Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy

Book Description

Today's businesses are overwhelmed with the need to create more content, faster, cutomized for more customers, and for more media than ever before. Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy provides the concepts, strategies, guidelines, processes, and technological options that will prepare enterprise content managers and authors to meet the increasing demands of creating, managing, and distributing content.

Author Ann Rockley, along with the Rockley Group team, provides techniques that will help you define your content management requirements, build your vision, design your content architecture, pick the right tools, and overcome the hurdles of managing enterprise content. This book will help you visualize the broad spectrum of enterprise content, the requirements for effectively creating, managing, and delivering content, and the value of developing a unified content strategy for your organization.

Customer Reviews:

An expert's view on unifying information.......2007-07-26

Actually implementing a content management solution, even for a small company, is a daunting prospect. Not only do you have to consider a myriad of concrete tasks in order to audit, centralize, and reuse your information. You also have to "sell" a major work-style change to numerous players. Even knowing where to start can be overwhelming, and that's where Ann Rockley's book Managing Enterprise Content comes in.

Authoritative and experienced, Rockley acknowledges that enterprise content management is not for everyone (a refreshing change from those pushing cookie-cutter solutions). In cases where content management could solve business problems, Rockley makes her case with calm conviction, breaking the subject down into logical chunks. In particular, her chapters on designing metadata (the "information about information" that is key to effective and scalable content management) and workflow (the designation of who does what, when) are lucid and comprehensive.

Whether your objective is to get a grasp of the subject, sell an implementation to your organization, or just digest what an impending implementation will mean to you, you'll want Rockley's book on your desk.

An excellent starting point for tech writers making the move to single sourcing........2007-05-25

I came to this book from a very different direction than many (all?) of the other reviewers. I'm a technical writer ("content developer") researching methods and tools for single-sourcing technical documentation. For my purposes, this book was an excellent starting point in recognizing and understanding the considerations that must be taken into account when migrating to a single-source solution (i.e., one tool and set of practices for developing documentation to be delivered in multiple media), defining a new set of practices, and evaluating an authoring tool. I recommend this book strongly to any tech writer/manager who needs help understanding the basics of single-sourcing.

Content reuse, not Enterprise Content Management...,.......2006-11-05

This book's title has probably attracted those interested in Enterprise Content Management. ECM has increasingly become a major buzz in business strategy circles as the information age tidal wave spills over into organizations and floods them with content. We're literally drowning. "Managing Enterprise Content" does not discuss ECM in broad terms, such as structured and unstructured content, email, scanned documents, OCR, ICR, etc. Instead, it focuses on content reuse. To take a simple example, a product brochure, a website, and a press release all include descriptions of a product. Why, the book argues, rewrite that description three separate times for each medium? Why not write it just once, store it in a content management system, and then reuse it over and over again? "Content Modularization" or "Content Reuse" probably describe the goals of this book less confusingly than "Managing Enterprise Content." But, in fairness to the authors, the current title isn't inaccurate, it just lends itself easily to misunderstanding. To reiterate: those looking for a course in Enterprise Content Management conforming to the Association for Information and Image Management's (AIIM) guidelines should look elsewhere.

Nonetheless, those looking for a strategy to manage distributable content throughout an organization should take a look at "Managing Enterprise Content." The focus remains on implementing a "unified content strategy," which translates essentially to an efficient reuse of content. Here the word "content" has a specific sense relating to verbiage authored for a specific use. Product descriptions, mission and vision statements, disclaimers, compliance and regulatory announcements, anything widely distributable qualifies. How does one efficiently manage the creation and the evolution of such content across an organization? This obviously implies some form of centralization (although this pregnant term gets strategically avoided for obvious reasons). And this further implies a software system. But prior to purchasing an expensive application, the business must align itself process-wise to enable content reuse. Otherwise the costly program will sit and rot. The first three parts of the book (I - III), comprising its first twelve chapters, discuss these necessary preparations and walk the reader through to implementation. This progression mirrors, for good reasons, the project management and software development life cycle processes. First, determine the concept or the "why?" of the project (Chapters 1 & 2). Then perform cost benefit analysis (Chapter 3 discusses ROI for content reuse), analyze and prioritize the current content infrastructure, the "As-Is" (Chapters 4 through 6), look to the future by modeling and designing the elements of the system the "To-Be" (Chapters 7 through 11), and finally implement the reusable content infrastructure (Chapter 12). Evaluation of software tools and technology should come before implementation, but the book instead covers these topics in Part IV (Chapters 13 to 18). So it's that easy to implement a unified content strategy? Well, no, not really.

Part V, the book's final section, outlines the inevitable issues that face organizational restructuring. Implementation of a unified content strategy will probably necessitate fundamental changes. Roles will get changes, people moved around, departments will get realigned or reorganized. All of this can sap morale or cause anxiety amongst employees. The author is not an authority on such issues, so this section of the book remains somewhat cursory and high-level. Conflict management gets deferred to a website (the book contains an out of date URL, but the book's website[...] has an updated address), and the advice presented here will probably not surprise anyone. Still, managing change remains an important part of any new implementation and this section, though rudimentary, will at least raise awareness.

