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.
Strategies, Linkage, and Relationships
Cutter Consortium recently launched a new business-IT strategies survey (if you haven't had a chance to participate, please go to www.cutter.com/consortium/index_surveys.html and complete the online questionnaire). This survey will be kept open as long as it produces valuable data.
Building an E-Consortium Governance Structure
With the Internet changing how companies interact at every level, establishing an e-business consortium, or e-consortium, is a growing priority for numerous industries. The goal of an e-consortium can vary, but it typically revolves around a group of companies in a given industry that wish to collectively leverage the Internet to improve some aspect of their business.
EAI: Report From the Front Lines
As companies begin creating and implementing enterprise application integration (EAI) solutions, they are finally realizing the true importance of sound architecture practices. There is no magic recipe for implementing EAI solutions. Rather, EAI requires a successful combination of multiple concurrent technology initiatives, and, like the proverbial chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link.
Distributed And Internet Computing
As companies get swept up in the rush to become an e-business, it's important to remember that distributed computing has been around for a long time. In some cases, a slight change in a technology results in a new name. For example, before 1990, companies selling tools that generated software applications from structured diagrams referred to their products as CASE tools.
Identify Your Outsourcing Pain -- Then Prevent It!
Lucky organizations get it right the first time. Wise organizations learn from their experiences and get it right the next time. Really clever organizations learn not only from their own experiences, but from other organizations in similar situations. Organizations responding to the Cutter Consortium Outsourcing Survey provide useful lessons on where to expect the greatest difficulties in an outsourcing arrangement.
Evaluating An Outsourcer's CMM Documentation
The latest statistics from the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) show that the number of Capability Maturity Model (CMM) software assessments is rising and that more software development organizations are attaining higher maturity levels than ever before.
It's The Web, Stupid
During the 1992 US presidential campaign, the Democratic Party entered a new phrase into popular American vocabulary: "It's the economy, stupid!" The phrase echoed its belief (and campaign strategy) that the economy was the most important issue of the day and that many issues and problems could be traced back to it.
Metrics and Other Priorities
Software metrics is one of those great ideas that just never seems to take hold. It certainly has vociferous advocates, and it is mandatory for Level 2 certification on the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model. Software metrics is available as dashboards, scorecards, and instrument panels. There are plenty of qualified consultants ready to help would-be users, but it just hasn't caught on.
Components and Patterns: Disruptive Technologies?
The 1970s and 1980s saw the widespread adoption of database management systems (DBMS). Based on a seemingly simple -- and now obvious -- principle of the separation of creating, retrieving, updating, deleting, and managing data from the various application programs that used the data, at the time, DBMS proved to be a disruptive technology.
Responding To E-Business Pressures
Contrasting with the enthusiastic e-business hype found in the popular press, several recent studies have suggested that large companies are moving toward e-business development rather slowly.
Taking the Plunge Into Outsourcing
When an Olympic diver steps out onto the 10-meter high platform during a competition, she knows the dive she will execute, its degree of difficulty, and the body movements she needs to accomplish to pull it off. The elapsed time from her leap off the diving platform to entry into the water is only a few seconds.
The Two Faces of Outsourcing
Through the Olympics project in Australia, there have been many opportunities to learn about project management, deliverables, teams, sourcing, and myriad other issues. The project activities and their outcomes will culminate in approximately one million extra people being accommodated in Sydney every day for nearly three weeks.
Planning for IT-Related Litigation
One of the "megatrends" proposed by the Cutter Technology Council is a manifestation of the "dark side" of IT systems development: projects fail, and the developer and customer sue each other for the costs incurred. Or the key developer quits unexpectedly, taking along large chunks of proprietary code.
The Myth of Homogeneity
Technical homogeneity produces a compelling pull on IT. Perhaps it harkens back to our mainframe roots -- the big mainframe, green-screen terminals, and COBOL programs were the essence of homogeneity. When viewed through contemporary glasses, that time seems to epitomize simplicity. There were no questions about which platform to use: COBOL was a given. The crux of the matter was to write programs.
Schedule Reduction by Rational Means
In working with software organizations around the world, perhaps the most common complaint I hear is, "Our software projects take too long!" What they want to know is, "How can we reduce the elapsed time of software development?"; upon further questioning, it quickly becomes clear that what they really want is to reduce the elapsed time of software development projects without:
Business-To-Business E-Commerce Brings XML to the Forefront
The economic case for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is overwhelming in its potential benefits. But as with every disruptive technology, there will be winners and losers. The early adopters are more likely to be the winners, particularly in those businesses subject to the "winner takes all" effect.
The Changing Face of Middleware
I probably read a half-dozen articles a week with the word middleware in the title or the first paragraph. Everyone who is interested in the technologies underlying the Internet, e-business, and distributed computing is interested in middleware. Middleware is made up of all the various software products and technologies that are used to link objects or modules on clients with objects or modules on servers.
An Organizational Approach to Managing Outsourcing Relationships
Outsourcing customers and providers usually enter into outsourcing relationships with noble intentions and high expectations. The CIO and other customer executives look forward to exemplary service, best-of-breed thinking, extraordinary responsiveness, and a vendor that shows both a partner-like caring about the customer's success and an intuitive understanding of the business.
Outsourcing Help for Outsourcing
Whether new to outsourcing or well indoctrinated in working with IT vendors, you may find yourself in a situation where your outsourcing process itself -- planning for, procuring, and implementing vendor services -- needs help. A recent Cutter Consortium Outsourcing Survey indicates that more than one-third of outsourcing organizations surveyed use outside help to support their vendor engagements.
Dispelling E-Business Myths
It's hard to pick up a business magazine or IT trade journal without being bombarded by articles on e-business, e-commerce, e-this, and e-that. It's not only the hot new thing, it seems to be the only thing that organizations are focusing on these days.
I.T.'s Role in Strategic Planning
For at least a decade, surveys have consistently reported that the very top priority for CIOs and senior managers is that of aligning IT with the business.
E-Business Strategy for Established Companies
"Companies that don't have an e-business strategy will be out of business in two years." "E-business is changing everything." "If you don't 'get' e-business, e-business will get you." Ad libitum. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam.
Organizing For Serious Component Reuse
In this Executive Update, I review some recent Cutter Consortium data on the commitment (or lack thereof) that IT organizations have made to component reuse and how they are implementing these commitments. This data is derived from the responses of 50 large organizations that Cutter surveyed during the past six months.
The Fundamentals of Managing Object Technology Projects
All of the traditional practices of project management, including estimating, scheduling, monitoring, risk analysis, contingency planning, change management, problem solving, and team building, apply to object technology and component-based development projects.
Establishing Effective Service-Level Metrics
Software development, enhancement, and maintenance outsourcing arrangements are established on the basis of a contractual partnership, with both sides having a vested interest in the success of the business relationship. The measure of that success can be defined as the effective and efficient delivery of services for a fair market price.