Joseph Sweeney

A common mistake when engaging third-parties for ‘Agile software development services’ is to use a contract or procurement approach that is at odds with the tenets of Agile software development. In cases where contract and payment terms follow the more traditional ‘fixed price and scope’ statements of work, organisations do not get true Agile development services, and more likely than not, will be frustrated and dissatisfied with results of the project. Instead, organisations should consider using specific styles of Master Service contracting agreements with Agile developers, or accept that the best than can be achieved will be a hybrid “Watergility” approach by the developers.

Organisations that are still running Windows XP fleets are debating holding off a desktop refresh (to Windows 7) until Windows 8 becomes available. There are three key considerations to this discussion: product functionality, management, and licensing. In each of these three categories, IBRS concludes that there is no compelling reason to wait for Windows 8.

IT executives are increasingly being pressured to adopt Windows 64-bit operating systems as a foundation for the next generation of desktop environment. Vendors – and in many cases IT engineers – are touting a range of technical benefits of Windows 64-bit operating systems over 32-bit operating systems. However, these technical benefits do not equate to business benefits. Unfortunately, market movements and vendor strategies will force enterprises to adopt Windows 64-bit desktops sometime in the next two desktop refresh cycles. As such, the move to a Windows 64-bit environment should be viewed as conceding to market pressures and adopted only within the context of moving to a new Dynamic Desktop architecture, which is where the real business benefits are to be found.

SharePoint is well known as a platform for small-scale knowledge management, team collaboration, and Web applications. However, some organisations have begun experimenting with SharePoint as an alternative to large-scale Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions, handling more than 100 million documents. The lessons learned from these initiatives indicate that while SharePoint can deliver ECM, such projects require a great many technical and planning skills that are foreign to most SharePoint implementation teams in Australia. It is almost certain you will need to hire short-term project specialists to be successful.

With the recent announcement regarding availability of Microsoft Windows 8, desktop managers are once again finding themselves with the challenge of building a business case for a desktop refresh. However, IBRS proposes that operating system upgrades should no longer be the centrepiece of the desktop refresh process. It is time to radically change how desktop refresh decisions are made. Instead, organisations should be creating an applications deployment strategy that looks not at devices and operating systems, but at ways in which to get the right applications in the right hands, no matter the device or OS.

This month Microsoft unveiled aspects of its new Windows 8 operating system at the Build developers’ conference. A significant change in the new OS is the use of the “Metro” style user interface, which will be familiar to anyone who has used Windows Phone 7. Metro involves extensive use of multi-touch and “tiles” that represent both applications and live data,...

Mature Unified Communications (MUC) is more than a blending of messaging, voice, and presence information. The coming wave of unified communications will be executed as part of a larger ’worker mobility’ strategy and be more closely coupled with business processes. This type of unified communications allows significant organisational structural change. Thus, planning for MUC begins with an examination of organisational processes and discovery of where knowledge is located within the organisation, and then evolves into a discussion regarding how to restructure teams to gain a competitive advantage.

Market and technological forces are minimising the value of the Microsoft Office client, and pushing the true value proposition for productivity services to backend services. Microsoft’s evolving product, marketing and licensing strategies to support this trend. Understanding Microsoft’s strategy is important when planning future desktop deployments, as well as collaboration and mobility strategies.

Google’s recent announcement that it was depreciating its Translation APIs (application program interfaces) with minimal notice sent shock waves through the world of translation services and developers of mobile, consumer and even enterprise software. After the initial announcement, Google changed its position and stated API services would be offered on a pay-per-use basis. Google’s moves highlights risks associated with public APIs that are provided under ‘terms of use’ rather than firm contractual agreements.

IBRS has identified three broad approaches to Microsoft Office upgrades. In this research, we examine the benefits and challenges of each approach, and key considerations for planning. Organisations with more than 750 seats should avoid ad hoc Office deployments and take time to get their migration strategy in place, or risk creating a “demand feedback loop” that will result in higher costs and dissatisfaction with the IT department.