Lastly, the appendices contain a grab bag of information. Appendix C, on vendors, has probably suffered from age (these days, a lot can happen in three years), but it may provide some good leads. Appendix B, "Writing for Multiple Media," probably could have appeared in the main body of the book; it contains important details not covered elsewhere.

Overall, the book does give a plausible outline for implementing the proposed strategy. Some of the chapters may seem overly simplistic or overlong to those experienced with system implementations or business process management. At the very least, "Managing Enterprise Content" may introduce some readers to the concept of enterprise content reuse. That concept remains a challenging one that will likely mean different things to different organizations. So this book does not provide the final word on the subject, nor does it intend to. An organization can only use this book as a blueprint or a guidepost for implementing its own unified content strategy.

Review of Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Str.......2004-05-21

Are you overwhelmed with the need to create more content, faster, customized for more customers, and for more media than ever before? Do you consider storing documentation on a server as an effective a content management system? Do you want to learn how content management will empower your organization? The answer to these questions and many more is covered in Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy by Ann Rockley with Pamela Kostur and Steve Manning of The Rockley Group. The Rockley Group is one of the leading providers of content management methodologies.

Managing Enterprise Content provides concepts, strategies, guidelines, processes, and technical options that will prepare you to meet the increasing demands of creating, managing, and distributing content. It describes techniques that will help you define your content management requirements, build your vision, design your content architecture, select tools, and overcome obstacles of managing enterprise content. It will help you to visualize the spectrum of enterprise content, the requirements for effectively creating, managing, and delivering content, and the value of developing a content strategy for your organization. That¡¦s a lot of information for one person to understand. That¡¦s why the book is written for three audiences: content managers, information architects, and authors. Managing Enterprise Content follows the same methodical approach that Rockley uses to teach content management in seminars and workshops.

I was expecting the book to jump into the technologies to implement a content management system. But that¡¦s not how Rockley presents content management. She begins with The basis of a unified content strategy and describes how content is created, who creates it, why authors work in isolation, and the consequences of isolation and centralizing content. The solution is to consolidate content in a definitive source, and a process that encourage authors to work collaboratively. The next step is to assess opportunities for content reuse. If you have never heard the term ¡¥reusing content,¡¦ you may know it as single sourcing. You probably already reuse content (i.e. copy and paste), which works well until the information, and everywhere that it appears, must be updated. Content reuse involves using existing content components (e.g. paragraphs, sections, and chapters) to develop new documents. Implementing a unified content strategy is a costly investment: tools, technologies, and training are not cheap. Investment costs are incurred in technology, training and consulting, and lost productivity.

Examples are given to calculate the cost of authoring tools, content management systems, training and consulting¡Xa content management system is not a plug and play, one size fits all solution. The return on investment is achieved by reduced time to market, reduced cost of product content development, improved accuracy and quality of content, and reduced manufacturing defects. The examples are especially helpful because you will need to create a proposal to convince budget holders and management on the return on investment of a content management solution.

Are you ready to buy a content management system? Not yet, read further. ¡§Performing a substantive audit: Determining business requirements¡¨ begins with an introduction on how to determine goals that you want a unified content strategy to solve, for example:
h Reduce the time to plan, write, review, approve, and publish
h Create flexible content that is easily reused to create information products for multiple products and multiple media
h Reduce the cost of translation by reusing existing translations.
h Make content more accessible; separating content from format makes it possible for content to be displayed automatically in a format appropriate to the disability.
Rockley describes how to identify opportunities where a unified approach of content management (i.e. planning, design, authoring and revision, version control, access control, publication and delivery to its audiences) is beneficial.

You are probably wondering how this all fits together, and Rockley explains how. ¡§Design¡¨ describes information modeling and metadata, how to personalize content, how to design a workflow, and how to implement your design.

An information model is critical for a unified content strategy because it provides a framework for documentation. It's the 80/20 rule: 80% of your effort is planning and analysis, and 20% of your effort is implementing the solution with whatever tools are selected to accomplish the goals the organization has set for itself. The level of detail of your information model depends on the level of reuse you want to achieve.

Many desktop publishing tools can dynamically publish personalized letters and forms by matching elements such as names and address¡Xa content management system can do the same. I was confused why design is given so much attention. Why not conduct the audit, buy the tools, and worry about design later? You can¡¦t. The design of information, reuse models/maps, meta data and workflow are all tool independent tasks. Regardless of the tools selected, you must first analyse and then design a content or information model so that it can be presented to IT staff and software vendors. Doing this in advance makes it possible for you to ask vendors to respond to a request for proposal and document how their tools can help you satisfy your specific challenges. Analysis provides an opportunity to collect metrics. From your information models, you can identify how much of your content could be reusable and where.

