous activity, with the business model being continuously adjusted to reflect changing conditions such as IT developments and market changes. As the business model changes, IT must adapt accordingly. Within this continuous process, complex problems are faced, and identifying the right decisions is difficult.

The recent news of Apple's financial problems makes it hard to resist pointing out that I predicted this three years ago when Steve Jobs became the temporary CEO of Apple. I would never advise anyone to make stock market decisions based on my predictions. The market jerks up and down as participants identify possible short-term gains or losses.

The open source software movement has been catapulted into the limelight over the last two years, as a series of successful projects have captured the attention of corporate America. For example, the Linux operating system, poster-child of the open source movement, took shape in 1991 alongside the GNU Project to develop a freely available operating system.

The open source software movement has been catapulted into the limelight over the last two years, as a series of successful projects have captured the attention of corporate America. For example, the Linux operating system, poster-child of the open source movement, took shape in 1991 alongside the GNU Project to develop a freely available operating system.

PDI may be the next EAI. Enterprise application integration (EAI) has become a major initiative for many companies. But reading through EAI articles and attending several EAI conferences reveals a major hole in the generic EAI models -- product development.