Cutter Consortium: Business-IT Strategies

Business Services Catalogs: A Gateway into IT Management Performance Improvements

1 Sep 2008 15:38:47 GMT

Berry, John | Executive Reports | 01 September 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Organizations seeking to raise their quality of IT management might consider the concept of the business services catalog, a centralized electronic compendium of administrative and application services that helps employees get work done. The services catalog concept is a process requirement of the IT Infrastructure Library V3 (ITIL V3). Even without adopting all of ITIL completely, organizations might discover that the effort put into building their own services catalogs is the most powerful way to win measurable IT management performance improvements. In this Executive Report, I illustrate how these improvements can be delivered from three perspectives.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/reports/2008/09/index.html

The Care and Feeding of Ambiguity

2 Oct 2008 15:34:28 GMT

Devin, Lee | E-Mail Advisors | 02 October 2008 | Innovation; Business-IT Strategies

The dictionary tells us that ambiguity means we can understand something in two or more ways. In his famous book, William Empson tells us there are Seven Types of Ambiguity in art and literature. In business we use the word metaphorically to mean that we're in a state of uncertainty, that we're doing something and don't know the outcome. That's mostly not a good thing. We like to know where we're going, when we'll get there, and who's going to meet us at the station. In some business activities, though, we seek ambiguity; we need uncertainty. Innovation, for instance, requires that we seek ambiguity, and to make innovations reliably, we need to thrive in it. If we know what it is we're making, and how to make it, how new can it be?

http://www.cutter.com/content/innovation/fulltext/advisor/2008/iea081002.html

For IT Strategic Planning, a Focus on the Supply Side

1 Oct 2008 15:29:10 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 01 October 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

We have worked extensively with clients this year on their IT strategic plans. One way we characterize the best approach is to distinguish between the "supply" and the "demand" components of the plan. This month, we'll focus on the "supply" side and next month on the "demand" side. (Incidentally, doing an effective "demand" side of IT strategic planning is by far the more critical and least understood.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit081001.html

ROI in the Early 21st Century: Tough Love Business Cases

15 Jul 2008 14:49:15 GMT

Andriole, Stephen J. | Executive Updates | 15 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Everyone has a perspective about return on investment (ROI). Lots of calculations, models, and algorithms allegedly precisely measure the impact of alternative technology investments. There is strategic ROI and tactical ROI; there is "soft" ROI and "hard" ROI. There are as many ROIs out there as there are RBIs in the major league. What do we make of the ROI smorgasbord? Let's look at the targets of our ROI analyses -- rather than the methods, tools, and techniques. In other words, let's ask the tough questions.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0815.html

Developing and Using a Financial Model for Virtualization Technology Investment: Part II

15 Jul 2008 14:43:50 GMT

Kursh, Steven R.; Patel, Pratike | Executive Updates | 15 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Our objective in this two-part Update series is to provide a framework that you can use to evaluate potential investments in virtualization technologies. We have recently had the benefit of assessing several possible investments by organizations, including virtualization technologies. Based on those experiences, we have developed a relatively simply financial model that may help you, particularly when compared with many of the seemingly overly complex and possibly questionable financial models that some vendors use to seek your business. The example we use is based on composite data from our recent work.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0814.html

Ethical Approaches to Risk: Ask "When, How, and by Whom?"

25 Sep 2008 14:24:54 GMT

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors | 25 September 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies

How far can you go before you cross the line between ethical behavior and high-risk behavior? It's a question I've been asking quite a few project managers of late, and I find their responses compelling. The question is a seemingly simple one:

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080925.html

A 10-Point Plan to Focus IT on Your Customers

24 Sep 2008 14:20:39 GMT

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors | 24 September 2008 | Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts; Business Intelligence

The IT shop aside, most firms find it difficult to truly become customercentric. Many firms have paid dearly for all kinds of studies on their customers, including research under the banner of voice-of-customer (VOC), customer experience, customer-relationship management (CRM) strategy, customer loyalty and retention, and good old-fashioned market research. Many firms are still struggling to see the improvement from this research.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080924.html

Principles of Planning: A Checklist to Help You Organize

17 Sep 2008 13:53:25 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 17 September 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Many of the planning principles discussed in this series are obvious to experienced business, program, and project managers. However, some others are subtler and can be appreciated only through the learning experience that comes with both successful and unsuccessful plan implementation. A good tool to help remember these principles is a planning checklist.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080917.html

