application development

Good biz analyst worth his weight in gold

Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

IT departments involved in projects including software development should never underestimate the importance of good business analysts. Carey Schwaber, a senior analyst of application development at Forrester Research, believes the best business analysts are corporate diplomats, savvy negotiators and skilled peacemakers who understand where the technical and business elements all fit.

"They are good at finding common ground; they are good at being objective," she said. "They are really looking at, oftentimes, conflicting needs from the business and from IT.''

She added that they are the key to making a project hum. But other times, she believes, a bad business analyst can be the "critical failure factor."

To read more about the successful formula:
- see this CIO.com article

Big firms could slash 40 percent from IT

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

For CIOs and their IT employees at Global 1000 companies, it may not seem like your department's budget is bloated, given all the needs and the long wish list. Yet, the Hackett Group, a research firm, said tough economic times require cutbacks. At the big global companies--those with at least $23.4 billion in revenue and 56,000 employees--between eight percent and 39 percent of baseline spending can be cut, Hackett says, by making application maintenance, application development and implementation, end user support and infrastructure management processes more efficient. Hackett executives say that most companies are surprised by how much they can actually save. "I've seen companies take out 50 percent of their IT operating costs over a few years," says Erik Dorr, Hackett's senior IT research director.

To learn more about cost-cutting strategies:
- See this CIO Magazine article

Top ten technologies for 2008

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Everybody loves a top ten list. Also at the Gartner conference, consultants identified the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2008. Green IT tops the list. IT is still responsible for 2 percent of all carbon releases. Unified communications will be an important technology. "In a world in which all the information is digital and carried on IP, the opportunity and advantages of carrying it on a unified infrastructure are becoming obvious," the analysts stated in a slideshow presentation. Not surprisingly, business process management will be important as will metadata management, which serves as the foundation for information infrastructure and is found throughout IT systems: in service registries and repositories, Web semantics, configuration management databases (CMDB), business service registries and in application development. Other technologies include virtualization 2.0, mashups and composite applications, web platform and WOA, or web-oriented architecture (a version of SOA geared toward Web applications), computing fabrics, real world web and social software.

For more information on the technologies:
- see the article in Networkworld

Security still an enigma for most CIOs

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:01:40 -0400

Among the challenges facing the modern CIO, convincing other executives to commit the same level of funding to security as to strategic, potentially money-making applications that directly advance organizational objectives is one of the most difficult. Still, as the stories in today's technology section illustrate, CIO's who don't integrate and deploy security strategies that pro-actively manage strategic risks do so at their peril. The main problem, as I see it, is that security is still seen by most organizations as an exercise in solid defense. The reason this approach is flawed, is that there are simply too many variables to account for--making security breaches all but inevitable. The InformationWeek article below illustrates a growing awareness among smart CIOs that security should not be viewed in a vacuum, but rather, should be integrated into the early stages of new business process design and application development. Similarly, NetworkWorld's coverage of the threats posed to Domain Name Systems, despite significant efforts and investments by corporate security professionals, illustrates the problems inherent in a defensive approach to security. The best defense, they say, is a strong offense. At any rate, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on how CIOs can revise their approach to security, so if you have any ideas, please drop me a line. Enjoy the issue. -Patty

IT staff, budgets and effectiveness up this year

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:01:39 -0400

If you're in IT these days, life is looking pretty good, at least according to the latest IT Spending, Staffing and Technology Survey from Computer Economics. The survey finds that just about everything is going up for IT execs, including staffing, budgets, and IT effectiveness (as measured in spend-per-user). Surprising to many is the fact that IT budgets are up across the board--by five percent and felt in almost every industry in every sector. In terms of where the money is being spent, the fastest growing areas are personnel, application software and outsourcing; spending per desktop is currently falling. Outsourcing continues to garner mush of the money. Some 62 percent of companies outsource at least some of their application development work. Experienced staff are still are still in high demand at most companies and in most industries (which may explain why salaries are also on the rise). Fifty-two percent of the 200 companies surveyed said they were adding staff, while only 16 percent anticipated layoffs.

For more on the most recent trends:
- read the details in CIOUpdate. Article
- also, see ComputerWorld's piece on the 12 most
important security skills. Article

Best practices for disaster recovery

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

CSO Magazine's CIO Executive Council members offer some good advice for disaster recovery. These include dedicating a department to manage business continuity and disaster recovery, separating business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning into separate initiatives, making sure the plan can stand alone, determining how long people can go without specific applications, aligning disaster recovery with application development, testing the crisis management team with mock disasters, testing new products and technologies, and adjusting when necessary.

Read more about disaster recovery planning:
- read the article at CSO

ALSO:
- read this on disaster recovery being put on the back burner
- this on why disaster recovery isn't enough
- and this on current trends in disaster recovery

ALSO NOTED: Companies are over-relying on manual processes; Make sure your Linux systems are ready for DST

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

> Companies still relying on manual processes for data integration need to change--fast. Article

> Making sure your Linux systems are ready for the new Daylight Savings Time. Article

> Tech workers feeling positive about their jobs. Article

> New Cisco communications tools will integrate office networks with mobile handsets. Article

> Intel introduces an RFID chip. Article

And finally…One anonymous user's nightmarish story about application development from hell. Article

IT infrastructure outsourcing saves money

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:01:39 -0500

Of all of the IT tasks companies are likely to outsource, IT infrastructure makes the most business sense, with the highest average return and the fewest risks. Organizations can save an average of 27 percent by outsourcing their IT infrastructure, while outsourcing application development saves an average of 20 percent and outsourcing application support and help desk work saves somewhat less, according to a new study. But before you jump on the outsourcing bandwagon, make sure your set-up is a good fit for the business model.

Learn more about the benefits of IT outsourcing:
- read the press release at Earthtimes.org

The risks involved in outsourcing code writing

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:01:36 -0500

Outsourcing application development could take a huge step backward, thanks to security concerns that even the Feds are worried about. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), the possibility of malicious code being baked into applications and software by overseas vendors could pose a increasing threat to national security. The DOD is readying a report that pushes for an increase in detection and prevention solutions when it comes to military code development. And while the focus is on making sure that military systems and net-abled applications are risk free, experts say the DOD's concern should also be a concern for the private enterprise as well.

For more on keeping code development safe:
- check out the article at Computerworld

Related Article: The latest studies on the impact of outsourcing. Article

Email at the center of Morgan Stanley investigation

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:01:35 -0500

Email is emerging as the most critical piece of evidence in an investigation at Morgan Stanley over whether executives and business leaders influenced the IT department to gain favors and gifts from customers and clients. Initiated by an ex-employee's claim that he was fired for trying to blow the whistle on the alleged criminal actions, the investigation is focused on what IT leaders knew, what they did for business executives and whether IT efforts were part of business sales efforts. The incident is also raising questions about whether Morgan Stanley's email application development and use by certain business executives violated regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

For more on the email trail:
- read this article at InformationWeek