This month, CBR begins a two-part series on a subject of great importance in IT management: the management of projects. This month, we'll focus on methods, models, and practices -- the "hard" stuff. Next month, we'll turn to the "soft" stuff -- staffing, morale, team management, and relationship management. If you are a longtime reader of CBR , you'll recall that we dealt with project management two years ago, and you'll recognize Cutter Consortium Fellow Robert Charette's "husbandry" approach to the subject.
February 2004
In this issue:- Project Management: Part I -- Methods, Models, and Practices
- Project Management Husbandry Redux: Part I
- Project Management Husbandry Redux: Part II
- Ten Cheap Actions to Improve Your IT Performance
- Improving ROI by Valuing Features
- Radical Requirements
- February 2004 Cutter Benchmark Review: Coaching and Team Building
January 2004
Architecture as Humble Servant
A good architecture humbly serves the needs of the business. When told to jump, it asks, "How high?" "How often?" and "When?"
Architecture as Trusted PartnerIn this issue:- Cutter IT Journal: The Business of Software Architecture
- Opening Statement: The Business of Software Architecture
- Back to the Source: Putting the Business Back in OOD
- Investing in Architectural Infrastructure: A Business Conversation
- Turning System Architecture into Profits
- Extending an Architecture as It Earns Business Value
- Software Architecture Then and Now
- Stop Software Rot: Keep Your Architecture DRY
January 2004
What managers really need to know -- as always -- is how to separate fads and transitory tendencies from the real and permanent changes. This month's CBR examines the question through the lens of IT spending. Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant George Westerman offers careful analysis of the results of a survey of intended 2004 IT spending patterns among 97 firms. He finds that, overall, IT spending will be flat in 2004. But he does more than report facts.
In this issue:- Trends in Corporate IT Spending: A Permanent Change Or a Pause to Digest?
- Corporate IT Spending Outlook for 2004 -- Part I
- Corporate IT Spending Outlook for 2004 -- Part II: Cutting Costs, Boosting Service Top 2004 IT Budget Plans
- Corporate IT Spending Outlook for 2004 -- Part III: Where Companies Are Putting Their Money
- Maximizing the Effectiveness of IT
- IT Must Focus On Business Value, Not IT Cost Cutting
December 2003
Get the Business Case Right
Every project should have a compelling business need. With appropriate process, design, and implementation, project success is ensured.In this issue:- Cutter IT Journal: Killing IT Projects
- Killing IT Projects: Opening Statement
- Software Project Escalation and De-escalation: What Do We Know?
- Why Flawed Software Projects Are Not Cancelled in Time
- Project Management, The Movie
- Cancelling a Project in Four Not-So-Easy Steps
- A Losing Gamble with Public Funds: Why Large Public-Sector IT Projects Are More Likely to Fail and Are Harder to Cancel
December 2003
There's a rhetorical strategy familiar to anyone who nowadays tunes in to editorial content in the media: A commentator makes a radical assertion that seems plausible on the surface and that seems consistent with a trend. The commentator may not be particularly qualified to make the assertion. (Have you ever asked yourself why we ought to believe those people talking at us on TV news shows? When did we start accepting that someone who has strong opinions is some kind of an expert?) And usually the assertion doesn't bear up well under scrutiny.In this issue:- Preparing for the Next Digital Revolution
- Start Your Engines -- Preparing for the Second Digital Revolution: Part I
- New Skills -- Preparing for the Second Digital Revolution: Part II
- The Role of IT -- Preparing for the Second Digital Revolution: Part III
- "Business Value": Getting Real with What IT Can Mean
- "Business Value": What the CFO and CIO Really Need to Worry About