Collaboration: What Does It Mean? Part II

17 Sep 2008 13:52:20 GMT

Rosen, Mike | E-Mail Advisors | 17 September 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

In the first part of this series (see "Collaboration: What Does It Mean? Part I," 3 September 2008), we discussed the opportunities provided by new technologies in creating business value with collaboration. In this Advisor, we'll look at some different collaborative scenarios, and the technologies and architectures that are available to meet them.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080917.html

Bailout Means Risk Officers Should Believe Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

11 Sep 2008 13:47:16 GMT

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors | 11 September 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts

Every chief risk officer (CRO) should have the White Queen's advice from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There emblazoned on a large poster in his or her office as a reminder that impossible things can and do happen.

For another "impossible" thing happened this past weekend that will be affecting the world's financial markets and likely your pocketbook for quite some time: the US government's decision to take over the mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080911.html

Alignment: What Happens When the Organization Resists It?

10 Sep 2008 13:43:57 GMT

Berry, John | E-Mail Advisors | 10 September 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

With an almost evangelical fervor surrounding it, the steady flow of rhetoric concerning alignment of IT with the business side of the organization assumes that if the IT organization pushes for it, business units will enthusiastically embrace it. Often this is not true, and IT managers must prepare for those occasions when the technology organization is truly ready to transform how it interacts with business units when everyone else isn't.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080910.html

The IT Strategic Audit: A Tool for Aligning IT Strategies with the Corporation

1 Aug 2008 13:38:34 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | Executive Reports | 01 August 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

A strategic audit is a useful tool to help organizations identify which IT areas require increased focus, which represent potential risks, and where hidden opportunities may lie. The audit is a roadmap for determining strategic alternatives to support the achievement of the corporation's strategic objectives. In this Executive Report by David N. Rasmussen, you will learn how to use the IT strategic audit to improve the alignment of your IT strategies with your company's business strategies. This report offers guidelines for performing a strategic audit and helps you understand the business value from doing so.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/reports/2008/08/index.html

Developing and Using a Financial Model for Virtualization Technology Investment: Part I

1 Jul 2008 14:13:55 GMT

Kursh, Steven R.; Patel, Pratike | Executive Updates | 01 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Our objective in this two-part Update series is to provide a framework that you can use to evaluate potential investments in virtualization technologies. We have recently had the benefit of assessing several possible investments by organizations, including virtualization technologies. Based on those experiences, we have developed a relatively simply financial model that may help you, particularly when compared with many of the seemingly overly complex and possibly questionable financial models that some vendors use to seek your business. The example we use is based on composite data from our recent work.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0813.html

Best Practices for Green IT: For Starters, Stop Calling It That

1 Jul 2008 14:07:41 GMT

D'Alessandro, William | Executive Reports | 01 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

What works for corporate environmental and energy strategies has absolutely nothing in common with marketing savants, buzzwords, or cheerleading from green biz promoters and gurus. Meaningful and enduring solutions are hard to accomplish. This Executive Report by William D'Alessandro takes a sober look at the situation IT managers really face when confronted with demands to make their operations greener. It directs business executives to places where they can find the help they say they want and undoubtedly will need to implement successful programs.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/reports/2008/07/index.html

The New IT Green Revolution: From Warm and Fuzzy to Hard-Nosed

4 Sep 2008 14:01:25 GMT

Berry, John | E-Mail Advisors | 04 September 2008 | Business Technology Trends & Impacts; Business-IT Strategies

While often the "Green Revolution" in IT consists of well-intentioned projects to minimize damage to the environment, a darkening trend in the data center could transform fluffy and fuzzy corporate environmental attitudes into a more focused, bottom-line disposition where energy strategy becomes a key component of disciplined IT management.

http://www.cutter.com/content/trends/fulltext/advisor/2008/btt080904.html

Why Our IT Must Be Superior to Our Competition's

3 Sep 2008 14:00:32 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 03 September 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Last month, we wrote an Advisor titled "Is Our IT Superior to the Competition's? No???" It was triggered by the just-published Cutter Benchmark Review article (see "Linking IT Budgeting, Governance, and Value," Vol. 8, No. 7), in which we report that only 27% of managers of large companies believe their IT is superior to that of their competition. (By "large," we mean companies with more than US $50 million annual spend.) For all companies, regardless of size, only 39% of managers believe that their company's IT is superior. We concluded that Advisor with the following: "It seems to us that this is a vital question now for IT. As times get tougher, as competition gets tighter, we really have to focus on how to become superior in the use of IT in the business. That's the challenge, something that practices in IT financial management and IT planning and management should be prepared to address. And it's important to do so. We should be able to answer 'YES -- our IT is superior to the competition's!' "

