Over the past decade, pretty much anyone who has used the Internet has also used portals. Portals have become familiar; we know what they are, what they do, and how to use them. But as corporate IT applications, they have suffered from an identity crisis. It's not the fault of the portals or of portal vendors. The problem lies with us -- the current and prospective users of corporate portals -- and it boils down to this: we don't know what we want portals to be.

Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Steve Andriole explores how the relationship between business and technology is changing and how the new relationship is transforming the way we innovate, the way we organize, and the way we solve specific problems in vertical industries. The special issue looks at the major drivers of the change and some macro trends. Join us as our expert authors show how business and technology are converging toward a seamless partnership.

This month's CBR is the second half of our close look at project management. In the February issue (Part I), we focused on the "hard" factors that play into project success or failure (methods, tools, etc.). Now in Part II, we turn to the intangible, elusive, and extremely important "soft" factors. Leadership and interpersonal communication skills, levels of morale and training, and that ultimate intangible -- trust -- are usually presumed to matter greatly in managing projects.