Data warehousing and business intelligence (BI) are no longer just about building a central repository where a company's data, sourced from multiple databases, is maintained in a static manner and analyzed on a "need be" basis.

Implemented on an enterprise scale, e-business requires integrating Internet applications with not only your core operational systems -- enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain, customer relationship management (CRM), data warehouse, etc.

Researchers at the Statistics and Data Mining Research department at Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies and MCNC's Next-Generation Internet (NGI) Research project (which develops technologies that enable networks to scale dramatically to accommodate extreme ranges of user demand) are

In the September and October 2000 BIAs, I covered a number of products useful for conducting business intelligence (BI) for personalizing online operations. Recently, I had the chance to examine the BI enhancements Oracle is making to the next version of its flagship database and application server platform -- Oracle 9i.

When we saw that the November issue of the Cutter IT Journal was devoted to light methodologies, we knew we wanted to write an article. We have always had an academic and practical interest in methodologies. We have implemented a few, and Steve even created one. So it was with great interest that we started to look into this new genre of light methodologies (LM) and Extreme Programming (XP).

ThoughtWorks, Inc. is a Chicago-based system integration and consulting company of around 300 people. We specialize in building demanding business applications using technology that is both new and strategic for the industry. We also work on complex business applications that usually require stitching together various components and augmenting these components with complicated and changing business logic.

Lightweight methods rely on emergent control rather than having decisions flow down from the big boss. Robust control can emerge from the interaction of locally optimizing rules. Extreme Programming (XP) relies on emergence at all levels of control -- project planning, personnel, architecture and design, verification and validation, and integration.

It is clear to most people by now that no one methodology will fit every software project. What is not clear is where to go next. If concrete advice can't be given across projects, how are we to find meaningful methodological advice for our projects?

In Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, a fishing boat out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA, encounters a storm -- not just any storm, but "the perfect storm" -- and ends up meeting a tragic end. This "perfect storm" was the result of a combination of various meteorological phenomena. Together, these phenomena made it impossible for the fishermen to do their job and bring swordfish back to port.

As an invited speaker to last week's International Conference on Software Quality (10ICSQ) hosted by the Software Division of the American Society for Quality in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, I had the good fortune to listen to Dr. Chuck Engle, whose topic is the title of this week's Advisor.

As an invited speaker to last week's International Conference on Software Quality (10ICSQ) hosted by the Software Division of the American Society for Quality in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, I had the good fortune to listen to Dr. Chuck Engle, whose topic is the title of this week's Advisor.

In this era of e-everything, are e-projects merely an extension of the hype? One could ask the same question about e-business or e-commerce. Every disruptive technology or emerging market involves new definitions -- sometimes endless arguments over new terminology and whether or not there are meaningful distinctions.

As Dorothy so aptly pointed out in The Wizard of Oz, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

Sometimes programmers skimp on testing for fear it will slow them down. All too frequently, this leads to delayed or defective software. Properly done, testing will speed up development. Wise teams use test-first development to ensure steady, rapid progress.

Many of Cutter Consortium's Executive Reports are intended to provide "how to" information -- this is not one of those reports.

Many of Cutter Consortium's Executive Reports are intended to provide "how to" information -- this is not one of those reports.

The accompanying Executive Report invites companies to reexamine how they approach dispute resolution when outsourcing. Because the context in which dispute resolution occurs is often acrimonious, dispute resolution clauses are generally boilerplate provisions, viewed as a necessary evil rather than a potential benefit.

The accompanying Executive Report invites companies to reexamine how they approach dispute resolution when outsourcing. Because the context in which dispute resolution occurs is often acrimonious, dispute resolution clauses are generally boilerplate provisions, viewed as a necessary evil rather than a potential benefit.

Although hardly a panacea for solving IT problems, in today's world, outsourcing is a widely accepted, viable, strategic management tool. However, like most tools, it is only as effective as the operator. Outsourcing relationships need to be built and managed to fit the specific needs and culture of each user to help ensure a successful result. To achieve a custom fit with outsourcing, you must consider the following factors.

Although hardly a panacea for solving IT problems, in today's world, outsourcing is a widely accepted, viable, strategic management tool. However, like most tools, it is only as effective as the operator. Outsourcing relationships need to be built and managed to fit the specific needs and culture of each user to help ensure a successful result. To achieve a custom fit with outsourcing, you must consider the following factors.

For a number of years, IT organizations have been leaning toward using commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) components in their systems, rather than opting to develop functionality from scratch.