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080903.html

Collaboration: What Does It Mean? Part I

3 Sep 2008 13:59:34 GMT

Rosen, Mike | E-Mail Advisors | 03 September 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

As enterprise architects, we often face tasks aligning business and IT. One approach to this alignment is characterized by the Parker-Benson Square Wheel. It tells us that there are two sides to this equation. IT aligns technology with the business by responding to changes in business strategy and operations. This is the traditional role of IT. But the square wheel also tells us that IT, and architecture in particular, has the ability to align the business with new opportunities based on changes in technology. Another way we often look at this is by examining IT's role in cutting costs (responsive), as compared with its role in adding value or revenue (proactive). As architects, we're always looking for those opportunities to be proactive, to add value, and to present new opportunities to the business. Today, collaborative applications present such an opportunity.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080903.html

The Power (and Dangers) of the Analogy in Risk Management

28 Aug 2008 17:43:13 GMT

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors | 28 August 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies

The odds of that? That's like being struck by lightning.

Is it? Is it really?

The English language is rife with metaphors. We do comparisons and analogies on a ritual basis. However, when the topic arises, I'm reminded of a college mate of mine, Jack Shepherd, who used to challenge similes on a regular basis.

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080828.html

Increasing Your Odds: Creating Better Business Cases

27 Aug 2008 17:40:08 GMT

Ward, John; Daniel, Elizabeth | E-Mail Advisors | 27 August 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Traditionally, the main purpose in building a business case for an IT project is to obtain approval for the financial spend. However, in addition to obtaining funding for the investment, the preparation of comprehensive and robust business cases provides organizations with other important advantages. These include enabling priorities to be set among different investments for funds or other scarce resources; ensuring commitment from business managers to achieving the intended investment benefits; and, importantly, providing the basis for reviewing the realization of the business benefits when the investment is complete.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080827.html

Google Apps and Gmail Crash: Cloud Computing's Limitations Exposed?

27 Aug 2008 17:39:02 GMT

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors | 27 August 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

Last month, I discussed cloud computing -- what it is and key issues that end-user organizations should carefully consider when evaluating its use, including reliability/availability, security, and data integration and integrity (see "Cloud Computing Cranks it Up, But Issues Remain," 23 July 2008). Just last week, however, we saw Google receiving a lot of criticism because its on-demand Gmail and Google Apps services went out for approximately 15 hours. During this time, end users were either afforded spotty service or were unable to access their Gmail or online applications altogether. Therefore, the big question is: does this incident expose the limitations of cloud computing? In other words, if Google can't keep its on-demand e-mail and office productivity applications working, should end-user organizations consider using applications that are more comprehensive, such as ERP and CRM?

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080827.html

Linking IT Governance and Value

15 Jul 2008 19:18:38 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | Executive Updates | 15 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

This Executive Update analyzes the results of a recent Cutter Consortium survey of 103 IT organizations worldwide that focused on the effectiveness of IT governance practices.1 Our aim is to better understand how governance practices, linked to financial management practices, influence the value that IT brings to the business or organization.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0812.html

Green IT to Green IS: Taking Action

20 Aug 2008 22:22:25 GMT

Boudreau, Marie-Claude; Watson, Richard T.; Chen, Adela | E-Mail Advisors | 20 August 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Humans have, for many years, used IT and IS to enhance their environment and to learn about their surroundings. We have invented such information technologies as printing and such information systems as publishing to disseminate knowledge. In the process, we have created practices that in the long run and on a large scale damage this same environment (e.g., converting trees to paper). We have now reached the point where we must use IT and IS to restore our environment to the point where it is sustainable and where the future of our species, and thousands of others, is not threatened with mass extinction. Going green is everybody's problem, and we all must answer the call, but the power of IS to improve dramatically the productivity of resource usage means that we, as IS professionals, have a particular responsibility to answer this call today with sustainable practices and creativity. The results of a recent Cutter Consortium survey (see Cutter Benchmark Review, Vol. 8, No. 5) suggest that many IS leaders have not yet heard this call.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080820.html

Principles of Planning: Breaking the Rules (for the Right Reasons)

13 Aug 2008 19:26:17 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 13 August 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