Educated on how content is used, where and how, you are better prepared to match the tools and technology to the origination¡¦s goals to deliver a unified content management solution. ¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ offers guidelines for evaluating tools. With so many tools and technologies to choose from, selecting the one that best satisfies your goals and budget is a challenge. Your best advantage is to be an educated consumer before you shop around. Rockley recommends that you identify your needs, and criteria for evaluating product options in terms of usability, training provided, supporting documentation provided, technical support, upgrades and enhancements, implementation time, cost, vendor viability, partnerships the vendor has to provide an expanded solution, and references. Where do you being looking?

Some good sources are conferences where vendors present authoring solutions such as the annual STC conference, electronic mailing lists, technology magazines, Web sites and online discussion boards and newsgroups. A supplement to ¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ is Appendix C, ¡§Vendors,¡¨ which is an overview of products, features and vendors. Appendix D, ¡§Tools Checklist,¡¨ which lists sample questions to ask a vendor. When you have narrowed your list of potential vendors, Rockley suggests that you either contact the vendors and request onsite demonstrations or send vendors an RFP (request for proposal).

¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ covers XML because it provides interoperability between applications. XML is not a set of tags that you apply to documents; it is a specification that sets rules for the creation of tag sets that you apply to documents. For instance, if you selected tools first and then designed your content, you might find that some of the content does not behave the way you expect it to. One solution would be to use XSLT to transform the content and move it around where you want it. While this may be an acceptable solution, it¡¦s not. The conversion costs time, money, and resources. There is no need to convert or transform content if it¡¦s modelled in XML from the start.

Rockley describes strategies for collaborative authoring, how to separate content from format, how to manage change and transition. An example is given to illustrate how the same product description is reused effectively to create a show catalog, brochure, press release and Web site. It¡¦s easy to understand that people find it hard to believe that content somebody else created could possibly meet their needs. After all, Rockley notes, it was written for a different purpose and media, and the author could not have known their customers/audience/requirements. However, if content is written for a different purpose, audience, or media without considering how the content can be reused, it¡¦ won¡¦t work.

Don¡¦t be optimistic that everybody will be willing to convert to a better way of authoring and managing content. Rockley presents issues to consider when planning your change management strategy such as overcoming resistance from opponents and descriptions of new and modified roles. She recommends creating a role for an enterprise project coordinator and information technologist; a change to existing roles business owners or analysts and information architects; and new skill sets (p. 413-415). Unintentionally overlooked are system administrators to maintain the content management system and to ensure that users adhere to standards.

Don¡¦t be overly optimistic that everybody will want morph into new roles and change their authoring habits. An XML system is best suited and ideal for a large documentation department for all content authoring or an organization where every author uses the XML authoring tool. A team of ten or fewer will be constrained to balance XML implementation and documentation project duties, and learn how to use the (new) content management system. Even if you assign the complex task of XML implementation and creation of information models, workflows and DTDs to a consultant, the consultant will require guidance from the team. These are only a few of the constraints to overcome to assure a successful unified content strategy that Rockley expertly describes how to overcome.

Managing Enterprise Content concludes with a checklist for implementing a unified content strategy, suggestions for writing for multiple media, sample questions to ask vendors, a checklist for the tools required to implement a unified content strategy, and the importance of content relationships in version control. Pay close attention to usability. The rollout of a content management system, authoring tools, and authoring standards affects every member of the organization. If it¡¦s not easy to learn, easy to use, easy to support, and easy to maintain, authors will revert to the traditional way of writing and managing content.

Read Managing Enterprise Content before you invest in a content management system and consulting fees. You will be an educated and informed customer and user when you begin shopping for a content management solution of your own.

A must for Content Management projects.......2004-02-02

This book is an absolute must for Content Management projects. It touches all of the important aspects: Technical, functional and process. There is something for all stakeholders in a EMS/CMS project.

Especially good about this book is that the parts that are not your direct job are still very readable, understandable and interesting. It provides valuable insights in other peoples jobs and reasoning.

Coming from the technical side and with a lot of experience in setting up systems and also information architecture and DTD design, for me this book contained several new insights and some very helpfull checklists.

Book Description

"Accessibility and clarity of purpose maintained throughout."
Journal of Information Technology

"Clear, practical, comprehensive."
Output

"A clear exposition of the impact that IS has had on business performance."
Long Range Planning

"Lucid analysis."
Computer Weekly

Strategic Planning for Information Systems (3rd Edition) explores the impact that Information Systems (IS) have on business performance and the contribution IS makes to the strategic development of organizations. It describes IS tools, techniques and management frameworks - all of which identify opportunities for strategic thinking, and shows how IS is an indispensable component in the implementation of a strategic plan.

