Just a few years ago, the concept of on-demand BI was just that -- a concept. But today -- and forever going forward -- it's possible to outsource BI to a variety of providers. BI in the cloud is now possible, which potentially changes the schedule for the delivery of BI capabilities.

I've been working on a report covering complex event processing (CEP). One of the more interesting developments I've found regarding the application of CEP is that some organizations are implementing the technology in conjunction with BI to create advanced real-time analytical systems.

In an upcoming Executive Update ("The Agile Triangle Evolves as a Lean-Agile Prism," June 2010), I introduce the Lean-Agile Prism, the premise of which is to go beyond the agile triangle by giving high importance to design.

Hace poco escribí un Executive Update que introduce el Prisma Lean-Agile cuya premisa es ir más allá del triángulo agile dando gran importancia al diseño. Conforme dí pláticas sobre el Prisma, algunas personas comentaron que sólo se aplica a las aplicaciones comerciales donde el atractivo visual es importante.

© The Ken Orr Institute, 7 May 2010.

We have a number of hidden taxes, and complexity is becoming one of the worst ones. Every time we go to an airport, we encounter the Osama bin Laden tax at security, where it costs time and money to ensure our safety.

How many times have you heard the phrase "strategic technology"? Every time I read it or hear it, I bristle, especially right after I wrote it or said it and committed the error I am about to rail against. If everyone would just say "strategic uses of technology," I would feel much better.

How much e-mail do you get? If you're like most IT professionals, it's probably dozens, maybe even hundreds, of messages each day. Some of these messages even have real business value. More and more today, companies are using e-mail for operational purposes and customer communications (think mail order or travel reservations).

Environmental metrics and measurements (also known as carbon metrics or even green IT metrics because of the predominance of IT in the carbon space) play a pivotal role in reducing the carbon footprint of businesses. Reductions in carbon emissions by businesses need to be measured for justification and reporting.

Last week, Equifax Inc. picked Greenplum's analytic database and Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) platform to power its company-wide advanced analytics initiatives (for more about Greenplum's Enterprise Data Cloud, see my 16 June 2009 BI Advisor, "Greenplum's Enterprise Data Cloud").

Governance is a loaded term. It evokes a strong visceral reaction in software development teams. It is mostly viewed as a rigid exercise of control and perceived as a threat to the autonomy of the team and its creativity. But it need not be so.

"It's like déjà vu all over again."

So spoke the former Yankee great Yogi Berra about his teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris repeatedly hitting back-to-back home runs.

Anyone who follows my Trends Advisors on security will know that I am not a big fan of the current Internet and Windows operating system approaches to security. At base, this is much like the road systems in many major metropolitan areas: it is old and complex and used too much to be worked on.

Many organizations assume that if an obligation has been stated in a contract, the provider will comply with it and no further work needs to be done. However, astute organizations do not assume compliance, they ensure it. The time to discover the provider has not done so is not when your organization is seeking to invoke the clause, as the following case illustrates.

We have heard a lot recently about the ongoing and imminent integration of business and IT. Some example discussions range from "the CIO is dead" to the "cloud eliminates the IT department" and "business unit IT alignment won't matter" -- even to the agile argument that there aren't any IT projects any more, just business projects with an IT component.

Many practitioners recognize that IT governance is the cornerstone in achieving success when it comes to creating and delivering the right business value for their enterprises. In other words, IT governance is the key to business and IT alignment.

In the first part of this series (see "Economics 101 and Social Media Strategies, Part I: Diminishing Marginal Utility," 3 March 2010), I discussed diminishing marginal utility with respect to social media.

Many organizations assume that if an obligation has been stated in a contract, the provider will comply with it and no further work needs to be done. However, astute organizations do not assume compliance, they ensure it. The time to discover the provider has not done so is not when your organization is seeking to invoke the clause, as the following case illustrates.

Several weeks ago, a reader contacted me regarding a BI Advisor in which I said that I'd noticed a growing interest by end-user organizations in using data mining technology -- particularly for predictive customer analytics (see "How Do Your Data Mining and Predictive Analyti

To increase profits by increasing revenues, you have to be successful in making a particular case to your customers. You must convincingly present them with a value proposition that says: "Buy mine -- it costs more, but it's better."

I have experienced and witnessed an explosion in system design problems that are the byproduct of missing or incompetent systems analysts. Whether the development approach taken by a company is agile or traditional, the success or failure of the system is determined by the effectiveness of the analysis and design activities.

While the iPad continues to sell briskly, bloggers, pundits, poets, everyday people, and competitors wax on, admirably, jealously, and, once in a while, eloquently. More than probably any other device, this one found a truck-sized hole where none was seen. Standing in the no man's land between the cell phone and the laptop, it found this so-called desert fertile enough.

How does your organization provide feedback about the performance of its people?

The Internet changes everything -- or does it? New business models; Web 2.0; social networking; interactions with customers, employees, and partners, etc., are being revolutionized. The change is so rapid, how do we keep up?

In reading the latest Cutter IT Journal issue on cultivating leadership (see "Cultivating Leadership Throughout the IT Organization," Vol. 23, No. 3), one thing struck me. Every single article, in its own way and for different reasons, came to the same conclusion.