With all of the planning rules and principles we have covered so far in this series, there is only one rule that is always be applicable: once a plan is finished and approved, it is wrong! This is the only thing I have ever guaranteed my stakeholders about a plan. That is because I have found no one prescient enough to be able accurately to predict future events. The business environment is constantly changing due to both controllable and uncontrollable factors. For example, I have never written a plan where I prepared for the unavailability of certain skills due to illness. I have used planning tools such as efficiency rates to allow for small amounts of skill absence or lower productivity levels. However, these are at best educated guesstimates based on historical trends.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080813.html

EA Means Signing Up for Change

13 Aug 2008 19:25:09 GMT

van Tyn, Jeroen | E-Mail Advisors | 13 August 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

Last summer (see "Nurturing the Hidden Architect," 6 June 2007), I wrote about the importance of avoiding a common problem with the establishment of EA programs: namely, that it disempowers some of the very people who understand and have been looking after the "important stuff" that an EA program seeks to address.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080813.html

IT Needs Innovation in Management, Not Products

7 Aug 2008 19:23:35 GMT

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors | 07 August 2008 | Innovation; Business-IT Strategies

With so much talk about the management of innovation, we have lost sight of something more important: innovation in management. When innovative products wow us, innovators of those products receive our praise and adulation. It is a time-honored tradition as old as civilization itself. After all, every age will have its Michelangelo. However, innovation in management, while usually unseen, is much more important than innovation in products. One could argue that behind each great innovative product lies an innovative approach to management. Companies will find it hard to create innovative products using outdated management approaches.

http://www.cutter.com/content/innovation/fulltext/advisor/2008/iea080807.html

How Bad Can IT Decisions Be? Economics Says Sometimes Pretty Bad

6 Aug 2008 19:20:59 GMT

Berry, John | E-Mail Advisors | 06 August 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Behavioral economics has emerged as the hot subspecialty in the dismal science today. While traditional economic theory assumed people were always rational actors in their decision making, from our experience in IT investments, we know otherwise. What can behavioral economics tell us about how to avoid the pathologies that creep into IT investment decision making and destroy value creation?

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080806.html

IT Investments: Where Does the Money Come From?

31 Jul 2008 19:10:21 GMT

Adams, Dennis A. | E-Mail Advisors | 31 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts

One of the most important things that an IT executive must remember is where the money that pays for new equipment, IT employee salaries, software licenses, and so on, comes from. When I pose this question to senior managers, the reply I most often get has to do with budgets or overhead. While technically correct, these answers don't get to the heart of the question.

http://www.cutter.com/content/trends/fulltext/advisor/2008/btt080731.html

Fixing the Trust Gap Between IT and Business, Part III

30 Jul 2008 18:38:05 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 30 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

A client asks about methods to increase the trust between IT and business managers and staff. It seems the relationship is currently broken: business managers don't trust IT, and the feeling is mutual.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080730.html

The Importance of Measuring a Project's Quality

24 Jul 2008 17:41:00 GMT

Highsmith, Jim | E-Mail Advisors | 24 July 2008 | Agile Project Management; Business-IT Strategies; Innovation

This is a continuation of a series of recent Advisors on quality (see "Intrinsic Quality?" 3 July 2008 and "Investigating Agile: Inside and Out," 19 June 2008). In prior articles, I addressed defining quality as a combination of extrinsic (customer satisfaction) and intrinsic (correct functioning and adaptability) components. In traditional project management, success has been measured as meeting scope, schedule, and cost goals. So where is quality in traditional project measurements? Answer: nowhere. Oh, most people will issue a few platitudes about quality being part of scope, but when managers determine the success of a project, they rarely give more than lip service to quality.

http://www.cutter.com/content/project/fulltext/advisor/2008/apm080724.html

What's the Buzz in Software Architecture?

30 Jul 2008 17:39:24 GMT

Rosen, Mike | E-Mail Advisors | 30 July 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies; Agile Project Management

I just attended the Architecture and Design World 2008 conference in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was an exciting collection of 300-plus architects and designers with an array of about 75 talks that provided a good representation of what's of current interest to software architects and designers. The conference has no vendor exhibits and so is really a good view of what architects and designers think is important. The conference is focused on software architects (a. k. a. application, solution, or project architects), not enterprise, business, information, or technology architects, but it does provide a good cross section of the most important things happening in software these days.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080730.html

Is Our IT Superior to the Competition's? No???