Since the earlier edition of Strategic Planning for Information Systems, much has changed in the way business is organized. However, the essence of the book remains the same - it is a practical and comprehensive book written in a clear and straightforward way. This new edition focuses more on strategic management of IS than on the progress made in recent years in either technology or business processes. This 3rd edition is substantially updated and illustrated with new cases material and examples. Additional material will cover the role of ecommerce, knowledge management and benefits management systems. This book will also show why Information Systems and Information Technology investment works for some organizations and not for others.

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Strategic Planning for Information Systems explores the impact that information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) have on business performance and the contribution that they make to the strategic options of organisations. It describes tools, techniques and management frameworks to both align strategies for IS and IT with business strategy, as well as seek out new opportunities through innovative deployment of technology. This book demonstrates why strategic planning for information systems is essential to organisational success, especially in times of increasingly rapid change. Over the long term any organisation will get the information systems it deserves, according to the approach adopted to the use and management of IS/IT. To obtain the whole range of benefits available from IS/IT and avoid the potential pitfalls, every organisation must establish the means to manage IS/IT as an integral part of its approach to strategic management. In the six years since the second edition of Strategic Planning for Information Systems, much has changed in the way business is organised and in the importance of IS for competitive strategies. However, the essence of the book remains the same - it is a practical and comprehensive book written in a clear and straightforward way. The new edition introduces more approaches and techniques to aid in developing and implementing strategies - to enable management and IS/IT professionals to identify what needs to be done and how best to do it.

Customer Reviews:

A business led approach to Information Systems Planning.......2004-06-24

The latest edition of Strategic Planning for Information Systems provides vital guidance for anyone working in this area - in business or in academia. There are no easy answers and the authors provide readers with the concepts and tools they need to tackle the key challenges and develop an IS Strategy for their organisation.

The introduction of a section on Benefits Managment is particularly useful.

Poorly written........2003-11-21

The text is poorly written and rife with grammatical errors. It reads like the author(s) were producing a thesis and were being graded on word-count. They refer to their own research to justify their position. Other statements have no citations to refer to. I doubt if many organizations utilize even a forth of the practices the text suggest. What organization has the time and/or resources to expend on these ideas? I would rather read CIO magazine as it reads better and gets to the point.

If I could, I would get my money back because it is definitely not worth $100+. At best, $20.

Apply business consulting technique to IS/IT.......2002-03-21

Run IS/IT as a service business? Then you need this book which apply popular business consulting world technique to IS/IT. Value chain by M. Porter and 2x2 portfolio adapted from BCG are the two most important techniques to explore.

And you need to know where you are now and where you are going to in order to obtain a really useful strategy. The 3-era-5-stage reference model introduced here is a very powerful tool to position yourself right.

The authors also explored 4 important strategy subject areas for IS/IT: information, application, technology and resource. Which provide useful insight for us.

Rich resource for experienced strategic planners.......2001-09-13

In one respect this book is a classic because it is frequently referenced in the body of literature on IS/IT management and IS/IT strategic planning. Out of the past 50 or so articles on the topic (including corporate and city/state/Federal government strategic plans, PHd dissertations and white papers) over 75% have cited this book.

This is not, however, a "how-to" book that describes a coherent strategic planning process. It's a collection of standalone chapters on each key element of strategic planning. The material is presented in sequential order, but no single chapter depends on another. Moreover, there is no smooth continuity between the chapters or a master chapter that ties it all together. That said, this book is valuable from two perspectives:

(1) Each chapter is highly focused and contains a wealth of information on its topic.

(2) Used as a collection of mature techniques this book could be used to support an effective strategic planning process.

The main value is the fact that each element of strategic planning is thoroughly covered. I frequently use this book as a catalog of procedures and techniques for numerous projects, including strategic planning, assessment, process improvement and IS/IT organizational improvement.

If you are seeking a book that shows step-by-step how to perform IS/IT strategic planning you may not like this book. However, if you are an experienced practitioner this book is a wonderful resource to which you'll find yourself frequently referring.

Excellent Reference.......2001-05-08

I've just finished using this as a text book in my Bsc final year. It is somewhat difficult to read as the writing is not in a flowing manner but it is an axcellent reference with a multitude of tables, charts, lists and diagrams which describe the essentials of strategic IS/IT planning.

Each chapter brings a succinct set of guidelines for the strategic planning novice. A lot of work has gone into compiling this book, it is a work which I will reference again and again.

Buy it if you're into this stuff at all, you won't regret it.

