Cutter Consortium: Business Technology Strategies

Peer-to-Peer: Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:00:38 -0400

Roberto, Michael | Events |
On Wednesday, June 12 at 12:00pm EDT (see local time; add it to your calendar), join us for a private virtual roundtable where you can talk with Prof. Roberto -- and with other Cutter Members -- about your own processes of decisionmaking and the ways in which you may be influenced by organizational politics and culture.
http://www.cutter.com/events/multimedia/great-leaders.html

Toward Enterprise Agility

Thu, 30 May 2013 11:36:04 -0400

Ambler, Scott W. | E-Mail Advisors |
Enablers of enterprise agility include diffused authority; flat organizational structures; trust-based relationships with customers and suppliers; and, of course, an agile information technology strategy. In this Advisor, I focus on what it takes to have an agile IT strategy.
http://www.cutter.com/content/project/fulltext/advisor/2013/apm130530.html

Business Models and the Development of Mobile Apps

Thu, 30 May 2013 11:34:34 -0400

Succi, Giancarlo; Corral, Luis |
Mobile devices have become one of the most important platforms for the distribution and utilization of user-oriented software. Smartphone sales outnumber those of PCs, and application markets represent a primary channel for the dissemination of end-user software products, hosting thousands of apps and reporting millions of downloads per day.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130530.html

Putting the "M" Back into BPM

Wed, 29 May 2013 11:31:32 -0400

Spanyi, Andrew | E-Mail Advisors |
There is no doubt that business process management (BPM) has made a key contribution to improving performance of business processes via BPM projects, yet the "management" part of BPM has not lived up to its full potential.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2013/ea130529.html

The Prism View Technique: A CIO's Framework for Designing Successful Organizational Training Programs

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:29:35 -0400

Pruseth, Debabrata | Journals |
The framework described here, which I call the "Prism View" framework, will help CIOs build a clear picture of the current IT training landscape, define the target desired state, analyze the gaps, and build effective training programs for the organization.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305e.html

Investing in Human Capital and Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture: The Egyptian Experience

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:25:49 -0400

Kamel, Sherif | Journals |
Investing in human capital should always be the priority for individuals, organizations, and societies in order to constantly move forward.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305f.html

The Role of Leadership Development and Staff Training in a Recovering Global Economy

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:24:00 -0400

Ellyn, Lynne | Journals |
Leadership training is a must for new managers, and refreshing the outlook and skills of more experienced professionals is one important way to maintain organizational effectiveness.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/index.html

A Model for Creating High-Performance Teams -- From a Most Unexpected Source

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:20:08 -0400

Glazer, Hillel | Journals |
What good is a high-performance team in a vacuum, and how long will one last without an environment in which it can thrive?
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305d.html

Creating High-Performance Virtual Teams: Expanding Our Perspectives on Investing in People

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:18:45 -0400

Brenner, Richard | Journals |
In this article, I focus on IT virtual project teams, but much of what follows applies to other types of virtual teams, possibly with slight adjustments.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305a.html

High-Performance Team Building

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:15:47 -0400

Stradley, Jason L. | Journals |
In this article, I will focus on some of the keys to creating and sustaining high-performance teams in today's fluid and ever-changing business landscape.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305b.html

Using Leadership as a Secret Weapon in IT

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:14:03 -0400

Woerner, Ronald; Sweeney, Timothy | Journals |
For many organizations, IT is in a rising position of power, especially the CIO. However, many people on the IT team are still stuck down the chain of command fighting an uphill battle to adequately serve their organization.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/2013/05/itj1305c.html

Measuring IT Value: The CIO as the New Brewmaster of the IT Investment Portfolio

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:11:11 -0400

Multhaup, Bob | Executive Reports |
Measuring the value of IT can best be determined by building an IT investment portfolio where customer goals drive the IT projects. The development of this complex portfolio requires a tremendous amount of careful attention and technical and political skills from the CIO to "brew" the perfect mix of IT solutions for the customer. As we explore in this Executive Report, the primary challenge of the CIO is to get the right people to agree on where the company should allocate its IT assets and resources -- otherwise known as the "investment portfolio."
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/reports/2013/03/index.html

SMAC for the Enterprise

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:09:53 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Everyone talks about social media, mobile, analytics, and the cloud (SMAC) profoundly impacting the enterprise. But while these technologies hold tremendous promise, each presents its own issues and considerations when it comes to its utilization for business.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130528.html