24 Jul 2008 17:37:55 GMT

Benson, Bob; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 24 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts

In our just-published Cutter Benchmark Review article (see "Linking IT Budgeting, Governance, and Value," Vol., 8, No. 7), we report that only 27% of managers of large companies believe their IT is superior to that of their competition. (By "large," we mean companies with more than US $50 million annual spend.) For all companies, regardless of size, only 39% of managers believe that their company's IT is superior.

http://www.cutter.com/content/trends/fulltext/advisor/2008/btt080724.html

Principles of Planning: Fit the Plan to the Problem

23 Jul 2008 17:36:42 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 23 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

I once wrote a project plan for a global team with a business challenge of developing a model for the formation and management of worldwide strategic alliances. The seven team members were physically situated in different cities and time zones; we were part of an international executive education program to study key management issues of global enterprise. As an educational assignment, we all had our regular jobs to do, so communication was limited.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080723.html

Just Added

30 Jul 2008 15:17:16 GMT

A Contrarian View of Employee Resistance to Change by Cheryl Lampshire
The Transformation of the Enterprise Software Market by Vince Kellen
It's the Design, Not the Features by Jim Ritchey and Phil Hill
Adopting the SaaS Model: A Client Perspective by Mingdi Xin
ERP and Enterprise 2.0: What Does the Future Hold? by Tameem Farooqui
The Future of Competitive Advantage and Enterprise Software by Vince Kellen
Web-Mediated Market Interactions and Enterprise Software by David Avila-Porro, Ben Light, and Rachel McLean
The Intricacy of IT Budgeting: Is the Glass Half Full? by Gabriele Piccoli
IT Budget Trends: Wise Managers in an Uncertain Future by Dennis A. Adams
Linking IT Budgeting, Governance, and Value by Bob Benson and Tom Bugnitz
IT Budgeting in 2008: Upward Bound, But Cautiously by Gabriele Piccoli
IT Budgeting Survey Data by Cutter Consortium

The Cost Reduction Roadmap for IT Webinar

17 Jul 2008 21:09:17 GMT

Benson, Bob | Webinars/Multimedia | 17 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Join Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Bob Benson in an interactive webinar in which he reveals two often-overlooked areas business and IT exec can carefully explore to uncover the less-obvious opportunities for IT cost reduction: the project's capital and expense budget, and the ongoing IT expense budget.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/webinar/2008/costreductionroadmap.html

Principles of Planning: The MBWA Principle

16 Jul 2008 15:44:52 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 16 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

How many times have you left your office at the end of the day reflecting, "I spent the entire day in meetings"? And then wondered to yourself, "When do I find time to get some work done?" You also possibly didn't remember to think, "I wonder what's happening elsewhere in the organization." Does this scenario sound familiar?

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080716.html

Fixing the Trust Gap Between IT and Business, Part II

9 Jul 2008 15:26:22 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 09 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

A client asks about methods to increase the trust between IT and business managers and staff. It seems the relationship is currently broken: business managers don't trust IT, and the feeling is mutual.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080709.html

Lessons from the Subprime Collapse -- How Long Will They Be Learned?

3 Jul 2008 15:19:40 GMT

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors | 03 July 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts

There was a story not too long ago in the Wall Street Journal on the lessons CEOs are trying to learn from the subprime mess and how these lessons might be applied in their own markets [1]. One of the critical lessons the article highlighted was the importance -- and extreme difficulty -- of being able to deliver bad news to senior executives quickly.

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080703.html

The New CIO? Technologists Need Not Apply

2 Jul 2008 15:16:55 GMT

Berry, John | E-Mail Advisors | 02 July 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Is yours one of the few organizations that has broken with tradition and hired a new CIO from outside technology? Don't be embarrassed if it is. More are likely to do it, albeit at a slow pace. And if more and more are doing it ... well, it can't be all bad, can it?

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080702.html

The ExecEd Six-Pack: Learning Programs for Optimizing the Business Technology Relationship

1 Jun 2008 14:57:35 GMT

Andriole, Stephen J. | Executive Updates | 01 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

A common practice for large enterprises is a process known as "optimization audits." These audits are designed to assess and recommend opportunities for making money or saving money with technology by looking at areas like applications, data, networks, organization, leadership, governance, and architecture. The mechanisms for achieving "make money/save money" results fall into several categories, including learning, awareness, and executive education.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0811.html

Effective IT Management: Getting Your Priorities Right

1 Jun 2008 15:59:14 GMT

Berry, John | Executive Reports | 01 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

If money grew on trees, companies would have no need for IT investment prioritization. In good times and bad, financial and other resources are not there simply for the plucking and, indeed, might prove quite scarce. In these situations, managers must rely on tools to sequence the order in which investments are made. What technology should we invest in today, tomorrow, or next quarter? Methodologies exist to answer these questions. This Executive Report by John Berry examines four of these techniques.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/reports/2008/06/index.html

Organizational Capital: The Magic Elixir?

