Last year, Andrew McAfee coined the term Enterprise 2.0 in his book of that title.  He defines Enterprise 2.0 as:

“Enterprise 2.0 is the use of emergent social software platforms by organizations in pursuit of their goals.”

Here is a view of those platforms in practice (more…)

One would certainly categorize predictably ill-fated ventures as irrational.  Why would a rational individual undertake an initiative that is almost guaranteed to fail?  Is application rationalization one of those initiatives?  Perhaps it is and that is the reason John McCarthy used the word “courage” to describe the emotional trait necessary to pursue its goals.

Recently, I spoke with Mike Vizard of IT Business Edge.  We discussed many compelling reasons why an organization would pursue application rationalization.  Cost reduction, increased business agility and business transformation were at the top of the list.  But, even with those stakes most organizations are reluctant to give it a try.  There are many reasons why, some legitimate, others not. (more…)

Ever wondered why so many application development projects have much longer than planned user acceptance testing phase? For a very long time developers focused on completing the functionality, with limited focus on usability.

For the last few years, there has been a distinct trend towards a “consumerization” of IT. To a great extent Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) has been a fall out of this rapid transformation sweeping the technology and business landscape.  It is bringing in revolutionary changes to the way that organizations use technology for enhanced customer experience. The emphasis is now on a “user centric” approach to developing and deploying applications. (more…)

The exercise of application rationalization is certainly complex.  Reconciling the needs of many constituencies within an organization and reconciling those needs against a large and byzantine IT portfolio is a daunting task.  In an effort to eliminate waste, streamline the IT estate and create a more “lean” environment to support, this kind of software engineering project must evaluate the needs of the business and assess a harvesting of the best components of the current application population.  Common service layers can be created and new application support can be created in technologies like BPM.  This is one facet of a business transformation process.

What about the financial justification for this kind of project?  Is the cost an expense or an investment? (more…)

Virtusa has participated in quite a few conferences lately.  At each one, I noticed a pending mash up of whatever core technology was covered with all things social.  Right now, social looks like the Blob consuming everything in its path.

On the one hand, social is terrifying to many IT professionals.  It reeks of teenage ADD, wasted time, no defined ROI, inappropriate behavior and disclosure and all things bad on the web.  End users are going out and doing it on their own signing up for services with their credit cards without IT’s knowledge.  At one conference a presenter admonished “give up, you cannot control it”. (more…)