Software is a young science, and those of us in it are constantly using different tools and techniques to try to improve our processes. This is true in both strong and weak organizations -- weak organizations need to improve to avoid project failures, while strong organizations need to become stronger in a competitive market. But people don't like change. Change means moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and unfamiliar means uncomfortable. We are afraid of anything different.

Software is a young science, and those of us in it are constantly using different tools and techniques to try to improve our processes. This is true in both strong and weak organizations -- weak organizations need to improve to avoid project failures, while strong organizations need to become stronger in a competitive market. But people don't like change. Change means moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and unfamiliar means uncomfortable. We are afraid of anything different.

Companies these days are falling all over themselves to get "dot-com'ed." Stock prices of Internet merchants are running wild, and IBM is running a mass media campaign offering to help you and your company become the next Web-based success story. But before you venture out into the e-commerce world, you need to examine a few hard truths that are often overlooked, then ask yourself some hard questions.

Companies these days are falling all over themselves to get "dot-com'ed." Stock prices of Internet merchants are running wild, and IBM is running a mass media campaign offering to help you and your company become the next Web-based success story. But before you venture out into the e-commerce world, you need to examine a few hard truths that are often overlooked, then ask yourself some hard questions.

Application integration (also known as enterprise application integration -- EAI) product vendors

There is no way to avoid it; a major part of the future world of corporate and inhouse IT is largely being shaped around packaged solutions and a specialized subset of them -- enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise resource management

This report is about how you should organize your IT professionals both within your company and extending from it. Obviously, this subject is one of the most politically charged areas IT can face. Any time you fool around with organization, trouble can't be far behind.

This report is about how you should organize your IT professionals both within your company and extending from it. Obviously, this subject is one of the most politically charged areas IT can face. Any time you fool around with organization, trouble can't be far behind.

This report is about how you should organize your IT professionals both within your company and extending from it. Obviously, this subject is one of the most politically charged areas IT can face. Any time you fool around with organization, trouble can't be far behind.

This area of alignment -- organization -- is about as tricky as they come. In fact, it's probably the most politically charged alignment area we address. Whenever there's even a rumor of organizational change, everyone's radar immediately goes up.

This area of alignment -- organization -- is about as tricky as they come. In fact, it's probably the most politically charged alignment area we address. Whenever there's even a rumor of organizational change, everyone's radar immediately goes up.

This area of alignment -- organization -- is about as tricky as they come. In fact, it's probably the most politically charged alignment area we address. Whenever there's even a rumor of organizational change, everyone's radar immediately goes up.

The Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard. It offers precise concepts and constructs useful in defining complementary views of business and information systems issues clearly, concisely, and with no ambiguity.

This Executive Update is the first of a two-part series containing excerpts from a panel discussion on business-IT alignment. The discussion followed a presentation on adaptive software development that took place at Summit '99, Cutter Consortium's annual conference for IT professionals, which was held in April in Boston.

This Executive Update is the first of a two-part series containing excerpts from a panel discussion on business-IT alignment. The discussion followed a presentation on adaptive software development that took place at Summit '99, Cutter Consortium's annual conference for IT professionals, which was held in April in Boston.