25 Jun 2008 17:33:14 GMT

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors | 25 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts

On the face of it, we all can agree that how a company does its work matters a great deal. The continual interest in reorganizations, the business process reengineering explosion of the 1980s, and the now nearly universal acceptance of the business process and organizational structure as fundamental to good performance give proof to this truth.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080625.html

Thinking CRM? Think Long Term

24 Jun 2008 17:27:13 GMT

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors | 24 June 2008 | Business Intelligence; Business-IT Strategies

Waiting for a train recently, I had a chance to browse through a copy of American Photo magazine. I subscribe to its sister publication, Popular Photography, so I decided to sign up for American Photo as well. After a month or so, I received a "verification notice" thanking me for my subscription, along with an offer to increase it from one to two years for just a few dollars more. To be honest, I found this notice annoying because the publisher hadn't sent me my first copy of the magazine, and I was already asked for more money. Maybe I was being petty, but I was annoyed by what I consider a poorly thought-out promotional campaign.

http://www.cutter.com/content/bia/fulltext/advisor/2008/bia080624.html

Seizing Opportunities -- How Individual Success Aids the Enterprise

19 Jun 2008 17:21:57 GMT

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors | 19 June 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies

In my last Advisor (see "It's Threat 'AND' Opportunity ... Not 'OR'," 22 May 2008), I discussed the concepts that risk as threat is a natural complement to opportunity, rather than the flip side of it. But I made the point that opportunities exist only if we have an accepting attitude toward them. Generating that attitude of acceptance is not something that happens organically. It is something that management must cultivate and clarify if opportunity is to become part of the second nature of the organization.

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080619.html

The Business Technology Management Office: Or How to Finally Connect Business and Technology

1 May 2008 15:37:16 GMT

Andriole, Stephen J. | Executive Updates | 01 May 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

Yes, there's a lot of commoditization in our world and much of it has affected our technology delivery strategies and the role that technology plays in many companies. While we still have cost centers, everyone's now searching for profit centers. Can IT be both? Yes.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/updates/2008/bitu0809.html

Value-Based Compensation: Lessons for IT

11 Jun 2008 15:01:02 GMT

Berry, John | E-Mail Advisors | 11 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

There is an evolving field of consulting expertise built around guiding other consultants in how much they should charge for their services. At once known as "value-based billing," "value-based fees," or some other meme that will likely include the word "value," the thinking around this consulting domain has grown sophisticated enough that some of its principles are highly applicable to IT organizations and the posture they present to their organizations.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080611.html

Remain Flexible: Plan to Change Enterprise Models

11 Jun 2008 15:00:10 GMT

van Tyn, Jeroen | E-Mail Advisors | 11 June 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

Many others and I have written about the necessity for enterprise architecture (EA) to be business-driven. When EA is not firmly grounded in the nature and shape of the business that it is to serve, it is common for a lot of time and resources to be spent on efforts that don't ultimately advance the goals of the business.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080611.html

Enterprise Risk Remains Highly Volatile

5 Jun 2008 14:07:49 GMT

Charette, Robert N. | E-Mail Advisors | 05 June 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies

There was a report in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks back (see "Analysts Again Are Too Optimistic") about the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500-stock quarterly earnings index, which missed analysts' expectations for the third quarter in a row. Given that the US economy has been suffering since last summer, an outsider might say, "So what?"

