Software Development

The "task and artifact" focus of traditional process improvement has run its course. The next wave focuses instead on skills and relationships. This trend requires process specialists to gain new skills, retool, and rethink their relationship to software projects.

Software Development

The "task and artifact" focus of traditional process improvement has run its course. The next wave focuses instead on skills and relationships. This trend requires process specialists to gain new skills, retool, and rethink their relationship to software projects.

Responses to a recent Cutter Consortium survey on e-business strategy raise interesting questions about the role IT organizations are playing in the move to e-business.

Responses to a recent Cutter Consortium survey on e-business strategy raise interesting questions about the role IT organizations are playing in the move to e-business.

I spent a wonderful couple of hours with one of my favorite CIOs yesterday discussing the pros and cons of outsourcing. This is a person who over the last couple of years has pulled more and more of her organization's IT functions back into her shop.

I spent a wonderful couple of hours with one of my favorite CIOs yesterday discussing the pros and cons of outsourcing. This is a person who over the last couple of years has pulled more and more of her organization's IT functions back into her shop.

Recently, my work has caused me to spend time in "hosting" or "co-location" facilities. Run by specialized companies such as Exodus, Genuity, Internap, and others, these facilities at first appear to be simply independently owned data centers built to capitalize on the IT outsourcing movement. That's what they are, in part.

Traditionally, there has been a rather sharp distinction between conventional enterprise applications and real-time applications. Regular applications were sometimes expected to provide answers to queries rather quickly, but everyone distinguished between "quick responses" and the kind of responses that were required by process control systems.

Cutter Consortium recently surveyed a group of companies to learn the details of their agreements with their application service providers (ASPs). To begin with, the data shows that only a small number of companies (14%) are currently using ASP services. However, within that group, companies are apparently paying close attention to service levels.

Cutter Consortium recently surveyed a group of companies to learn the details of their agreements with their application service providers (ASPs). To begin with, the data shows that only a small number of companies (14%) are currently using ASP services. However, within that group, companies are apparently paying close attention to service levels.