Tablets for Mobile BI

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:08:01 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Organizations have been developing mobile BI applications for some time now. To a large degree, however, the "first wave" of mobile BI applications focused on the use of smartphones due to the proliferation of such devices; they were the first mobile devices to appear that really made mobile BI practical, and they were considerably less expensive than the early tablet offerings (e.g., Apple iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook).
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130523.html

Big Data in Training

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:06:38 -0400

Dooley, Brian J. | E-Mail Advisors |
A revolution is coming to learning environments, with its initial impact likely to be seen in corporate training. This revolution is being fostered by Big Data analytics. The application of real-time Big Data analytics to processes has already shown promise in areas such as marketing, transportation, and finance, where analytics can be combined with automation to produce vastly more efficient and better-targeted results.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130521.html

Peer-to-Peer: Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:00:21 -0400

Does IT Lack Audacity?

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:06:42 -0400

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors |
Thornton May and I talked about what makes leaders so willing to get along and less willing to move with urgency. Clearly, the position of the CIO as a service unit may have some bearing on this, but excessive compromise and insufficient gumption is not owned solely by the CIO.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130516.html

Mobile in the Enterprise: Part IV - Mobile BI

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:02:27 -0400

Hall, Curt | Executive Updates |
In October and November 2012, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey that asked 69 end-user organizations worldwide about their use of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, in order to provide their employees and partners with the ability to interact with business operations, ranging from basic email to CRM and BI while "on the go." Our goal was to determine the extent that organizations actually utilize mobile technology -- and for which domains and applications.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1308.html

Trends in Green IT

Thu, 9 May 2013 15:00:42 -0400

Konkol, Sebastian | E-Mail Advisors |
During the past decade we have seen a great deal of pressure placed on environmental issues. There have been more restrictive emission norms, a somewhat sense of being forced to use renewable sources of energy, the emergence of passive buildings, and even green IT.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130509.html

Intelligent Video Analytics on the Rise, Part II

Tue, 7 May 2013 14:56:57 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
In this article, I examine the use of video analytics and IVA systems in commercial business environments such as retail and restaurants. I also consider the issue of privacy, which inevitably arises with the use of video surveillance and video analytics.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130507.html

Mobile BI and the Role of Tablets in the Enterprise

Mon, 6 May 2013 14:54:47 -0400

Hall, Curt | Executive Reports |
Mobile BI consists of the ability to access, view, and interact with corporate data on smartphones and tablets via mobile reports, interactive dashboards, visualizations, ad hoc reporting, and other functionality. This Executive Report examines the application of mobile BI with a focus on the use of tablets in the enterprise. It includes potential business benefits afforded by using tablets for mobile BI as well as the technology, products, applications, and issues associated with implementing mobile BI applications.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/reports/2013/04/index.html

Peer-to-Peer: Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:00:56 -0400

Any Chance for Green IT?

Fri, 3 May 2013 14:29:34 -0400

Konkol, Sebastian | Executive Updates |
Although car and building industries present signs of real change in this area, IT industry endeavors raise some concerns on whether or not IT is truly "going green." And these are not about lack of true undertakings, but rather about two trends in applied IT covering the whole stack -- from hardware to applications. Let's begin this Executive Update examining these two trends.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/updates/2013/eau1308.html

No Big Data Laws or Regulations ... Yet

Thu, 2 May 2013 14:27:50 -0400

Herold, Rebecca | E-Mail Advisors |
At the time of this writing, I could find no existing laws or regulations that explicitly name Big Data within them. That could change sometime in the coming months as businesses and lawmakers realize that a variety of legal protections as well as associated information security controls are necessary to protect these digital gold mines.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130502.html

Intelligent Video Analytics on the Rise, Part I

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:26:35 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
The Boston Marathon bombing on 15 April and the crucial role that video played in identifying and apprehending the suspects in the days after sparked my interest in examining the current state of video analytics and, in particular, new developments with intelligent video analytics (IVA) systems.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130430.html

Programming the World: Part II -- Creating Value Through Augmented Reality

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:24:23 -0400

Feller, Joseph | Executive Updates |
This is the second Executive Update in a three-part series exploring an exciting and rapidly maturing technological trend: the layering of interactive information over the physical world in real time -- aka augmented reality (AR).
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1307.html