Average customer rating:

Insightful frameworks for an effective PSO

Building professional services in a product-based company

You will sleep with this book

Excellent pragmatic approach

Required Reading

Building Professional Services: The Sirens' Song
Mitch Peterson , Steve O'Connor , Harris Kern , and Thomas E. Lah
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mastering Professional Services

Managing The Professional Service Firm

S-Business: Reinventing the Services Organization

PSA: Professional Services Automation: Optimizing Project and Service Oriented Organizations

The Professional Services Firm Bible

ASIN: 0130353892

Customer Reviews:

Insightful frameworks for an effective PSO .......2007-05-27

This book is absolutely the best! It provides frameworks to structure and implement an effective professional services organization (PSO) for an IT product vendor. A product company PSO matures over time through various phases characterized by the types of services it offers. This book is full of practical yet winning strategies and tactics to maneuver the high risk waters of professional services. There are clear directions on how to manage key levers that increase profitability but it also sets realistic expectations. Although the book provides the `recipe' for a sample $100 million professional services organization, it lists all the necessary `ingredients' to cook up a PSO of any size.

I liked the fact that it is written in a style that is free of any jargon. Authors are professionals who clearly understand the industry from inside. My least favorite part are the diagrams and illustrations which are at best adequate but could be better. Highly recommend this book!

Building professional services in a product-based company.......2005-01-10

This is the absolutely best book devoted to building pro services organization in a product-based company. While there are a lot of sources on managing stand-alone pro services firm (i.e. accounting, law), this book addresses the common pitfalls in moving into services for product-oriented companies.

The book is easy to read, well organized, and packed with sound practical advice you can start applying right away, whether you're in delivery, sales, or marketing -- you'll be going back to it often.

You will sleep with this book.......2004-08-17

This book absolutely is the best book I've ever ready regarding professional services. They describe a pragmatic approach from their experience at SGI services. This book will take you through planning an PS organization, development of various groups, reporting strucutures, templates for tools to help you.

It's focus in on a PS organization of a product company but you can take much away from this book if you are purely a services organization.

What I like the most is that it helps you do begin to address the various challenges where other books gloss over these topics and leave it to you.

Excellent pragmatic approach.......2004-01-23

This book as become my day-to-day bible to managing a professional service division within our product-oriented company. If you have your objectives and strategy clear, this book will help you getting organized with the tactics.

Required Reading.......2003-07-19

This book is "just what the doctor ordered" for anyone trying to develop a Professional Services(PS) organization that is aligned with other functional groups and the overall mission of a product company. It also should be required reading for any leader moving for the first time from a stand-alone PS company to head up a PS organization within a product company.
I found it to provide easy to read, practical guidance on what the components of the PS organization should be, what the mission and profitability drivers should be, key organizational interfaces and how it should be measured.
Also, this book was reviewed, chapter by chapter, by all PS leaders as well as other functional leaders within the company, to develop a "lessons learned" document as part of a services strategic planning process. Invaluable assistance!

Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy

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A must
An Corporate Information Seller's Handbook
Very Practical
Cheap Text Book
A Must Read for Internet Entrepreneurs

Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy
Carl Shapiro , and Hal R. Varian
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 087584863X

Amazon.com

Chapter 1 of Information Rules begins with a description of the change brought on by technology at the close of the century--but the century described is not this one, it's the late 1800s. One hundred years ago, it was an emerging telephone and electrical network that was transforming business. Today it's the Internet. The point? While the circumstances of a particular era may be unique, the underlying principles that describe the exchange of goods in a free-market economy are the same. And the authors, Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian, should know. Shapiro is Professor of Business Strategy at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has also served as chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. Varian is the Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at UC Berkeley. Together they offer a deep knowledge of how economic systems work coupled with first-hand experience of today's network economy. They write:

Sure, today's business world is different in a myriad of ways from that of a century ago. But many of today's managers are so focused on the trees of technological change that they fail to see the forest: the underlying economic forces that determine success and failure.

Shapiro and Varian go to great lengths to purge this book of the technobabble and forecasting of an electronic woo-woo land that's typical in books of this genre. Instead, with their feet on the ground, they consider how to market and distribute goods in the network economy, citing examples from industries as diverse as airlines, software, entertainment, and communications. The authors cover issues such as pricing, intellectual property, versioning, lock-in, compatibility, and standards. Clearly written and presented, Information Rules belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who has an interest in today's network economy--entrepreneurs, managers, investors, students. If there was ever a textbook written on how to do business in the information age, this book is it. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

In a marketplace that depends so thoroughly on cutting-edge information technology, can classic economic principles still offer any real strategic value? Yes! say Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian. In Information Rules, they reveal that many long-standing economic concepts can provide the insight and understanding necessary to succeed in the information age. Shapiro and Varian argue that if managers seriously want to develop effective strategies for competing in the new economy, they must understand the fundamental economics of information technology. Whether information takes the form of software code or recorded music, is published in a book or magazine, or even posted on a web site, managers must know how to evaluate the consequences of pricing, protecting, and planning new versions of their information products, services, and systems. The first book to distill the economics of information and networks into practical business strategies, Information Rules is a guide to the winning moves that can help business leaders-from writers, lawyers, and finance professionals to executives in the entertainment, publishing, and hardware and software industries--navigate successfully through the information economy.

