We have been confronted for nearly two decades with a dual data storage and processing landscape, supported by two very distinct scenes of tool vendors and products. Nowadays, we see a complete convergence of the operational and tactical/strategic data needs of the corresponding data integration tooling. This evolution poses interesting challenges to the landscape of data storage and data integration solutions.

The best teams we have worked with know their strength is not the Agile framework alone, but how the team sources ideas and plans and delivers its backlog. Strong team process requires strong team empathy that allows teams to embrace creative tension to uncover novel ways of producing value.

Technology does not reform or change humans. It accelerates and unleashes more of who we are, both good and bad.

In this Executive Update, we recommend some Agile techniques and best practices that retain the benefits of a central EDW while reducing the expense and lack of responsiveness to business needs and change. This data-focused approach offers a way to define user stories in a complex EDW architecture, addressing both application and information value to users and delivering a data warehouse that provides high-quality information and is resilient to change.

In this Executive Update, we devise a conceptual model and practical design guidelines for the holistic management of all resources (e.g., servers, networks, storage, cooling systems) to improve energy efficiency and to reduce the carbon footprints in cloud data centers (CDCs). Furthermore, we discuss the intertwined relationship between energy and reliability for sustainable cloud computing, where we highlight the associated issues. Finally, we propose a set of future areas to investigate in the field and propose further practical developments.

In this Executive Update, we devise a conceptual model and practical design guidelines for the holistic management of all resources (e.g., servers, networks, storage, cooling systems) to improve energy efficiency and to reduce the carbon footprints in cloud data centers (CDCs). Furthermore, we discuss the intertwined relationship between energy and reliability for sustainable cloud computing, where we highlight the associated issues. Finally, we propose a set of future areas to investigate in the field and propose further practical developments.

This Executive Update presents a Data-Agile approach designed to apply most Agile principles to a robust soup-to-nuts spiral data integration methodology that includes all the data management activities crucial for enterprise-class data integration projects. 

Working with business leaders, we have developed a simple yet powerful framework to help them navigate the digital landscape. It is based on four business-focused questions that are at the core of effective governance of digital and that every business leader should have in his or her head. We call these questions the four “ares.” In this Advisor, we discuss two of the “ares.”

In an ongoing Cutter Consortium survey covering the adoption and application of AI technology, we asked organizations about their plans for using AI-as-a-Service platforms and services.

In this Update, I delve deeper into the importance of the level at which analytics are performed — in particular, the need to pay attention to two keywords: granularity and context. In the absence of awareness of granularity and context, analytics may not provide the necessary value to the business and, as a result, increase business risks. 

I’ve come to understand that trust is one of the most fundamental ways that leaders can give their teams space within an Agile transformation effort.

Things that are manufactured need to be handled in the supply chain all the way from basic components down to the finished product arriving at the customer’s doorsteps or shop shelves. But as those “things” become smarter, the physical value chains and information processes converge.

Transformation leaders need to balance the pressures of delivering incremental value in short sprints to the customer or consumer to demonstrate value with the need to ensure that they leverage the best possible enterprise resources and align with broader corporate goals and strategies.

Building AI systems is a huge undertaking. Therefore, most companies should focus on helping employees adjust to the new world of AI, curating the right data and leaving the mechanics of building AI systems to vendors.

In this on-demand webinar, Cutter Senior Consultant Gustav Toppenberg explores how a powerful digital backbone can facilitate rapid innovation and responsiveness — keys to successful digital transformation.

Communication is difficult. It turns out that this approach of opening minds to the potential benefits of opposing ideas can be very valuable. Time and again we find that the best approach is at neither end of the scale, but instead at a “sweet spot” that balances the forces and harvests the best aspects of either end of the scale.

CIOs and their teams must make sure the business case for cloud migration is aligned with key business priorities, and that their migration plan addresses a few fundamental key success factors.

In this Executive Update, we explore some of the truths about the business architect role, potential focuses for the role, career path options, and what the future holds for a discipline that finds itself at the heart of business and technology change.

This Executive Update discusses the thinking behind employing artificial intelligence (AI) in an organization through “augmenta­tion.” It presents a case study on how a superregional bank implemented a cogni­tive contact center by using an AI framework called HALO — Human Augmented Learning Organization —  and showcases the meaning of “AI as a practice” within an organization.

This Executive Update discusses the thinking behind employing artificial intelligence (AI) in an organization through “augmenta­tion.” It presents a case study on how a superregional bank implemented a cogni­tive contact center by using an AI framework called HALO — Human Augmented Learning Organization —  and showcases the meaning of “AI as a practice” within an organization.

What are disruptors doing that we can learn from and shape the EA toward?

Whether AI eventually lives up to all the hype obviously remains to be seen; however, I expect that we are going to witness some innovative and disrupting applications in the not-too-distant future.

Srinivas Garapati explores important philosophies and the mindset behind Agile and Lean. He starts with the thinking patterns required to be successful. He then considers the nature of an Agile organization and finishes with strategies for organizational design.

Jutta Eckstein and John Buck walk us through an enterprise-aware approach that helps optimize the process flow of value streams. The authors show how to apply “Open Space” and “Sociocracy” to support enterprise Agile transformation. Open Space is a technique where everyone is invited to put forward ideas that they’re passionate about; if there is enough interest in the idea people will get behind it and make it happen. Sociocracy is a form of democracy for use in organizations, building feedback mechanisms into the organizational structure itself that ensure every voice is heard. Both strategies promote enterprise awareness, increasing collaboration between people in what would normally be disparate parts of the organization and helping optimize flow as the situation evolves.

Gill Kent and Robin Harwood provide a case study about linking Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) workflows and user stories. They focus on the importance of initial modeling during what they call the Discovery phase of a digital trans­formation project. In their example, they followed a pragmatic, Agile approach to modeling the business and their host systems to gain important insight into the enterprise transformation scope and a vision of the required system change for their endeavor. This enabled them to establish a business/stakeholder vision that captured a clear scope for the following phases. With an initial technical strategy/architecture identified, the team was able to name a backlog of architecturally relevant stories, mitigating the risk of late identification of system integration requirements and the potential for significant rework. In short, a pragmatic investment in initial modeling and planning paid off in huge divi­dends for their Agile team.