Learning and Organizational Change: The Soft Stuff Is the Hard Stuff ... Still

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:22:23 -0400

Dublin, Lance | Executive Updates |
As we'll explore in this Executive Update, using technology to develop, deliver, and manage learning is now central to most every organization's strategy to leverage their people to achieve and sustain competitive advantage.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1309.html

A Leadership Approach for a Metrics Program: Part II -- On Leadership's Role and "Staying Out of the Kitchen"

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:20:50 -0400

Klubeck, Martin | Executive Updates |
One of my friends wanted help in growing her business. As a local restaurant owner, she had received many accolades and encouragement to expand. Being a wise (and cautious) leader, she wanted first to see if the compliments she was receiving were warranted and whether her "product" was truly worthy of expansion.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1308.html

Shifting into the Future Without Changing Gears

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:18:20 -0400

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors |
The past few months have been compelling for me in my role as a project management consultant and risk management expert. Clients have been clamoring for insight on how to manage the significant shifts that have occurred in the management marketplace with the introductions of ISO 21500:2012 (Guidance on Project Management) and the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 5th Edition ©2013 (PMBOK Guide).
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130425.html

Cloud Performance Metrics and Benchmarking

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:16:52 -0400

Markande, Krishna | Executive Updates |
This Executive Update focuses on an approach for cloud performance benchmarking by examining various considerations as well as the tools available for benchmarking public cloud infrastructures and NoSQL databases. This benchmarking approach improves the short-listing process for cloud infrastructure components while building cloud services.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1306.html

A Matter of Vector

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:14:29 -0400

Dooley, Brian J. | E-Mail Advisors |
Last month we looked at the veracity factor in Big Data, which concerns the uncertainty of input and the need to cross-check and correct it (see "The Veracity Factor"). This is important because results in streams, such as social data comments, do not yield a precise interpretation. Part of this problem of uncertainty, and somewhat independent from veracity, is a matter that might be called "the vector," or source of the data.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130423.html

Press Release: Stat of the Week -- Does your organization create a repository of project lessons learned?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:13:16 -0400

Cutter Consortium |
"One of the advantages of performing risk management is that an organization can gain valuable insights into what mistakes have been made on previous projects and thereby learn how to avoid them in the future. Creating so-called lessons learned is a commonly used approach for capturing this knowledge."
http://www.cutter.com/press/130423.html

Big Data, Big Denial

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:01:25 -0400

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors |
In a mutual boot-strapping beginning with the dawn of Homo sapiens, mankind and information have both exploded in variety, velocity, and volume. Our fates have been intertwined. We advance by harvesting, using, and sharing information. Along the way, information persists, mutates, and diffuses further.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130418.html

Time for Game-Changing Mobile Enterprise Apps

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:59:04 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
A recent article in the New York Times describes a New York Police Department (NYPD) pilot program in which approximately 400 officers have been given smartphones to help them fight crime. You can read the full article here, but here's the gist of the NYPD's mobile application.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2013/ea130417.html

Corporate Adoption of Tablets for Mobile BI

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:55:54 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
For some time now, tablets routinely have been touted as an ideal platform for making mobile BI practical. But to what extent are end-user organizations actually adopting tablets to support their mobile BI initiatives?
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130416.html

Driven by Data: Can We Invent the Future?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:45:44 -0400

Love, Jim | Journals |
"On a clear day, you can see six weeks." A friend overheard this comment between two IT executives at a conference a few years back. It's become one of my favorite quotes. It beautifully illustrates the difficulty of making predictions about the future of technology.
http://www.cutter.com/content/benchmark/fulltext/2013/01/cbr1301b.html

IT Trends in 2013: A Fresh Spring Perspective

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:44:38 -0400

Feller, Joseph | Journals |
No matter what goals your company has set or planned for 2013 -- a clean end game for an ongoing set of initiatives, an accelerated start for new ones, radical changes, or battening down the hatches -- now is the time to take stock and turn plans into action.
http://www.cutter.com/content/benchmark/fulltext/2013/01/index.html

IT Trends 2013 Survey Data

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:43:09 -0400

Cutter Consortium | Journals |
This survey explored interest in, and adoption of, various relatively new IT technologies and initiatives and investigated staffing and outsourcing trends in 68 organizations worldwide.
http://www.cutter.com/content/benchmark/fulltext/2013/01/cbr1301d.html

IT Trends in 2013: What Comes Next?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:36:58 -0400