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In Information Rules, authors Shapiro and Varian reveal that many classic economic concepts can provide the insight and understanding necessary to succeed in the information age. They argue that if managers seriously want to develop effective strategies for competing in the new economy, they must understand the fundamental economics of information technology. Whether information takes the form of software code or recorded music, is published in a book or magazine, or even posted on a website, managers must know how to evaluate the consequences of pricing, protecting, and planning new versions of information products, services, and systems. The first book to distill the economics of information and networks into practical business strategies, Information Rules is a guide to the winning moves that can help business leaders navigate successfully through the tough decisions of the information economy.

Customer Reviews:

A must.......2006-08-25

If you're in the software business and you haven't read this book, chances are you don't know what's going on. This may sound a bit abrupt, but that is the way it is. Bsaic concepts like lock-in and the need to differentiate are discussed in a clear and useful way. If more people would read this, a lot fewer mistakes would be made.

An Corporate Information Seller's Handbook.......2006-03-11

Both authors are professors at the University of California at Berkeley. This book deals with how unchanging principles are being applied to the changing conditions and technologies of information marketing (software).

A unique condition to today's information economy is that it's products are costly to produce, cheap to reproduce and without fixed supply. Value must be created by 'versioning' and personalizing a product in a number of different ways. The other alternative is to become a cost-leader commodity seller.

How to lock-in your customers for the long-term is discussed, as well as how not to be locked-in by your suppliers.

The pros and cons of evolution strategies are explained. Should your product be backward compatible or cleanly break with old technology?

Best in this book is how different positive feedback approaches can put your company in the super-accelerated growth mode.

Five Bright Stars !

Very Practical .......2006-01-24

The arrival of the Internet and the information explosion it created has made it possible for inventors and entrepreneurs to build a business from scratch to worldwide marketing capability in a very few years. The authors of this book take the position that all too often we are deluded into thinking certain and tried and true economic principles have been abolished by this new Internet economy. They argue their position without jargon and with examples taken from the real world.

While old pricing ratios and old pricing strategies may not apply in the information age, new pricing ratios and new strategies have taken their place. Information goods can be costly to produce but cheap to reproduce. For example, a copy of a 100 million dollar movie on videotape costs a few cents to make. So pricing cannot follow, say, a 20% markup rule when the unit cost is essentially zero; "you must price your information goods according to customer value, not according to your production cost."

Several chapters cover pricing strategies and how to maintain control when some "view the Internet as one giant out-of-control copying machine." These strategies involve methods for differing your product from your competitors, avoiding sky-high initial pricing that encourages competition, and customizing. Interestingly, they note the "one-to-one marketing" strategy was "first described by economist A.C. Pigou in 1920."

Sometimes literally giving a product away works. The book describes how the former school teacher (Sheryl Leach) that created Barney gave free videos to day care centers and others located near the stores selling the Barney tapes. A note inside told parents where the stores were. It worked magnificently and Barney is now one of today¹s icons.

The development of digital watermarks has provided one tool for controlling piracy of your web presented material.

An important information age problem is recognizing and dealing with "lock-in." The writers compare cars with computers. You can switch from a Ford to a Chevy with no trouble, but changing computers may obsolete your present software. How do you convince customers to switch to your product or service when a switching cost is involved? The authors discuss several strategies.

Problems with "lock-in" and "switching costs" also often occur when you purchase durable equipment and service contracts. The authors advise you to carefully consider the costs of being locked-in to you supplier¹s parts and services. They especially caution regarding "evergreen contracts" which automatically renew.

Many interesting historical examples are used to drive home points. Edison, for example, with regard to establishing standards, invented the word "Hello" for answering the phone. He was hard of hearing and the English "Hallow" didn¹t grab attention as well. Incidentally, Alexander Graham Bell pushed for "Ahoy." The battles for standardizing railroad gauges and the classic standards battle that established AC power over DC power are detailed. (No mention of Tesla, a shame.)

The enormous role "blocking patents" can play when a formal standard-setting process is taking place within an industry is discussed. Most people think of industry standards as being dictated by the mighty corporations, but if the small guy is not invited to the table his firm "is not required to license its patents on fair and reasonable terms." The government may also monitor a standard-setting procedure with regard to monopoly considerations. When the steel electrical tubing people attempted to stack the deck, the plastic electrical tubing people cried foul and won.

Yet another interesting historical example is given in the discussion regarding how the concept of reasonable royalties and "just price" arose. It goes back to medieval times: "the just price of a horse was the price that would prevail at the open market at the annual fair, not the price that happens to emerge from a traveler in desperate need of a horse."

Like most growing fields the Internet has generated many unique and delightful terms. Vaporware is one such term. That is the promising of a new product and not delivering or delivering very late. This business tactic has been used by even the biggest (IBM, Microsoft), but as the authors note, it has often boomeranged.

