When deploying systems with a large business process change component, one of the most critical steps is to implement a process to measure change. It's all well and good to design a knowledge management system, train the users, and use change management techniques to decrease resistance to change. But, in the end, how do you know whether or not you solved the business problem you were attempting to solve?

Last week's Advisor focused on the fact that the US Department of Justice has asked, as part of its settlement of the Microsoft case, that Microsoft middleware products be grouped with the applications company and not with the operating systems company. I said that it would be a good thing, since it would level the playing field between COM+ and Enterprise JavaBeans.

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor with his gun ships. What Perry did (once euphemistically called "the opening of Japan") was controversial both then and now. But Perry did not go to Japan out of the goodness of his (or America's) heart; rather, he and his ships were there on behalf of old-fashioned, bare-knuckle, imperialistic capitalism.

I recently attended an excellent software development conference focusing on a variety of "leading trend" methods. Many of the topics were ones like risk management or knowledge management -- which no one opposed, but on which many companies have not made much progress. Why not?

Ed Roman, CEO of The Middleware Company, (edro@middleware-company.com) and the author of one of the best EJB books, took the trouble to read the government's petition to have Microsoft broken into two separate companies and pointed out something that you probably haven't yet seen in the popular press.

Editor's note: A recent posting on the Cutter Forum by Borys Stokalski contains some interesting predictions we thought would be of interest to Cutter IT Journal subscribers.

During a brief trip to Bombay and Bangalore last week, I had a chance to see how the IT industry has changed since my last trip to India in 1994. Six years is a long time in any part of the IT industry, of course, so it should be no surprise that a lot has happened in India.

In response to Jim Highsmith's Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor of 1 March, " Change Is Changing," I'd like to ask: Is the Internet really changing everything?

One of the ideas that Business Process Reengineering (BPR) people focused on was that some business processes are more important than others. These core business processes are what define the company. These are the processes or competencies that create the products and services that define the company.

I recently presented a session on project communication management to a room of systems people who are highly involved in project work. I explained that, in my opinion, it is difficult to overcommunicate on a project that involves change (and don't they all?). I believe that information -- early and often -- should be provided to the project team, especially to those who are going to be affected by the project outcome.

IPO mania is sweeping across industries like a tidal wave. High-school kids are launching new Internet businesses, while brick and mortar companies spin off e-business ventures. Revenue models may vary, but the goal is to achieve an initial public offering that turns founders and investors into billionaires.

I spent last week attending the Cutter Consortium Summit, which brings Cutter Consortium clients and Senior Consultants together to discuss key issues. One issue that was certainly discussed was the transition to e-business.

At last week's Cutter Consortium Summit 2000 conference in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the sessions was devoted to recruiting, motivating, and retaining IT professionals. Obviously, the main reason IT managers are thinking about this subject is that the overall unemployment rate in the US is at a 20-year low, and the unemployment rate of IT professionals is nearly zero.

According to a recent e-business study from Cutter Consortium, 51% of companies surveyed are currently using Java. An additional 12% are planning to use Java.

We hear that effective business-IT alignment requires the development of business models. This is the way to ensure that the business drives the technology, not the other way around. The awareness of this requirement is an important step; the second step is to ensure that you develop proper business models. Good business models must comply with some core requisites.

Last week, we discussed several important requirements for developing proper business models. Another crucial issue has to do with the specific modeling methodologies or techniques to use.