Feller, Joseph | Journals |
I hope you have enjoyed this issue of CBR, and that both the survey data and our authors' analysis gave you food for thought as you consider your strategies and operations for the rest of 2013 and beyond.
http://www.cutter.com/content/benchmark/fulltext/2013/01/cbr1301c.html

Hope for IT Stability: Staffing, Sourcing, and Innovation Trends

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:35:00 -0400

Adams, Dennis A. | Journals |
With flat economic numbers, austerity measures kicking in, and armed conflicts roiling most areas of the world, last year came to a close much as it began. Although most equity markets are looking good today, debt levels still make investors, politicians, and credit-rating agencies nervous.
http://www.cutter.com/content/benchmark/fulltext/2013/01/cbr1301a.html

Measurement Is Not a Number

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:30:06 -0400

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors |
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." So wrote the novelist Upton Sinclair in 1935, but the past few weeks have seen several examples that serve to exemplify Sinclair's astute observation, as well as highlight some important lessons in unintended consequences and in the avarice inherent in human beings.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130411.html

IT: Finding Common Ground with Your Customers

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:27:54 -0400

Multhaup, Bob | Executive Updates |
This Executive Update focuses on how to better define a common ground of objectives, language, and costs between IT professionals and their customers to establish the basis for creating and measuring real IT value creation, especially concerning ongoing operations.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1307.html

A Bigger Cloud Ecosystem Is on Its Way

Tue, 9 Apr 2013 11:26:24 -0400

Murugesan, San | E-Mail Advisors |
Driven by several converging and complementary factors, cloud computing is advancing as an IT service delivery model at a staggering pace. It is also causing a paradigm shift in the way we deliver and use IT.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130409.html

What Is My Contingency Plan for My Internet Life?

Thu, 4 Apr 2013 11:27:53 -0400

Benson, Bob | E-Mail Advisors |
I got to thinking about how the Internet has become so thoroughly enmeshed in our daily lives. Just today, I can list the following "dependencies" we on which we relied.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130404.html

User Experience Analysis Framework: From Usability to Social Media Networks

Thu, 4 Apr 2013 11:26:04 -0400

Unhelkar, Bhuvan | Executive Reports |
A user experience analysis framework (UXAF) is an all-encompassing view of a user's experience with a business that transcends the "known" areas of usability of systems. UXAF draws your attention to the invaluable pre-user and post-user that exist outside the electronic firewalls of your business -- and reside in the exploration and reflection phases of UXAF -- facilitated by social media networks (SMNs). This Executive Report lays the foundation for the future of business analysis in the SMN Age by encouraging in-depth analysis of user experience beyond usability and into the realms of user communities, their demographics, and their perceptions.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/reports/2013/03/index.html

Systems of Engagement: Part II -- Enterprise Solution Architecture and Responsibilities

Wed, 3 Apr 2013 11:23:57 -0400

Rosen, Michael | Executive Updates |
To summarize, SORs are the transactional, back-office systems that IT has been building for the last 40 years. They are the things that we typically call our "core" systems, including custom applications, ERP, and other COTS applications.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/updates/2013/eau1307.html

The Veracity Factor

Tue, 2 Apr 2013 11:22:38 -0400

Dooley, Brian J. | E-Mail Advisors |
Big Data has frequently been described as differing from standard BI and analytics by volume, velocity, and variety. These factors describe most of the current initiatives within the area and point to issues that make analysis difficult. However, there is also another intriguing "V" that might be added to introduce a new level of complexity and higher goals: veracity.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130402.html

Big Data: Part III -- Privacy and Security

Mon, 1 Apr 2013 11:18:18 -0400

Herold, Rebecca | Executive Updates |
To round out this three-part Executive Update series on Big Data, let's get a better handle on all the significant privacy and security issues we touched on in Parts I and II.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1305.html

The Front-End vs. Back-End Dichotomy Is Dead

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:04:36 -0400

Gat, Israel | E-Mail Advisors |
Expanding agile in development to end-to-end agile was always a tricky business. You could, of course, drive success in agile downstream, using your success in development as the lever for change, provided you had carefully thought through three major aspects.
http://www.cutter.com/content/project/fulltext/advisor/2013/apm130328.html