While promising too much too soon is dangerous, the book makes the point that in this age of rapid technology progress "rigidity is death." the French became world leaders in the 1980s with their Minitel system, but today only 3 percent can access the Internet. A case where success also resulted in a high switching cost.

Each chapter of the book concludes with "Lessons" which are capsule summaries of the chapter¹s main points. Like the rest of the book, legalese and the jargon of academic economic courses are completely avoided.

This book is so readable and practical one can only hope other professors will use it as an example of how to write without arcane technobabble.

Cheap Text Book.......2005-09-20

I saved a lot of money buying this textbook on-line. It was in good quality.

A Must Read for Internet Entrepreneurs.......2005-06-16

Although this book was written in 1998, it is just as relevant if not more so today. The book discusses how Internet entrepreneurs should price their goods/services; how they can create lock-in effects to instill customer loyalty; and perhaps most importantly, how they can create network effects so as to exponentially increase their client base and barriers to entry. A brilliant book written by two leading authorities on economics.

Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage

Average customer rating:

Bridging business strategy and IT planning: a clear guide
comprehensive ...the only missing part is ROI and IT values

Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage
Bernard H. Boar
Manufacturer: Wiley
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ASIN: 0471076376

Book Description

Information Technology

Cutting-edge techniques for equipping your IT organization to meet the challenges of today's business world

Today's leaner, meaner, total quality business organizations look to information technology to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage. That's why the IT managers who are in greatest demand are those who are well versed in modern strategic planning techniques and capable of developing a dynamic IT organization ever alert to their companies' current and future business needs. Written by an author at the cutting edge of today's IT business strategy revolution, this book offers you a clear, easy-to-implement action plan for reengineering your business's IT organization with an eye to building, sustaining, and expanding a competitive advantage. You will find:

Charts and templates that an IT staff can customize and use today
Techniques for overcoming most architecture problems, including a diagramming technique for drawing exceptionally clear blueprints
An in-depth discussion of business IT alignment
How to design an internal IT business economy
Tips on how to get the biggest bang for the buck while optimizing customer service
Proven techniques that radically improve application development through object-oriented technologies, data servers, and prototyping

Customer Reviews:

Bridging business strategy and IT planning: a clear guide.......2003-08-28

It was about the time this book was written in 1994 that I was facing a difficult time trying to articulate the relationship between business strategy and use of information technology, and the complex set of issues of alignment between the two. I was involved in the complex restructuring of a central bank in an African country and my need to explain these issues to central bankers made my job even more complex.

This book opened my eyes. Even as business thinking and technology have evolved tremendously since this book was published, I still find this text one of the clearest and most concise guides on this subject. The author's approach is highly structured and supported by excellent graphics and charts and he eschews the use of jargon in favor of more straightforwad language.

The strength of the book is its achievement of the difficult balance between business and technolgy issues. Even the concept of strategy is concisely explained with an excellent review of different "schools of strategy." The chapters on technology will definitely seem outdated to many, and the lack of discussion of the Internet and multimedia will be especially striking to a reader today. But this is less important if your interest is to see how to present the issue of alignment between business strategy and technology. The penultimate chapter on management philosophy and style quotes from Machiavelli and Sun Tzu and reminds us that all this technology is really about achieving straegic advanatge and business gain. It is too easy to miss the forest (strategic vision and goals) when the trees (technology tools) become the focus.

I have many other books on similar subjects, but find myself returning to this one whenever I seek inspiration on how to present the issue of effective alignment. It is full of practical straight talk in an area which has unfortunately fallen prey to hype and obfuscation. An illustrative quote from this book: "Clarity is hampered by colloquial definitions of the words. Therefore, we must take some time to uncover what strategic alignment between I/T and the business really means."

comprehensive ...the only missing part is ROI and IT values.......2000-05-06

This is an excellent book for IT leadership who often finds itslef on a different road and cannot justify the value of IT. Unless IT is perfectly aligned with the company strategy this value is never there. This book shows you how to do it...how to align yourself. What is missing are some lessons in showing or developing ROI in IT projects.

Transactional Information Systems: Theory, Algorithms, and the Practice of Concurrency Control (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

Average customer rating:

A wonderfully written book on an important topic
Very Very Good
A must for serious DB professionals
Up-to-date ... sends an old friend into semi-retirement

Transactional Information Systems: Theory, Algorithms, and the Practice of Concurrency Control (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
Gerhard Weikum , and Gottfried Vossen
Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558605088

Book Description

Transactional Information Systems is the long-awaited, comprehensive work from leading scientists in the transaction processing field. Weikum and Vossen begin with a broad look at the role of transactional technology in today's economic and scientific endeavors, then delve into critical issues faced by all practitioners, presenting today's most effective techniques for controlling concurrent access by multiple clients, recovering from system failures, and coordinating distributed transactions.

