ExecutiveBrief | Technology Management Resource for Business Leaders

Nine Hidden Assumptions That Can Kill (Virtual) Collaboration

2013-05-17T09:05:05+00:00

Why don’t leaders trust the concept of a virtual workplace, approaching virtual work with a skeptical eye and making it almost impossible for virtual teams to live up to expectations? Here are nine hidden assumptions you need to discuss within your team to work successfully from afar.

Project Portfolio Management and Enterprise Resource Planning Integration Guide

2013-05-07T12:39:30+00:00

Many global and enterprise project-centric organizations face the challenge of ensuring that exchange of data between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Project Portfolio Management (PPM) systems works in harmony. This white paper will help such organizations identify what to look for in a PPM system as well as provide useful strategies for software integrations.

Next Generation Mobile Solutions for Healthcare: Key Software Technologies

2013-03-29T08:47:45+00:00

Here is an overview of the key enabling software technology for delivering next generation mobile solutions within the Healthcare provider context: security for systems and Protected Health Information (PHI), Mobile Device Management (MDM), Mobile Human Interfaces, and Healthcare platform data integration.

What the Next Evolution of Enterprise IT Means for Your Job

2013-03-07T19:40:42+00:00

On average, businesses are using well under half of the skills that their IT departments have on a day-to-day basis. For those seeking a career in IT, they will increasingly have two choices: either a more technical role with outsourcing service providers or a business focused one in an end user organisation.

BYOD: Bring Your Own Devil

2013-03-06T21:43:01+00:00

Cloud-enabled, with multiple email accounts, a mobile device dealing with corporate internal information is a Pandora’s Box. Obviously, it implies that businesses should reconsider their data security policies and choose a specific scenario of BYOD adoption and Mobile Device Management.

Effort Estimation in Agile Software Development: Pert Weighted Average Formula

2013-02-28T16:28:34+00:00

Traditional effort estimation techniques don`t work for agile software development, and no existing formula can be applied blindly or readily. Here is a detailed explanation of how the PERT estimation technique can be effectively utilized to speed up the process of task estimation and make it more accurate.

IT Security Trends: Predictions for 2013

2013-02-22T12:39:38+00:00

It seems like this year will be a critical one for IT security improvement and development, especially in application security assessment and penetration testing as well as incident forensics. Here are a few predictions on the IT Security trends likely to prevail in 2013.

The Right Place for Hadoop in Enterprise IT Infrastructure

2013-02-14T15:27:27+00:00

With the ‘Big Data’ and ‘Hadoop’ being on the rise today, it is important not to be left behind the exciting business opportunities they offer. This white paper focuses on the enormous potential value of these technologies and discusses what business problems they can help solve.

Developing Effective Agile Requirements Relies on Both User Stories and Use Cases

2013-02-14T15:01:57+00:00

Many shy away from use cases within an Agile approach, but for Agile requirements to be successful, both user stories and use cases must be leveraged to get to the heart of the most appropriate business solution that brings value to the customer.

How to Resource a Project

2013-02-14T14:44:03+00:00

When you have to schedule resources for an upcoming project, consider the project type, phases and its complexity together with the skills and disciplines needed. Let this guide help you plan your project resources in the best way possible.

IT Outsourcing Consulting: Your Guide to Project Success

2013-02-14T14:38:39+00:00

IT outsourcing has become a popular and effective method due to the significant reduction in time needed for project completion, as well as providing companies with direct access to world-class IT resources, skills and experience. But to ensure your company receives all the benefits of an IT outsourcing experience, it`s necessary to consider the possible hidden risks.

Effective Sprint Goals

2013-02-14T13:58:39+00:00

Working with a sprint goal is a powerful agile practice as it summarises the desired outcome of an iteration and increases your chances of creating a successful product. Here is what you do to ensure your sprint goal is SMART and fully leveraged.

How a Simple Storyboard Helps Command Attention and Get Results (Virtually)

2013-02-14T13:50:24+00:00

When delivering a presentation, a critical success factor is to keep everyone absorbed, engaged and enthusiastically participating in a meeting. A simple storyboard can help you Here is a useful guide for creating a simple storyboard and presenting important recommendations that grab and keep peoples’ attention, wherever they are.

Delivering Business Values Brings Business Analysis into the Limelight

2013-02-07T08:41:29+00:00

Business analysts are the deliverers of business value working closely with product owners and able to see the various layers of stakeholder needs. However, it seems like in 2013 some of the major Business Analysis trends will force them to take on a few new skills in order to stay effective.