How Bad Could It Be? Coping with Cyber War in the 21st Century

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:03:12 -0400

Orr, Ken | E-Mail Advisors |
In one of my favorite movies, the 2007 Live Free or Die Hard, a computer mastermind takes over the most critical computer and communications infrastructure of the US's East Coast. In less than 24 hours, he and his band of highly organized cyber hackers bring down: the Washington, DC, traffic control system; a major gas pipeline (which he uses to blow up a government installation); the electrical system in and around the DC area; and, finally, the nation's financial institutions.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130328.html

A Leadership Approach for a Metrics Program: Part I -- Root Questions -- and Thinking in the Abstract

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:00:20 -0400

Klubeck, Martin | Executive Updates |
Leadership has to do what no one else is equipped to do: ask the right questions. This is the first step we'll explore in this three-part Update series on developing a leadership approach to metrics.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1306.html

What's Up with Watson?

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:59:11 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Two years ago, I examined Watson-IBM's natural language question answering system (see "How Smart Is Watson, and What Is Its Significance to BI and DSS?"). At that time, Watson was getting a lot of publicity because it had successfully challenged, and defeated, some of the best Jeopardy! (human) contestants in the history of the popular TV game show.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130326.html

New Technologies for the New, Collaborative Workplace

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:13:23 -0400

Coleman, David | E-Mail Advisors |
Although collaboration is a behavior, it can often be enabled by various technologies. But it's not just collaboration technologies that will define the workplace of the future. These seven technologies will be crucial in shaping the future workspace.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130321.html

Making the Most of a CIO's First 100 Days

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:12:20 -0400

Clermont, Paul | Executive Reports |
CIOs not only need to know what to do, they need to know how to go about it in a way that gains respect from two very different constituencies: businesspeople and technologists. This Executive Report addresses situations facing new CIOs based on where they were before and what happened to their predecessors. It offers situation-based advice on what to do -- substantively, politically, and stylistically -- to maximize the likelihood of success.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/reports/2013/02/index.html

Pursuing Process Ownership

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:11:05 -0400

Spanyi, Andrew | E-Mail Advisors |
An organizational capability, much like an end-to-end process, requires that different departments work together to create value for customers. In traditional organizations, where the predominant focus is on managing individual departments, it is rare to observe that any one individual has overall accountability for these large sets of value-creating activities.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2013/ea130320.html

Dirty Data, Missing Data, or Insufficient Training -- The Impact on Decision Making Is the Same

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:09:52 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
The recent announcement that NATO and the US Pentagon were retracting a statement reporting that Taliban attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan had declined (in 2012) is a good reminder of just how important training and data quality are when it comes to analytics and decision making.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130319.html

The Role and Responsibilities of the Chief Data Officer

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:08:21 -0400

Moss, Larissa T.; Adelman, Sid | E-Mail Advisors |
A company's data has value, but to date, data assets have not been shown directly on companies' books, although it is sometimes there as goodwill, and sometimes it is partially reflected in the price of the stock. We need to make the value of data more apparent.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130314.html

IT Service Providers: Adding Value to Your Business

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:07:12 -0400

Chandra, Aluru | Executive Updates |
This Executive Update discusses ideas and opportunities for presenting value additions in a manner that will be appreciated by the client-side stakeholders. The suggestions presented here are equally applicable to captive IT organizations that provide services to business units within the enterprise.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1305.html

Big Data -- Does Size Matter?

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:05:46 -0400

Mazzucchelli, Lou | E-Mail Advisors |
While the term "Big Data" continues to encroach on the common vernacular, it's important to understand the drivers of the phenomenon, its possible value, and also its potential for misuse. Many of the "misuse" examples come from areas of privacy and ethics, but there is also the potential for misuse that is just bad business.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130312.html

What Is the Price of Trust Per Pound?

Thu, 7 Mar 2013 11:44:34 -0400

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors |
"We don't test for hedgehog, either." So said Malcolm Walker, chairman and founder of Iceland Foods, a large supermarket chain operating in the UK and Ireland. Walker was speaking in defense of EU supermarkets and about why they didn't know that the meat products they offered for sale contained horsemeat, some of which was contaminated with an equine anti-inflammatory medicine that is banned in food.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130307.html

An Integrated EA Approach for Effective ERM

Thu, 7 Mar 2013 11:42:58 -0400

Chapala, Nethaji | Executive Updates |
Organizations need to develop strategies to make ERM more effective. One such strategy is bringing enterprise architecture (EA) into the mix. In this Executive Update, we'll explore the challenges of operational risk management and how integrating ERM practices with EA will alleviate the failures organizations face today.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1304.html

