Find analysis of data from Cutter's ongoing industry research efforts, brief treatments of topics that don't require the in-depth research of an Executive Report, updates on previously-covered topics, and more, in 2-4 page Executive Updates.
The Impact of Green IT on the Value of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is an evolving technology that offers opportunities and benefits for companies and enterprises. It provides the ability to simplify previously difficult processes such as using green IT. This helps organizations follow corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines and make use of environmentally friendly IT. As businesses that utilize cloud computing provide their products in a cloud supply chain, it is important to clarify what IT services are involved in order to point out the value that can be gained from using cloud computing.
Android Apps: Implications for the Enterprise
Collaborative KM
In a 2010 Executive Update, I talked about the transition from a document-centric approach to knowledge management (KM) -- with its emphasis on content management systems (CMSs) and search engines -- to "social KM," in which, to quote the title I gave that Update: "It's not (just) what you know; it's who you know." 1
From Site to Service: Part III -- Aggregation and Integration
This is the final Executive Update in a three-part series exploring the implications of two key technological trends: (1) the move toward the syndication rather than the simple publishing of Web content and (2) the shift from hosting Web applications to providing Web services. Both of these trends change the ways that firms seek to create and capture value through content/functionality.
It's Time for More (and Better) Kanban
Why the current call for more Kanban -- and better Kanban? Recently, I thought about this question while perusing the work of Professor C.K. Prahalad and his colleagues. 1 Fusing their viewpoints with my own research on five current macrotrends highlights the need for more Kanban -- and the potential for better Kanban -- which IT should explore. Let me first explain the macrotrends driving my argument.
BI and Open Data in the Cloud
As I explore in this Executive Update, one of the most interesting and challenging scenarios ahead for BI comes from the predicted "shift to the cloud."1 According to
Are We Already Implementing Business Service Management?
Even though the concept of "business service management" (BSM) has been debated, advocated, debased, and promoted for years, the immaturity in articulating its mechanisms is still somewhat pervasive. Yet IT has been, is, and will continue to be hammered for being disconnected from the business needs of the customers that it serves unless something fundamentally changes within IT.
IT Reorganization: Part II
Business Architecture: Part I — Why It Matters to Business Executives
This Executive Update, the first in a series, discusses why business leaders should embrace business architecture as a means of addressing complex business challenges in ways that senior leadership can no longer ignore.
Corporate Use of Predictive Analytics: Part II -- Application Areas and Implementation
In February/March 2011, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey asking 60 end-user organizations various questions about the adoption and use of predictive analytics. The goal was to uncover corporate adoption trends and examine application development issues to discern how organizations are applying predictive analytics technology and practices to structured data analysis.
Evolution of Technologies to Prevent Data Leaks
The requirements from business for protecting confidential information are constantly growing, because the damage from disclosing such information may result in a loss of a company's competitive advantage and profits, sanctions by regulatory authorities, and even administrative and criminal liability. It is no secret that successful business performance depends on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of corporate information.
IT Reorganization: Part I
The recession and other financial woes of the last three years have affected almost every industry. Reorganization in one form or another, often accompanied by layoffs, became the norm. It is little surprise then that three-quarters of all organizations in a recent Cutter Consortium survey reported IT reorganizations during the period 2008-2010.
Embedded Analytics: Business and Intelligence Together
Embedded analytics has gained significance recently, as businesses seek more optimization. This Executive Update deals with the context of embedded analytics, its technicalities, and inherent challenges.
SCM and Build: Keys to an Agile Lifecycle
Software configuration management (SCM) and build management are misunderstood disciplines. Many organizations have practices in these areas that either hinder productivity or sacrifice too much traceability in the name of improving short-term productivity. SCM and build, when done correctly, can provide a framework that allows a team to develop code quickly. However, it's also possible to establish practices that can hinder your development team.
Corporate Use of Predictive Analytics: Part I -- Adoption Trends and Attitudes
In February/March 2011, Cutter Consortium conducted a survey asking 60 end-user organizations various questions about the adoption and use of predictive analytics. The goal was to uncover corporate adoption trends and examine application development issues to discern how organizations are applying predictive analytics technology and practices to structured data analysis.
Geolocation and Privacy: Part I -- Wide Choices, Legal Issues
Location-based services have many features and applications that all executives need to be aware of, as their organizations likely are, or will be, using them. The purpose of this two-part Executive Update series is to present a panorama of the varied location-based services accompanied by an analysis of the legal issues raised. The privacy implications of geolocation have to be evaluated according to the role played by the data subject and the collection and processing of personal information.
Software Cloud Computing: Part I -- Programming for Everyone?
Do you know how electricity is produced? You probably know that it has something to do with turbines and magnets, but don't worry about it; most people don't really know. How about water? How does it get to your kitchen sink? Let's be honest; you don't really care, do you? Well, neither do most people. They just want it to be there when they need it.
Innovation, IP, and Protection
The relationship between intellectual property (IP) rights and innovation is by no means straightforward. While conventional economics dictates that innovation is the route to value creation -- and IP protection provides the means to secure that value -- this formulation breaks down almost at the instant in which it is questioned.
Modernizing "Modern" Applications: Agile and a Strategy of Continual, Iterative Improvement
Does this sound familiar? The product manager for a software application is getting hounded by sales reps to add functionality that would let them call on their installed base with a new story to tell. At the same time, customer service has a list of usability problems that need to be fixed. Meanwhile, the product developers are realizing that they have pushed the current architecture to its limits, and they need to move to an approach based on services.
Mobile Opportunities and Strategic Challenges: Choosing Your Path
All of us are familiar with today's flood of mobile devices and the multiple impacts and changes this is bringing about in many businesses. We've already experienced the affect of smartphones on our daily lives, and industry studies indicate there will likely eventually be more smartphones in use than PCs, particularly outside of North America.
The New Outsourcing: Part IV -- Is It the Death of Corporate IT?
Welcome to the fourth and final installment in a series of Executive Updates that explore the "new outsourcing" and how it may be different from the outsourcing that we have all come to know.