In the applications world, we love to talk about the latest architectures, techniques, and technologies. All too often, we fixate on these things and don’t think about the best way to make decisions and drive behaviors. This leads to a condition that Matt Hotle and I often call “chasing the next shiny object”, where people mistakenly think if they just bought into the latest development environment, web technologies or methodology – then all would be well. Unfortunately, chasing these shiny objects often results in another old saying coming true – “a fool with a tool is still a fool”.
For a couple years now, a bunch of us have been working hard on a maturity model that handicaps how well an application organization is governed. Matt will hit on most of the key concepts in his session on Application Governance and Maturity. One particularly critical aspect of this discussion is people and skills, which Sue Landry will tackle in Modernizing Application Staffing and Skills.