Amazon Joins the DWaaS Craze

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:39:58 -0400

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Under the full-blown data warehousing as a service (DWaaS) model, organizations can have the service provider manage almost all aspects of the implementation -- from definition and setup to provisioning and maintenance. The latest provider to introduce a DWaaS offering is Amazon, with its Redshift data warehousing platform designed to run on AWS.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130305.html

Business as Proactive Transformation Change Agent

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:27:10 -0400

Ulrich, William M. | E-Mail Advisors |
As I discussed in a recent Cutter Business & Enterprise Architecture Executive Update, business-IT misalignment is a business problem. We can therefore conclude that undertaking a business-IT transformation effort without business engagement, sponsorship, and participation leads to piecemeal solutions that paper over or ignore underlying misalignment challenges.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130228.html

The Role of Chief Data Officer in the 21st Century

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:25:55 -0400

Moss, Larissa T.; Adelman, Sid | Executive Reports |
Fifteen years after enterprise resource planning and over two decades into data warehousing, many business executives are still frustrated over their inability to trust their company's data. They have spent millions on new technologies, only to find that the state of their data assets has deteriorated. This significantly reduces the business value of their investments. One big reason for this continuing data chaos is that companies do not manage their data as a business asset, and there is no one watching the store. In this Executive Report, we look at the role of chief data officer and why this role is so important.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/reports/2013/02/index.html

Agility and Discipline in Business Processes: A Case Study

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:19:16 -0400

Baudoin, Claude R. | Executive Updates |
In April 2012, while in Boston for the Cutter Summit, I started a dinner conversation with a friend and ex-colleague under the assumption that we would simply have a pleasant chat, giving each other updates on our respective work since our previous meeting. But while this goal was indeed achieved, I discovered something more profound, something I was tempted to summarize as "some people just get it" -- except that wouldn't be a very explicit title for this Executive Update. What they "get" is that you can combine agility and rigor in your business operations, and the example of Dimagi proves it.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1303.html

So What Is Big Data?

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:46:28 -0500

Herold, Rebecca | E-Mail Advisors |
The term "Big Data" is becoming part of the common vernacular. So what does it mean? Basically, Big Data refers to the huge amount of data created and collectively examined through many online sites, as well as offline sites and vast repositories.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130221.html

Business-IT Architecture Misalignment: Part III - Building Executive Sponsorship

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:44:30 -0500

Ulrich, William M. | Executive Updates |
Part I of this Executive Update series introduced systemic challenges facing organizations with a high degree of business-IT misalignment, along with a summary of how to address these challenges. In Part II, we examined a business-IT architecture transformation framework. The framework provided a comprehensive approach to addressing business-IT misalignment. Part III of this series provides practical advice for launching a business-IT architecture misalignment initiative in practice.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/updates/2013/eau1304.html

The Communications Gap -- Up and Down

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:42:37 -0500

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors |
Last year, I had a client identify a concern regarding the communications gap that seemed to exist between team members in the trenches and those in the executive suite. The response? We developed a series of "Communicating UP" workshops, designed to facilitate better communication up the food chain. It was a surprising success. Not only that, when I discussed the concept with other clients, they were uniformly eager to embrace similar training.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130214.html

Mobile in the Enterprise: Part II -- Support, Strategy, and Standardization Trends for Tablets

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:38:10 -0500

Hall, Curt | Executive Updates |
Part I of this Executive Update series examined corporate mobile device adoption practices and strategies and the main benefits organizations hope to achieve by using mobile technologies as well as the top obstacles to enterprise mobile adoption. In this Update, I focus on survey findings pertaining to the support for tablets in the enterprise, strategic significance of tablets and trends in corporate tablet platform standardization efforts.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1302.html

Risk Management and the Strategy Process

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:35:43 -0500

Doughty, Ken; Terry, Craig | Executive Reports |
To fully embed risk management within the strategy creation process effectively, organizations need to first understand the risks that its stakeholders take when providing continuing resources and support. They must also comprehend the actual processes used to create strategy. As we explore in this Executive Report, strategy creation models can differ according to environmental context and each impacts the design of a strategic risk management framework. Importantly, these models also create their own risks.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/reports/2013/01/index.html

