Today's BI providers struggle with lightning-fast data mining and presentation -- two things that sports intelligence providers have mastered. The announcer's teleprompter and on-screen graphics prove that information can be both instantaneous and engaging.

Cloud computing and agile development are complementary concepts that have come together in myriad ways to aid in the rapid development and deployment of software to meet real business requirements. Both are currently in a state of evolution, which is creating interesting synergies as the enterprise IT environment continues to advance.

In this Executive Report by Dr. Leslie P. Willcocks and Catherine Griffiths, we examine the key roles that middle managers (MMs) play in outsourcing on both the client and the supplier sides. Most senior executives ignore these less headline-grabbing roles at their own peril.

Assertion 191: The current mode of flat-rate pricing for wired and wireless data communications discourages space-efficient software, encourages unlimited consumption, and is unsustainable. Rising capital and operating expenses to keep pace with increasing demand will force carrier pricing upward. Simultaneously, customers will tire of subsidizing peak users, pressuring prices downward. A pay-per-use model can address both issues. 

Recent advances in source code analysis techniques enable us to quantify technical debt. By so doing, software quality can be tied to cost and value through a common denominator: the dollar. This tie enables the governing of the software development process with great effectiveness at both the tactical and strategic levels, as we examine in this Executive Report by Israel Gat. Such governance is applicable to any software method/process, enabling "apples to apples" management across a diverse portfolio of projects.

A new generation of customer relationship management (CRM) is emerging. Social CRM brings the promise of Web 2.0 together with the allure of social networks. Is this a breakthrough for CRM? Or is it just another case of overpromise and underdeliver?

Every discipline goes through a phase when the terminology is ambiguous or requires frequent explanations. Business process management (BPM) is currently in that immature state.

Complex event processing (CEP) monitors, aggregates, and analyzes large volumes of events in real (or near real) time across multiple data streams to offer instantaneous insight into live data on markets, transactions, customers, and operations -- thus enabling immediate response and better decision making based on ti

Recent advances in source code analysis techniques enable us to quantify technical debt. By so doing, software quality can be tied to cost and value through a common denominator: the dollar.

Traditional process/compliance-centered approaches to IT governance have not proven totally effective against the general malaise of often poor return from IT investments. This Executive Report by Dr.

IT industry

Society is becoming increasingly dependent on complex, technology-rich systems. With increased complexity comes increased potential for disaster, since we currently lack the ability to understand how such large-scale, interconnected systems behave and we cannot appreciate the growing level of systemic risk they present.

People born in the last two decades have grown up with electronic devices in their hands. Their patterns of device use, thought, and behavior are different from those of previous generations.

There is an increasing realization that enterprise architecture (EA) cannot work in technological isolation but must work collaboratively as a capability within the culture of the organization.

The overall mission of operational and business intelligence (BI) is to make sense of and to strategically leverage data and information, much of which can be unstructured. In the near future, thanks to the proliferation of sensor-based information networks, the typical opportunities and challenges linked to knowledge mining will intensify.

This Executive Report by Robert K. Wysocki defines a robust requirements management lifecycle (RMLC) that adapts to any project. The report begins with a bird's eye view of the RMLC and then gives a description of the project landscape.

A new variant of outsourcing -- cloud computing -- is being trumpeted as a more advantageous way for executives and managers to pay someone else to worry about the reliability, integrity, and security of data processing activities.

Security

The value of digital assets and the negative impact of mishandling them are forcing organizations to make security and privacy a strategic and operational imperative.

There's a digital revolution descending squarely upon an industry that time (and TCP/IP) nearly forgot: our aging, yet highly reliable, electric utility grid. The Smart Grid is to be borne upon the innovations and technologies of the Internet, melding with traditional electric utility generation, transmission, and distribution protocols of the past century. How will the Smart Grid influence consumers in their use of energy? Who will collectively manage (and secure) the Smart Grid's "digital exhaust"?

Business intelligence (BI 1.0) is turning the performance corner toward the next generation (BI 2.0).

Documentation is one of those unclear and foggy issues in the agile community. How much documentation should we create and maintain?

What will the 2010s bring? It is not easy to look into the future; however, CIOs will have to do just that if they want to build and mold a staff capable of taking on the new challenges coming with this decade. CEOs and CIOs have many responsibilities and priorities, but the two most important ones are defining strategy and building the best team to achieve strategic goals and objectives.

As presented in this Executive Report by Bhuvan Unhelkar, an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS) for green business transformation starts with four drivers -- sociocultural/political, regulatory/legal, enlightened self-interest, and respons

It is very challenging to negotiate when the other party is more powerful than you are. While differences in power do exist in negotiations, power is complex, with some factors acting for you and others against you. You need to be able to understand and exploit these dynamics.

Enterprise architecture (EA) can be traced back to 1987 and has continually evolved ever since. In this Executive Report by Claude R.

The reasons for, and statistics on, IT project failures are well known and cited. However, because so many organizations attempt to hide their dirty laundry, rarely do we see an insider's account of the precise points at which a project derailed.