Business analyst. Put those keywords into CareerBuilder.com and see over 4,500 openings for this position in IT and general business, 50 in the Denver area alone. This means competition is stiff to get business analysts and this translates into a highly competitive hiring environment.  This is an important function of business strategy and tactics that makes the investment into business analysis very cost effective.

We read with interest the synopsis of a recent study showing that about one software development project in five is deemed a failure. Ouch!

The study, from the Standish Group, was covered by Computer World here.

In addition to the 21% of projects deemed a failure, another 42% had "challenges" such as coming in late, over the allotted budget, or the customers didn't like the end result.

The rest, a whopping 37%, were a success, according to that study.

The good news is that as an industry things are getting better!