Big Changes on the Horizon for Big Data, Part II: Market Happenings

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:33:53 -0500

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Last week, in Part I of this Advisor, I discussed important changes I saw happening in the Hadoop/Big Data world in order to accelerate enterprise adoption of the technology (see "Big Changes on the Horizon for Big Data -- Part I"). Basically, I said that we could expect to see a shift from focusing so much on the technological aspects of Hadoop to one that champions better methods and well-defined use cases.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130212.html

Peer-to-Peer: Running with Scissors - What Else Can I Cut?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:09:38 -0500

Blitstein, Ron | Events |
This Cutter Consortium members-only Peer-to-Peer session will be moderated by Ron Blitstein, Practice Director for Cutter's Business Technology Strategies. The forum will help you develop ideas on new approaches that can yield sustainable cost reductions for your organization.
http://www.cutter.com/events/multimedia/cost-reduction.html

Pulling the Andon Risk Cord

Thu, 7 Feb 2013 12:04:33 -0500

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors |
I was reminded of Gene Kranz's words once more this past week on the 10th anniversary of the loss of the NASA shuttle Columbia and the deaths of its seven-member crew. I have always been fascinated by how problematic it is for organizations to allow risks, even those that can get people killed, to surface and be discussed openly.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130207.html

Big Changes on the Horizon for Big Data, Part I

Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:02:40 -0500

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
For the past year and a half, much of the hype surrounding Big Data focused on the technological aspects of Hadoop. During this time, Hadoop became almost synonymous with Big Data -- as we were flooded with stories about how Internet companies like Amazon and Facebook and Yahoo! were using and enhancing the technology.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130205.html

Big Data: Part I -- New Privacy Concerns

Fri, 1 Feb 2013 12:00:29 -0500

Herold, Rebecca | Executive Updates |
How many business organizations are actually looking into the privacy issues for how they use or plan to use Big Data? Here in Part I of this three-part Executive Update series, we explore new privacy concerns surrounding Big Data.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/updates/2013/biau1301.html

Food for Thought: Bedtime Reading for IT Management, Volume II

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:58:17 -0500

Benson, Bob | E-Mail Advisors |
In this Advisor, I focus on leadership and strategy subjects (for past reviews, see "Food for Thought: Bedtime Reading for IT Management"). These may be interesting to those of you considering issues in these domains.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130131.html

Business Craftsmanship: A Right-Brain Approach to Organizational Transformation

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:55:37 -0500

Mayer, Tobias | Executive Updates |
Business craftsmanship is concerned with organizational transformation and enlightenment. Scrum is a good example of an organizational framework. It has well-defined components, namely roles, meetings, artifacts, and values.
http://www.cutter.com/content/project/fulltext/updates/2013/apmu1302.html

2013 Predictions on Collaboration: Part II

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:53:14 -0500

Coleman, David | Executive Updates |
This year, 2013, may finally be the long-predicted "year of collaboration." In Part I of this two-part Executive Update series, I discussed five predictions related to increasing collaboration: collaborative tools for HR, 3D printing changing the supply chain, ubiquitous videoconferencing, collaboration on Big Data, and technologies that will change the workplace. Here are five more predictions that point to 2013 as the year of collaboration.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1302.html

Business-IT Architecture Misalignment: Part II -- A Transformation Framework

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:51:07 -0500

Ulrich, William M. | Executive Updates |
Part I of this Executive Update series introduced systemic challenges facing organizations with a high degree of business-IT misalignment, along with a summary of how to address these challenges. Here in Part II, we introduce a business-IT architecture transformation framework. The framework provides a comprehensive approach to addressing business-IT misalignment.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/updates/2013/eau1302.html

2013 Predictions on Collaboration: Part I

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:48:09 -0500

Coleman, David | Executive Updates |
If anything, the pace of change in technology is speeding up. So how will 2013 be different than 2012? What I can say about 2013 is that more people are now aware of collaboration (in any form) and how critical it is to work. Let's see how things play out via the 10 predictions I share with you for 2013. This Executive Update covers the first five; I will expand on the last five predictions in Part II.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/updates/2013/bitu1301.html

Peer-to-Peer: Running with Scissors - What Else Can I Cut?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:34:52 -0500

Blitstein, Ron | Events |
If your company is like most, it has already reduced IT cost but it's unclear where it can derive the next batch of savings. For some organizations, previous cost-cutting initiatives were insufficient; for other firms, prior decisions have created a need for urgent (and unbudgeted) remedies, as risks that they previously considered remote have now materialized. There are also the enterprises where previous "cost reductions" merely deferred required spending that has now come home to roost. Invariably, many short-term cost-cutting strategies are simply unsustainable. How are you tackling this challenge?
http://www.cutter.com/events/multimedia/cost-reduction.html

