If you are charged with selecting or implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution for your organization, it is imperative that you understand the business drivers that propel this application area. The CRM solution space is big and growing.

Software architects at large companies who are focused on the design of enterprise application integration (EAI) systems that can link existing enterprise applications with the latest e-business systems face a horrendous task -- there are so many applications, written in so many different languages, running on such a wide variety of platforms.

Back in the Y2000 days, I got into a little trouble for going against commonly held beliefs. A number of industry pundits claimed that the Y2000 challenge wasn't a technical problem, but simply a project management challenge of considerable magnitude. Classic project management theory says that in the project-constraint triangle, one is bound by work, resources, and time.

Back in the Y2000 days, I got into a little trouble for going against commonly held beliefs. A number of industry pundits claimed that the Y2000 challenge wasn't a technical problem, but simply a project management challenge of considerable magnitude. Classic project management theory says that in the project-constraint triangle, one is bound by work, resources, and time.

"Process improvement challenges -- the process cannot be continuously improved if:

CMM [Capability Maturity Model] overcomes these hurdles one by one."

-- Dr. Bill Curtis1

What does the data mean?

"When you make the finding yourself -- even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light -- you'll never forget it."

-- Carl Sagan

A couple of years ago, your boss asked you to lead a software process improvement (SPI) initiative to reduce cycle time and improve quality while still meeting customer commitments to cost and functionality. After you updated your résumé and pondered the impossibility of the mandate, you decided to step up to the challenge (at least until your income tax refund arrived).

Trying to achieve effective business-IT alignment is inherently a risky activity. It implies the undertaking of important decisions, under conditions of uncertainty. Typically, alignment decisions have long-term impacts, they are difficult to undo, and we are never sure whether they will produce the desired outcome. This scenario of uncertainty applies whether we're deciding on a radical change to our IT infrastructure or on a gradual change to our business processes.

Those who know something of my career in computing know that I started as a technology analyst covering the artificial intelligence (AI) market in the early 1980s. More specifically, I wrote Cutter Information Corp.'s Expert Systems Strategies newsletter for almost 10 years.

There's an amazingly overlooked iceberg of problems in end-user computing. Spreadsheets are developed by people who are very skilled in their main job function, be it finance, procurement, or production planning, but often have had no formal training in spreadsheet use. IT auditors focus on mainstream information systems but regard spreadsheets as user problems, outside their concerns.

There's an amazingly overlooked iceberg of problems in end-user computing. Spreadsheets are developed by people who are very skilled in their main job function, be it finance, procurement, or production planning, but often have had no formal training in spreadsheet use. IT auditors focus on mainstream information systems but regard spreadsheets as user problems, outside their concerns.

Those who know something of my career in computing know that I started as a technology analyst covering the artificial intelligence (AI) market in the early 198

Those who know something of my career in computing know that I started as a technology analyst covering the artificial intelligence (AI) market in the early 198

There's an amazingly overlooked iceberg of problems in end-user computing.

There's an amazingly overlooked iceberg of problems in end-user computing.

"Process improvement challenges -- the process cannot be continuously improved if: