Despite all the coverage and discussion of marketing automation software and CRM "analytics," mainstream IT analysts and advisors are missing a very subtle point.

In a recent study by Cutter Consortium, 24% of respondents reported that they think their organization believes software risk management is very useful and effective, 46% think that it is somewhat useful or effective, 14% think that it is not very useful or effective, and 16% say that their organization has not yet made a determination about the usefulness of software risk management.

"What do you think about use case models?" the consultant asked me.

The Object Management Group (OMG) Technical Committee met in Orlando, Florida, USA, in the last week in March and completed most of UML 2.0.

Several readers have written lately asking me to comment on the use of "virtual databases." Consequently, I've decided to make it the focus of this week's Advisor. First, I will examine virtual database technology in general and then move on to discuss its role regarding data warehousing and BI.

Just so there's no misunderstanding here, there's no question that computing environments that have less, rather than more, variation will save money and increase efficiency. Or put another way, you have a choice here: you can be sane or insane. Here are some questions to ponder:

Let's talk about people -- and let's be very honest with each other.

Strategic initiatives are one of the few tools senior executives have for guiding a corporation. Unfortunately, when it comes to strategic initiatives, most organizations perceive IT as not only a necessary evil, but sometimes as an outright barrier to implementing their initiative. IT's response to initiatives is generally perceived as slow, expensive, and marginally effective.

So much gibberish is being generated about the "real-time enterprise" that the IT manager practically needs wings to stay above it. The truth of the matter is that "real-time" information has its limitations, which the war in Iraq illustrates perfectly.

Over the years, operational risk management activities have evolved from simple information gathering to a functional discipline with dedicated staff using established formal policies and procedures.