Left to Their Own Devices

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:31:53 -0500

Cohen, Beth | E-Mail Advisors |
The "consumerization of IT" is a catchy term for a sneaky trend that has been going on for at least 10 years, in which consumer devices and applications are increasingly incorporated into the workplace.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130124.html

Quick Turnaround: Rediscovering Innovation and the Power of Teams

Wed, 9 Jan 2013 10:29:10 -0500

Dalcher, Darren | E-Mail Advisors |
Is it possible to learn from experts in other disciplines? Indeed, can we improve our own practices by watching other professionals ply their trade? Racing and medicine are not normally reckoned to have a lot in common. Formula One racing offers many thrills to viewers and fans, but apparently it can also offer instructive lessons in process improvement.
http://www.cutter.com/content/itjournal/fulltext/advisor/2013/itj130109.html

Enterprise Tablet Standardization Trends

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:48:41 -0500

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
According to our research, approximately 24% of organizations have standardized on tablet platforms for enterprise use. Another 27% say they plan to do so within the next 12 months or so. How these organizations' plans will actually pan out is uncertain, due to the hyperactive nature of the tablet market, in general.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2013/ea130123.html

Systems of Engagement: Part I -- Understanding the Big Picture

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:46:53 -0500

Rosen, Mike | Executive Updates |
There has been a lot of noise in the application development area around what are being called "systems of engagement." In this Executive Update series, we will explore this newfound principle and what architects must contemplate in order to foster improved enterprise efficiency and innovation.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/updates/2013/eau1301.html

Go Small. Go Postmodern

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:44:48 -0500

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors |
As hardware continues to get smaller, I can finally see how a single device can work. I am most fond of using my tablet to access our Big Data appliance (SAP's HANA) via Tableau, a data visualization tool. I can also access a range of virtual applications and desktops if I don't want to load the application on the device. The experience is pleasingly amusing.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130117.html

Conducting Business Process Reviews

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:43:17 -0500

Spanyi, Andrew | E-Mail Advisors |
While conducting business process reviews has become a core activity for many business analysts, I have observed that there is still room for improvement on how these reviews are done in some organizations.
http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2013/ea130116.html

Thoughts on the Market for Tablets in the Enterprise

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:41:15 -0500

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
The tablet market is currently very dynamic; not only are new products by the leading providers like Apple, Google, and Samsung getting introduced with hyper-frequency, but new vendors -- the most recent and notable being Microsoft -- are also appearing, while other players are fighting for their lives. Here are some of the key trends I see impacting the enterprise market for tablet products.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130115.html

Peer-to-Peer: Cost Reduction: Running with Scissors - What Else Can I Cut?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:43:20 -0500

ERM 2012: A Year of Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:42:00 -0500

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors |
"Risk management was regarded as a constraint on the business rather than integral to it." Or so a UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) report stated in March of last year concerning the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in October 2008. What the report didn't state was why senior management believed the bank could allow a concentration of lending risk to build up in the bank without someone taking action to manage it.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130110.html

Look to Mobile Combined with Other "Disruptive" Technologies for Killer Apps in 2013

Tue, 8 Jan 2013 15:39:55 -0500

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors |
Last year, organizations across almost every industry became really serious about using mobile technology. This trend will accelerate in 2013, with organizations continuing to deploy mobile apps in the form of management dashboards and tools for supporting the three main domains of CRM .
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130108.html

The Allure and Danger of the Crystal Ball: The Alternative to Making Predictions

Thu, 3 Jan 2013 15:38:30 -0500

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors |
It is so easy, and tempting, to try to envision precisely how 2013 will unfold. Levels of business uncertainty abound, and yet for some reason, we invest significant chunks of our time trying to forecast what's going to transpire in the world around us and determine its lasting effects on our actions and lives.
http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2013/bit130103.html

Analytic Visions

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:26:19 -0500

Dooley, Brian J. | E-Mail Advisors |
As we move into an era of increasingly complex Big Data and multidimensional real-time processing, visual presentation of results will rise in importance, and new ways of presenting information are likely to develop. Growing use of smaller screen mobile devices will also promote development of improved and more interactive display.
http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2013/bia130102.html