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080605.html

Experience Analysis and Design (EAD): Breaking Down and Recomposing the Architecture of the Customer Experience

1 May 2008 14:37:14 GMT

Kellen, Vince | Executive Reports | 01 May 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

While it is quite obvious that firms exist to serve customers, it is not as obvious why the business and IT strategy often does not start or end with the customer. This Executive Report by Vince Kellen describes a robust methodology called Experience Analysis and Design (EAD), which helps firms sequence a series of well-focused, customer-facing IT initiatives in a way that reduces cost, minimizes risk, and helps improve the flow of knowledge about the customer's problem -- and how IT can fix it -- across the firm.

http://www.cutter.com/alignment/fulltext/reports/2008/05/index.html

EAD: The Architecture of the Customer Experience, Part 6

4 Jun 2008 14:27:32 GMT

Kellen, Vince | E-Mail Advisors | 04 June 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

In my last Advisor (see "EAD: The Architecture of the Customer Experience, Part 5," 7 May 2008), I explained how customer interviews, observations, and surveys could help firms understand which parts of the customer experience are in need of repair. However, as we all know, it is one thing to point out what is wrong; it is another to fix it. Problems are cheap. Solutions are priceless.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080604.html

Fixing the Trust Gap Between IT and Business, Part I

28 May 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Benson, Robert J.; Bugnitz, Tom | E-Mail Advisors | 28 May 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

A client asks about methods to increase the trust between IT and business managers and staff. It seems the relationship is currently broken: business managers don't trust IT, and the feeling is mutual.
We address this question in three parts. This week, we'll focus on the source of the trust gap. Next time, we'll identify six things to do about the trust gap. Finally, in Part III, we'll identify a specific roadmap for management teams to follow.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080528.html

How to Talk to Architects, Part I: The Enterprise

28 May 2008 14:18:49 GMT

Rosen, Mike | E-Mail Advisors | 28 May 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies

About a year ago, I was consulting with a client around the organization's SOA offering and its relationship to enterprise architecture. The client, a software provider, had its chief architect in the meeting, and the architect was trying to convince me of the value of the company's solution. He explained how they could come in with their product and within a week or two have a new, dedicated system for customer tracking up and running. Wouldn't I just die to have this solution so quickly?

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080528.html

It's Threat "AND" Opportunity ... Not "OR"

22 May 2008 14:27:30 GMT

Pritchard, Carl | E-Mail Advisors | 22 May 2008 | Enterprise Risk Management & Governance; Business-IT Strategies

Discussions surrounding risk management for the last decade have taken on the duality of risk, expressed as threat or opportunity. Corporation after corporation, organization after organization, and manager after manager wrestle with this question: "How should I go about expressing opportunities when someone starts talking to me about risk from a threat context?" The answer may rest in our inherent desire to share information in an either/or context, rather than in a yin/yang perspective. It may be time to start looking at risk and opportunity as complementary rather than opposites.

http://www.cutter.com/content/risk/fulltext/advisor/2008/erm080522.html

Principles of Planning: Improving Forecast Predictability

21 May 2008 14:24:25 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 21 May 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

In my last Advisor (see "Making Planning Predictability One of Your Principles," 14 May 2008), I spoke about the importance of predictability of plans, especially as implementation proceeds. Nobody likes surprises, particularly your boss, the executive committee, or any of the other stakeholders of a business or program. In this Advisor, we examine some steps that can be taken to improve the accuracy of forecasts on plan performance.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080521.html

Software-Plus-Service: Best or Worst of Both Worlds?

21 May 2008 14:23:03 GMT

Hall, Curt | E-Mail Advisors | 21 May 2008 | Enterprise Architecture; Business-IT Strategies; Business Technology Trends & Impacts; Sourcing & Vendor Relationships

I've been thinking about the software-plus-service model, where a vendor offers online (hosted) software components that integrate with the vendor's software installed onsite at the end-user organization (i.e., the customer). Microsoft is pushing this approach in response to on-demand offerings from Google and other providers. More recently, SAP AG has jumped on the software-plus-service bandwagon as it has backed off its on-demand-only efforts. In some ways, this "hybrid" model makes sense. In other ways, it seems like it could be the worst of both worlds.

http://www.cutter.com/content/architecture/fulltext/advisor/2008/ea080521.html

Making Plan Predictability One of Your Principles

14 May 2008 19:55:09 GMT

Rasmussen, David N. | E-Mail Advisors | 14 May 2008 | Business-IT Strategies

When I complete a new business plan or project plan, the only thing that I can guarantee anyone is that the plan is wrong. How can that be? Well, from the start of a business initiative until the end, business conditions change. And nobody has yet created a methodology for perfecting the role of "business prophet." So what can business and project managers do to improve the probability that actual results approximate the predicted results, especially considering the economic environment in which we operate? Let's find the answer to that question by better understanding the problem.

http://www.cutter.com/content/alignment/fulltext/advisor/2008/bit080514.html