You may have missed the 30 November announcement about service component architecture (SCA) or perhaps you've read all the press releases but you're still trying to figure out what it is and whether or not you should care. Since I've been noodling on this for awhile, I hope I can shed some light on the subject.

Several leading software vendors -- including BEA, IBM, IONA, Oracle, SAP, Siebel, Sybase, and Xcalia -- have worked together to make implementing SOA easier (on Java at least). To quote from the press release:

Security is an underestimated risk to corporate success (or even in some cases, survival). Among the salient points are:

Security is an ongoing process, not a state of affairs, a set of policies, or a product.

IT security is an organic part of an integrated enterprise security strategy and cannot be effective in the absence of appropriate security regimes for physical assets, staff, intellectual property, and so on.

Look around, and it is pretty easy to pick out a software product that has benefited from a conscious focus on the design elements. There is a clear consistency across different areas of the application; it works well to support the client's needs -- indeed it can be a joy to use. Under the hood, the same focus has simplified the task of building the application, and likely has reduced the time and effort in the process.

A number of important developments took place last week that are significant when it comes to the issue of securing sensitive data and the possible cost of failing to do so. Just as important, they serve to drive home a point I've made in the past: organizations must take an "all-encompassing" approach when it comes to data security.

Over the last 18 months, the collaboration market has changed radically. Many users of collaboration technologies may not be aware of these changes, but vendors in this market certainly are.

Operational risks, as you may recall, are those risks that are caused by an organization's dependency on its systems, processes, and staff. The past few weeks have been a showcase for what happens when operational risk is not managed effectively.

Since not all sourcing projects are the same, what we should look for in a sourcing partner isn't always going to be the same. However, there is a consistent way to evaluate and analyze potential partners. Apart from their technical strengths and weaknesses, there are nine factors we must consider while evaluating potential vendors:

Flexibility or agility -- How does the vendor's business model lend itself to meeting our sourcing goals and objectives?

We believe the management and governance of IT ultimately comes down to the management of money. Project and lights-on budget decisions essentially determine what will be done with IT. However, traditional accounting-based budgets do not support the kind of decision-making necessary. Portfolio-based budgets -- and the management decisions and governance associated with them -- directly support the kind of decision-making necessary.

Recently, I had the privilege of being a guest keynote speaker at symposiums for two of the world's largest financial services companies, where I spoke about the people dynamics and success/failure trends of deadline-intensive projects -- something near and dear to all our hearts. Between the two events (one held in Chicago and the other in Boston), there were about 700 technology professionals in the audiences. It was an exciting time.

25 January 2006

The first week out of college in my first job people told me, "No surprises on your projects." I had no idea what that meant and struggled with this concept of surprises on projects for years. I eventually learned what people were trying to express and a few techniques that helped with warnings about bad news.

Knowledge and innovation will not happen where there is no trust. Companies that create an environment of trust with strong social connections and knowledge sharing are finding such a culture to be a source of real competitive advantage.

If you're like me, you have the best of intentions around the new year but somehow never get around to coming up with meaningful resolutions. As a special service to Enterprise Architecture Advisor readers, we're providing a list of ready-made resolutions that you can adopt for 2006 or beyond.

Enterprise reporting tools vendor Actuate Corporation has acquired business performance management vendor Performancesoft, Inc. for an initial US $16.5 million. Actuate will also pay -- in 2007 -- an additional contingent cash payment of up to $13.5 million based on achievement of certain revenue and operating margin targets for 2006.