We're always complaining about the business technology "alignment" problem -- though my preference is to redefine it as a "convergence" issue. However you view it, it's time to revisit the ways to better integrate our business and technology planning and decision making. Let's focus on the financial basics.

The literature of software development and project management "problems" is rife with descriptions of the dreaded "scope creep." Projects take too long because customers are always changing their minds and developers find cool new features to add. However, there is a big difference between scope creep, which is a problem and to be avoided, and the necessity of responding to business changes and the evolving requirements.

Although mobile technology is still young and has limitations, it continues to create novel applications and new business models, "mobilizing" and refining business processes. Mobile computing is attracting lots of interest as stakeholders come to realize its value, and it is empowering us in myriad ways. Quietly, the mobile revolution has begun!

Risk management plans, by virtue of their definition as a component of the project management plan, are too often perceived as being project specific but limited to an internal project focus. As a result, project risks that are identified frequently tend to be constrained to technical/resource issues within the management scope of the project/program manager (PM).

Many companies are still debating their decisions to ship projects abroad in light of the negative connotations offshore projects may have to onshore teams, particularly companies' full-time employees. A number of my recent engagements have revealed an aspect of the sourcing challenge, which I call the "ego factor." In this Advisor, I will explore why this behavior occurs in many companies today, explain the risks associated with the phenomenon, and include some ways to avoid such pitfalls.

The merging of business process management systems (BPMSs) and business rules management systems (BRMSs) represents an important trend in business process management. Why is this so? Because it is enabling companies to more easily define and manage processes designed to automate the complex tasks associated with frequently changing applications like decision support, fraud prevention, product recommendation, marketing, and compliance.

The question came up in the project management discussion group I run (www.newgrange.org) about how much responsibility a project manager (PM) has in making sure that a vendor is fairly compensated under the terms of a fixed-fee contract. Far be it from me to say a vendor can't enter a fixed-fee deal knowing they'll be taking a loss BUT once the contract is signed a certain attitude of fairness should prevail.

Recently, in preparing for a presentation, I was thinking about what makes agile project management and development successful. While there are many factors in agile's success, I think four key ones are:

One test to determine whether an organizational process has really taken root is to see whether the organization continues to follow the process in difficult times. Often when an organization is under budgetary or strong competitive pressure, process is the first thing to be chucked overboard. It is common, for instance, to find testing reduced on programs that are behind schedule and over cost.

In general, as has been observed since the turn of the millennium in India, the global BPO sector continues to grow in strength, with high levels of activity both onshore and offshore. Complementing this growth is the spurt of new suppliers coming to the table with highly complex services such as research or analytics. This trend is often termed "moving up the value chain" -- a dreadful cliche uttered far too often by commentators who forget that less complex services can also be of great value.