The Internet changes everything. Okay, now that we're through the obligatory opening for every article these days, let's focus on the key issue for business-IT alignment -- change is changing. We can no longer think of change in the traditional vein of stuff-happens- and-today-it-happens-faster.

The Internet changes everything. Okay, now that we're through the obligatory opening for every article these days, let's focus on the key issue for business-IT alignment -- change is changing. We can no longer think of change in the traditional vein of stuff-happens- and-today-it-happens-faster.

How do you manage a large organization in today's high-tech environment? More to the point, how do you manage a real-time organization working at Internet speed? These are the questions managers everywhere are faced with today.

How do you manage a large organization in today's high-tech environment? More to the point, how do you manage a real-time organization working at Internet speed? These are the questions managers everywhere are faced with today.

The emergence of a knowledge economy has altered the nature of work, the fate of companies, and the fate of nations.-- Nuala Beck, 1999

The emergence of a knowledge economy has altered the nature of work, the fate of companies, and the fate of nations.-- Nuala Beck, 1999

Good business-IT alignment depends on several factors. At the highest level are the factors that establish the foundation for business-IT alignment: coordinated business and IT strategies, organizational structure, and budgeting and project-funding practices.

On the desk in my office sits an entirely self-contained, enclosed, living ecosystem. Five inches high, this microcosm of life contains algae, very small shrimp and snails, and multitudes of microscopic bacteria, all living by exchanging stuff with each other and by converting light to biochemical energy.

On the desk in my office sits an entirely self-contained, enclosed, living ecosystem. Five inches high, this microcosm of life contains algae, very small shrimp and snails, and multitudes of microscopic bacteria, all living by exchanging stuff with each other and by converting light to biochemical energy.

I've often recommended that companies outsource software development and maintenance tasks that are non-strategic. Companies are under terrific pressure to convert themselves to take advantage of the Internet and to respond to the e-commerce challenges they all face. Developing Internet-based enterprise e-commerce applications is very different than developing conventional applications.

Paul Harmon, Editor

Important technologies inspire innovation, motivating technologists and entrepreneurs to both create new roles for the technology and use it to solve old problems. The Internet is the most glamorous example of such a technology. Among the innovations inspired by the Internet are network-centric technologies such as Java and XML; however, these innovations are wrapped in a veil of hype.

The evaluation of cutting-edge technologies can be a difficult task in the face of the hype that naturally accompanies their evolution. XML is no different from other technologies in this respect. If you believe the hype, XML obviates the need for Java, brings Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) into the Internet era, replaces the relational database, and revolutionizes the development of Web sites.

The evaluation of cutting-edge technologies can be a difficult task in the face of the hype that naturally accompanies their evolution. XML is no different from other technologies in this respect. If you believe the hype, XML obviates the need for Java, brings Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) into the Internet era, replaces the relational database, and revolutionizes the development of Web sites.

The rush to develop e-commerce applications has forced most companies to reconsider their component-based development choices. While it's certainly possible to develop modest Web sites and simple Internet applications without component-based approaches, it's almost impossible to build enterprise-oriented e-commerce applications without components.

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in using precise notations such as Unified Modeling Language (UML) to model complex business systems, in particular to model the tidal wave of Internet-driven e-business and e-commerce applications. Even mainstream developers and business analysts now toss around terms like "use case" and "activity diagram," often to the point where the terms are being misused and misapplied.

With application service providers (ASPs) receiving so much attention these days, sooner or later the question had to arise: is it possible to outsource business intelligence (BI) applications?