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Silicon for Oil: The Most Profitable Programming Project Ever?

Ken Orr

It has occurred to me that I don't think big enough. For example, I've been thinking that a $100-million enterprise resource planning (ERP) installation is a big deal. But now I'm not so sure; it may be that there are software applications out there that could turn out to be worth billions, maybe trillions, by the time it's all said and done.


Nearshore Outsourcing

Marty Mccaffrey

Improving Your Workforce with Recent Grads

Geoff Dober

What is it about an IT vacancy that causes the kneejerk reaction, "I'm looking for someone with one to three years experience"?


Flexibility

Paul Harmon

When I talk about component systems, I tend to emphasize that they are flexible. A single component can have interfaces that will support other components based on different component models. By using CORBA, a company can link COM, C++, and Enterprise JavaBeans components located on different servers in widely different geographical locations.


The Rise and Fall of Information Janitors

Borys Stokalski

The IT industry has always claimed its importance to the business. Computers and software are depicted in various ads as the corporate savior, the Wunderwaffe, or the "Ultimate Answer to All Management Problems." For a long time, no one paid much attention to the fact that the real role of corporate IT was that of information janitors -- sometimes useful, mostly harmless.


Managing Alignment Risks -- Part III: Ranking Risk and Developing Responses

Alexandre Rodrigues

This is the third Advisor in a series on the importance of practicing risk management for effective business-IT alignment. Last week ( 30 August 2000), I discussed developing a qualitative appreciation of each identified risk, which involves classifying the risk, identifying the risk owner, and assessing the magnitude of the risk's impact.


Japan's Internet Strategy

Paul Harmon

The Japanese government recently announced a five-year plan to make itself into an Internet powerhouse. I read the announcement with interest. When I was heavily involved in expert systems and AI in the mid-1980s, Japan was engaged in its Fifth Generation project, an effort to propel Japan into a leadership position in AI.


Pretending to Be a Black Rain Cloud

Lou Russell

"I'm just a Little Black Rain Cloud hovering over a honey tree."

Those of you with children or who remember being a child will recognize this classic Disney tune. Winnie-the-Pooh, in his never-ending quest for honey, has dunked himself in a mud puddle and is floating upward clinging to a helium balloon toward a large beehive high in a tree.


The Latest Chapter in the Open-Source Wars

Ed Yourdon

If you ask the average citizen on the street for a definition of "open source," you'll probably get a blank look. Ask a programmer, though, and you'll not only get a precise definition, but several examples and an emotional argument for why it's good or bad.


Managing Alignment Risks -- Part II: Qualitative Assessment

Alexandre Rodrigues

In my last Advisor ( 2 August 2000), I talked about the importance of practicing risk management for effective business-IT alignment. I described risk management as a cyclical process, comprised of five main stages: identification, qualitative assessment, quantitative assessment, development of risk responses, and monitoring of implemented responses.


Five Meetings

Paul Harmon

There are five important conferences coming up this fall. Since they are spread out over three different continents, few people will be able to attend all of them. Moreover, they are are specialized in different ways. Still, I thought I'd point them all out, since at least four are annual meetings and will recur next year, elsewhere.


How Effective *Is* Your Communications Plan?

Pamela Hollington

We all have come to understand how important communication is to a project. Balancing the need to keep everyone informed while avoiding management by democracy is a skill that every project manager must master. I recently came across a project that emphasized an important lesson about testing the effectiveness of a communications plan.


Industry Adoption of e-CRM Slow, But Success Rates High

Cutter Consortium, Cutter Consortium
INDUSTRY ADOPTION OF E-CRM SLOW,

V-Nations

Ed Yourdon

When I was a young boy, I remember my father telling me to beware of discussions and debates in which "reaction words" were used to evoke an emotional response that had little or nothing to do with the substance of the conversation. I have no idea why that lesson made such an impact on me, but it's one that we all see during debates about politics and religion.


Managing People Who Are Smarter Than You

Robert Austin

Among the challenges managers have had to face during the IT "revolution" of recent years, dealing with an increasingly specialized workforce has provoked particular angst. I saw this firsthand when I led a small, elite team of young programmers that supported mission-critical systems in an automaker's assembly plants. These plants are where the rubber hits the road in the auto business (literally).