If We’re Not Agile Developers What Are We? – Part 3

2013-01-29T13:10:31+00:00

Agile software development teams have to be multidisciplinary, adaptive and resilient, which demands a common vision with a shared purpose and a unified commitment. Continuing the series about building great software using agile techniques, this article describes the key differentiators and essential attributes for agile developers.

If We’re Not Agile Developers What Are We? – Part 2

2013-01-24T15:42:27+00:00

There are several key words and phrases that distinguish agile organizations. Continuing the series about building great software using agile techniques, this article focuses upon the importance of constant feedback cycles and rapid responsiveness for agile teams` efficiency in software development.

What Makes a Good Software Developer?

2013-01-23T14:24:51+00:00

A definitive list of skills that make a good software developer varies depending on the circumstances and obviously cannot be limited to technical skills only. A good attitude, openness to discussion and business knowledge can give you that special edge necessary for career success.

Communicating with Stakeholders in Ways that Work for Them

2013-01-23T14:16:04+00:00

Too often we tend to present information to stakeholders in just one way, thereby engaging some stakeholders and not others. But the more ways of presenting information you implement, the more likely you are to keep your stakeholders committed to the initiative.

Building Trust Calls for Different Approaches Across Different Cultures

2013-01-23T13:58:55+00:00

Team performance is very much dependent on the level of trust within your team. However, building trust in culturally diverse, remote teams can be a complicated issue. Here are a few tips to help you understand certain patterns of behaviors within cultures and accelerate the trust-building process.

If We’re not Agile Developers What Are We?

2013-01-17T15:40:03+00:00

Software developers cannot be agile if the corporate environment is rigid and prescriptive. With enterprise software development being a complex and labor-intensive effort, no single word like “agile” can capture the essence of what we want it to be. It’s time for a more rigorous and structured definition of enterprise agile software development.

Mobile Device Management – Itʼs Much More than Just Devices

2013-01-02T22:03:21+00:00

Taking into account a growing need for a strategic solution of managing mobile in concert with the other elements of IT, the enterprise mobile device management (MDM) can no longer be viewed as a way to manage large numbers of mobile devices only – it should also encompass security, provisioning, day-to-day operations and analytics.

Business Intelligence/Big Data in 2013 and Beyond

2013-01-02T11:00:44+00:00

Business Intelligence & Big Data is a current hot trend among multiple technology enabled enterprises and ISVs. In this article we will briefly walk through the top three Business Intelligence trends and solutions that will undoubtedly be still important in 2013.

8 Great Year-Round (Free!) Gifts Everyone on Your Team is Guaranteed to Love

2012-12-11T13:45:20+00:00

How can we offer meaningful gifts to those we work with? Invoking the spirit of giving on a regular basis will have a tremendous impact on your team. Here are some gift ideas that will definitely strike a chord with your team members, but require very little extra time and don’t cost you a dime.

The Scrum Cycle

2012-12-10T14:18:30+00:00

Scrum is not a sequential process, and a linear Scrum implementation wastes a massive opportunity: to ensure that the right product with the right features is created. Read this article to learn how Scrum’s cyclic nature helps you create a great product by running focused experiments.

Tapping the Quiet Power of Introverts in a Virtual World

2012-12-05T14:39:38+00:00

Our society is overwhelmingly biased toward extroverts, even more so in the virtual world, where the real value of introverts often gets overlooked. Here are some tips to help you enable your most quite team members to make their best contributions.

Hacker or user? How to Tell Friend from Foe?

2012-12-05T14:30:54+00:00

With the increasing use of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and the growing need for legitimate access to IT applications from beyond the traditional firewalls, Single sign on (SSO) is the technology that can effectively enable, monitor, control and stop access to IT resources when required.

Is Your Organization Ready for Change?

2012-12-05T14:22:38+00:00

For your change initiative to be successful, you shouldn`t move forward with it before your organization is ready and your employees are engaged. Here are a few best practice steps before you launch the change initiative that will make all the difference.

Decline of the Desk, Rise of the Net

2012-12-05T14:07:14+00:00

As the growing Bring Your Own Device trend shows, the decline of the desk and growth in mobile working exert considerable pressure on any company`s network. It is time to start considering the network as a strategic investment alongside with other elements of IT.

From the Sponsor’s Desk – Managing Project Interlopers

2012-11-29T14:57:15+00:00

Effective stakeholder management is a part of project management and the key to project success. However, stakeholders in any role can be tough to identify. Here is how you define who the real project decision makers are and what roles they’re playing – sponsor, target, change agent or champion.

Get Smarter about Log Data

2012-11-21T13:10:11+00:00

The number of security threats is increasing and their nature is changing from being generic and random to tailored and targeted. The approach taken to IT security needs to change in line with this. A good starting point is to review your log data management capability.