In this Advisor, the authors explore how two fundamentally different paradigms — Agile architecture and architectural agility — can reinforce one another. Based on a real-world case study from a US technology company, the authors describe how one organization has combined architecture with Agile thinking and methods to break through the anti-patterns and improve its results.

An awareness of granularity and context in analytics is vital for creating value to the business. In this Advisor, I focus on understanding the degree of granularity of analysis and how organizations can incorporate granularity in their analytical solutions.

Cutter Consortium is conducting a survey on how organizations are adopting, or planning to adopt, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. We also seek to identify important issues and other considerations they are encountering or foresee encountering in their efforts. In addition to gathering and analyzing survey data, I have been interviewing leaders and practitioners from different organizations implementing or working to implement AI appli­cations. Here, in Part VI, we jump right into where we left off and continue examining industries that AI is expected to disrupt.

Cutter Consortium is conducting a survey on how organizations are adopting, or planning to adopt, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. We also seek to identify important issues and other considerations they are encountering or foresee encountering in their efforts. In addition to gathering and analyzing survey data, I have been interviewing leaders and practitioners from different organizations implementing or working to implement AI appli­cations. Here, in Part VI, we jump right into where we left off and continue examining industries that AI is expected to disrupt.

In this Advisor, we examine the organizational behavior lens called pathway: We know “how” we need to do it. We also explore the importance of applying Agile to manage day-to-day activities, and transition states to manage the longer term and ensure delivery of the broader transformation objective.

There are more people who work on improving organizational agility than people who know why this should be required. How can you work on something when you do not know why you should do it? So, before working on transforming our organizations to become more agile, maybe we should discuss the business environment and make sure everybody in the organization sees the same one. Then we should look at our internal organizational environment and make sure everyone has the same expectations and the same perceptions of it.

In this Advisor, we propose that by architecting for antifragility, businesses can gain real agility and deliver systems with a higher level of quality.

Companies are turning to machine learning, computer vision, robotics, and other AI technologies to revitalize the retail shopping experience and boost customer experience and business benefits — both online and offline. But it is the new, cutting-edge, AI-driven applications under development that are most interesting — holding the promise of opening up new business models and possibly disrupting the retail sector.

This Executive Update attempts to clarify the disconnect between the “no project” Agile camp and project managers by exploring seven areas of software development. In addition, two case studies highlight the unique differences.

In this on-demand webinar, Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Whynde Kuehn reveals how, through the combination of business architecture and CX design, organizations can gain more insight into where and how to align and transform their business models so they can focus on the ongoing needs of their customers while driving organizational efficiencies.

The difference between an organization that survives and thrives following an incident versus one that flounders can be summed up in one word: preparation. In this Executive Update, we outline a multipronged approach for best practice organizations that focuses on continuous process improvement.

In this webinar, you'll discover how the Breakthrough Incubator approach can overcome barriers to breakthrough innovation and unlock new business opportunities for your enterprise.

In the first Advisor in this series, we explored enablers that we have found to be critical in driving successful digital transformation efforts. We believe these enablers can be unified into a powerful toolkit to facilitate successful transformation when assessed against three specific personas and observed through three distinct lenses. In this Advisor, we introduce these personas and lenses, offering additional insight into the human side of digital transformation.

If there is one measure that can drive an organization toward agility, it is the shift to deadline-driven smaller projects. Simply put, we recommend defining smaller projects (that can relate to each other to build a bigger project) and focusing on the deadline — not just on the results. This is part of the skill of project management with a drive to flexibility. The key idea: it is better to have 90% ready this month, on time, than 100% ready next month, which is too late.

This article gives us the complete context of what governance means, considering the data lifecycle (create, store, use, etc.) and the cognitive hierarchy of data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The authors also look at the elements contained in a formal data model and what these ele­ments tell us about the governance actions that need to be taken when data is accessed, modified, or deleted.

This article gives us the complete context of what governance means, considering the data lifecycle (create, store, use, etc.) and the cognitive hierarchy of data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The authors also look at the elements contained in a formal data model and what these ele­ments tell us about the governance actions that need to be taken when data is accessed, modified, or deleted.

This article describes what good governance means for public sector institutions that are embracing open data initiatives. While these organizations make data accessible to increase government transparency and promote economic empowerment, they face addi­tional responsibilities in terms of data quality, privacy compliance, security, and more.

This article describes what good governance means for public sector institutions that are embracing open data initiatives. While these organizations make data accessible to increase government transparency and promote economic empowerment, they face addi­tional responsibilities in terms of data quality, privacy compliance, security, and more.

Michael Atkin depicts the conflicting demands on the CDO, who must cover “operational data management” as well as “data management for analytical insight.” He shows how caring for the quality of the data, understanding its provenance and pedigree, minimizing the transformations, and adding semantic understanding of the data are part of the new responsibilities of the CDO 2.0.

Michael Atkin depicts the conflicting demands on the CDO, who must cover “operational data management” as well as “data management for analytical insight.” He shows how caring for the quality of the data, understanding its provenance and pedigree, minimizing the transformations, and adding semantic understanding of the data are part of the new responsibilities of the CDO 2.0.

Steven Woodward explores in depth the issues of data residency, using the term “geo-jurisdictions” to describe the intersection of geographical and legal boundaries that place constraints on the handling of data. Woodward begins by alerting organizations that falsely believe that data residency is not a concern for them. From this warning, the author moves on to concrete recommendations about policies that should be put in place for various service and deployment models as well as the need for a thorough geo-jurisdiction analysis.

While issues around data and information governance are starting to get the attention they deserve, business and technology leaders still need help finding their way through all the conflicting demands. We invited several authors to present their perspectives and recommendations on this complex web of issues.

While issues around data and information governance are starting to get the attention they deserve, business and technology leaders still need help finding their way through all the conflicting demands. We invited several authors to present their perspectives and recommendations on this complex web of issues.

Generally, business transformation results in designing a target business operating model (BOM), or in other words, a new “business design.” To implement the target BOM is to operationalize the business strategy. With each transformation cycle and new target BOM, there is a shift in decision making depending on changes in the organizational hierarchy and ways of working. To make sure that this shift occurs smoothly and is working as expected, it is imperative to continuously measure the BOM’s effectiveness both in terms of current and predicted performance.

In this Executive Update, we briefly revisit some earlier lifecycle development models and examine the historic move away from waterfall to DevOps via iterative/ incremental and Agile development approaches. In doing so, we push the Agile envelope a little further and consider some trends that affect business analysis and requirements specification and examine the implications of the Agile development framework for business analysts (BAs) when working within a DevOps regime.