Executive Update | Cutter Consortium

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.

Opportunity Knocks ... But Which Opportunity Is It?

Carl Pritchard

Software Archeology

Don Estes

TRAPPED BY STRANDED INVESTMENTS

There is a great deal of advice available on strategies for implementing new technology and for new methodologies for project management, but effective advice is relatively rare for those many sites with stranded investments in legacy IT systems and their respective support organizations.

Project Failure: Is It Real or Is It Metrics?

Donna Fitzgerald, Brett Ritchie, Warren Ritchie

At a recent project management conference, one of the speakers trotted out the same old project failure statistics we've been hearing since 1995. The speaker concluded that project failure is still rampant, and if would we just try a little harder and control a little more (by installing new systems and new methods), we could finally fix the problem.

Corporate BI Tools Standardization: Vendor/Tool Selection

Curt Hall

Corporate BI Tools Standardization series: Part I -- Trends and Directions Part II -- Issues and Obstacles

User Participation in Software Projects

Khaled Emam

What's Old Is New Again: A Look at Work Management Application Software

Donna Fitzgerald

INTRODUCTION

Managing work assignments is one of the top challenges in most organizations. The individuals doing the work feel scattered and overwhelmed by the volume of assignments that keep coming their way, while their managers feel caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

Why Large Firms Should Consider IT Outsourcing

Natalia Levina

Creating a Cooperative Vendor Relationship

Ditka Reiner

Outsourcing Evolution: SWOT Assessments

Sara Cullen

A SWOT analysis is a tool used for many purposes in business. The acronym stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As shown in Figure 1, strengths and weaknesses represent internal factors; opportunities and threats represent external factors. Strengths and opportunities are to be built or maintained; weaknesses and threats are to be eliminated or mitigated.

Integrating IT Performance Management with Business Process Management: Where Are We?

Bob Benson, Tom Bugnitz, Tom Bugnitz, Tom Walton, William Walton, William Walton, Kaleb Walton

Survey on IT Performance Measurement and Management Practices: Business Impact Measures Are Still Needed

The Next Innovation in Internet Search

Edmund Schuster

EVA and Technology Assessment

John Berry

Why It Is Time to Break It Up

Helen Pukszta

Getting Down to the Financial Basics of Business Technology

Steve Andriole

The Myth of Guaranteed Delivery

Don Estes

Several recent architecture assignments have brought up what I am starting to think of as a new urban myth: guaranteed delivery of products unequivocally guarantees delivery of messages. This is my chance to rant out this annoyance.

Open Source Software: Favored Applications and Platforms

Tom Welsh

OSS series: Benefits, Drawbacks, and ROI Favored Applications and Platforms

Software Practices and Project Success

Khaled Emam

What Does It Take to Assemble a Successful Software Project Team? Part II: Agile Adventurers

Laurent Bossavit

What Does It Take to Assemble a Successful Software Project Team? Part I Part II: Agile Adventurers

Thinking the Unthinkable

Donna Fitzgerald, Brett Ritchie, Warren Ritchie

Defining and Determining Adequate Security

Julia Allen

Editor's note: This Executive Update is excerpted from the Software Engineering Institute's Governing for Enterprise Security (©2005 Carnegie Mellon University). Permission has been granted to Cutter Consortium to reproduce.

Measurement: The Key to Successful Governance

David Herron

Preparing for Disengagement: What You Wished You Had Put In Your Exit Contract ... and Still Can