What does the data mean?

In the past few years, we have been exposed to several dozen definitions of knowledge, usually as a first step in presenting yet another definition of knowledge management. Our intention here is (alas) exactly the same, although in this Executive Report we focus on the human cognition end of the spectrum of definitions.

In the past few years, we have been exposed to several dozen definitions of knowledge, usually as a first step in presenting yet another definition of knowledge management. Our intention here is (alas) exactly the same, although in this Executive Report we focus on the human cognition end of the spectrum of definitions.

"The most important economic development of our lifetime has been the rise of a new system for creating wealth, based no longer on muscle but on mind." --

Alvin Toffler

"The most important economic development of our lifetime has been the rise of a new system for creating wealth, based no longer on muscle but on mind." --

Alvin Toffler

Cutter Consortium recently launched a new business-IT strategies survey (if you haven't had a chance to participate, please go to www.cutter.com/consortium/index_surveys.html and complete the online questionnaire). This survey will be kept open as long as it produces valuable data.

With the Internet changing how companies interact at every level, establishing an e-business consortium, or e-consortium, is a growing priority for numerous industries. The goal of an e-consortium can vary, but it typically revolves around a group of companies in a given industry that wish to collectively leverage the Internet to improve some aspect of their business.

Paul Harmon, Editor

The vision of distributed computing has been an attractive one for the computing industry for many years. The original goal was to build computer systems that reflected the distributed nature of real organizations. This was made possible by the advent of relatively low-cost minicomputers that could be located in field offices and warehouses alongside their users.

The vision of distributed computing has been an attractive one for the computing industry for many years. The original goal was to build computer systems that reflected the distributed nature of real organizations -- low-cost computers that could be located in field offices and warehouses alongside their users, with improved productivity and reduced costs.

As companies begin creating and implementing enterprise application integration (EAI) solutions, they are finally realizing the true importance of sound architecture practices. There is no magic recipe for implementing EAI solutions. Rather, EAI requires a successful combination of multiple concurrent technology initiatives, and, like the proverbial chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link.

As companies get swept up in the rush to become an e-business, it's important to remember that distributed computing has been around for a long time. In some cases, a slight change in a technology results in a new name. For example, before 1990, companies selling tools that generated software applications from structured diagrams referred to their products as CASE tools.

ITMS subscriber surveys tell us what you're looking for to help you with your job. Requests for case studies top the list, so I've included two in this issue.

Both of my guest authors this month, Jim Mayes and Jim Heires, provide real-world situations that discuss how to create support from top to bottom for software processes and metrics, as well as how to read metrics data to get an "x-ray view" of what's really going on within an organization.

The pervasiveness of the Internet in today's society means that the first interaction most companies have with a potential customer is via the company Web site.

In the May 2000 BIA, I covered the market for business intelligence (BI) and data warehouse products, including packaged data warehouse applications. In this issue, I will discuss a recent addition to the packaged data warehouse space.

In the July issue of BIA, I presented my views on the implications of data privacy. I also described the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) technology currently under development.

Over the past 12 months, the online industry has taken some pretty heavy flak and negative coverage from the press.

SageTree, Inc. (a subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation) has entered the business intelligence (BI) market with a new packaged application targeted at supply chain intelligence (a supply chain discipline that analyzes products and components at every stage of the product lifecycle).

The ability to match and modify Web site content to individual customer preferences has become a necessity as all companies -- whether operating on a business-to-consumer or business-to-business model -- strive to make their online operations more profitable.

Since much of this issue was spent discussing the products and vision of a single vendor, Epiphany, it seems an appropriate time to reiterate my editorial approach to writing about vendor products.

Accrue Software, Inc. announced its intention to acquire online analytical processing (OLAP) pioneer Pilot Software. This acquisition will result in Accrue adding Pilot's OLAP server and balanced scorecard applications to Accrue's already impressive line of analytical products targeted at business intelligence for e-business and online personalization applications. The terms of the proposed stock-for-stock transaction were not disclosed.