The authors emphasize formal models that are easily applied across fields, that promise to remain valid as current technologies evolve, and that lend themselves to generalization and extension in the development of new classes of network-centric, functionally rich applications. This book's purpose and achievement is the presentation of the foundations of transactional systems as well as the practical aspects of the field what will help you meet today's challenges.

* Provides the most advanced coverage of the topic available anywhere--along with the database background required for you to make full use of this material.
* Explores transaction processing both generically as a broadly applicable set of information technology practices and specifically as a group of techniques for meeting the goals of your enterprise.
* Contains information essential to developers of Web-based e-Commerce functionality--and a wide range of more "traditional" applications.
* Details the algorithms underlying core transaction processing functionality.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderfully written book on an important topic.......2004-12-22

Database concurrency control and recovery is one of pinnacles of computer science. An amazing collection of models, theoretical results, and implementation techniques enable thousands of users to simultaneously pound on a large database implemented on unreliable disks and networks, with full confidence that their data will be correctly stored. This book tells how this miracle is accomplished.

I teach database systems and also do research on databases, including systems-level refinements to concurrency control and recovery algorithms. This book has been invaluable to me in understanding the three major aspects of concurrency control in databases: the beautiful theory, the carefully constructed algorithms, and the specifics of the practice.

When this book first came out two years ago, I read most of it over a period of an intense week. That was such an enjoyable experience, because the book is very well structured and written in a smooth yet careful style. The authors ensured that all required concepts were in place before introducing a new concept. And the prose just flows, rendering difficult concepts understandable through well-chosen examples.

Since then I have referred to this book often with specific questions that arose in my research. Each time, my question has been answered fully in the book.

Each chapter ends with a section entitled "Lessons Learned" which summarizes the key ideas of the chapter and just as importantly, states the practical application of each concept. Some concepts have not yet been realized in practice; the authors are up front about this and explain why.

Mike Tarrani's review does a good job of explaining the similarities and differences between this book and the other seminal book on transaction processing, by Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter. Both books have their place, and both should be on the shelf (and read by!) all those who want to understand transaction processing at a deep level. And I agree with Jim Gray who noted in his foreword to the Weikum/Vossen book that it is likely to become (indeed, has) the standard reference in this field.

Very Very Good.......2003-10-06

Exceptionally clear writing. Encyclopedic in its coverage of transactions. Anyone dealing with transactions (not just DB developers) would find this a very valuable resource. If you need a book on transactions, this should be your first choice.

A must for serious DB professionals.......2002-10-06

Tradicionally, the 'transaction' concept is always discussed at the RDBMS classes in the University. But this book goes FAR BEYOND this wide known implementation; with a solid math foundation (some math required, specially set theory and algorithms ) it shows you there are a lot of 'real-life' transactions that requiere some formal methods for defining their implementation.

This book has no discussion or topic regarding any comercial vendor technologies (specially databases), and I think this is very good. The Page and Object models for transaction processing are clearly explained. There's a very nice discussion concerning RAID technologies.

This is not an 'academic' book in all the sense of the word. It can help IT professionals to make better transactional system desing (databases, workflow,e-business,etc).

I would like some RDBMS vendors will include this kind of theory in their documentation....

Up-to-date ... sends an old friend into semi-retirement.......2002-07-05

Before this book was published my primary reference and personal favorite TP book was "Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques" by Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter. At over 1100 pages that book thoroughly covered the basics and drilled down into the nuances of transaction processing in a way unmatched by other books on the topic since it was first published in 1993.

This book changes that by going far beyond transaction processing. It starts with the same fundamentals as the older book, and even covers many of the same topics, such as concurrency control, but it addresses each topic from a much wider perspective. For example, the discussion of concurrency goes far beyond the issues of transaction processing as a middleware component. It extends into application, database and search issues. Another indication that this book is more up-to-date is the material on queue managers. While they are at the opposite end of the spectrum from transaction processing monitors, they are integral to any discussion of transactional information systems. More importantly, both transaction processing monitors and queue managers are used in modern enterprise architectures. Having both topics discussed in great detail is a major point in this book's favor.

Personally I intend to keep my copy of the older "Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques" because it does cover some of the subject matter more deeply. However, this book has replaced it as my principal reference and if I had to choose between them this is the one I'd go with.

Average customer rating:

Covers the ground of IT goverance

Rich compendium with wide scope

Strategies for Information Technology Governance

Manufacturer: IGI Global
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IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results

IT Portfolio Management: Unlocking the Business Value of Technology

Managing IT as a Business: A Survival Guide for CEOs

From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line

Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution

ASIN: 1591401402

Book Description

In many organizations, Information Technology (IT) has become crucial in the support, the sustainability and the growth of the business. This pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT Governance. IT Governance consists of the leadership and organizational structures, processes and relational mechanisms that ensure that the organization's IT sustains and extends the organization's strategy and objectives. Strategies for Information Technology Governance records and interprets some important existing theories, models and practices in the IT Governance domain and aims to contribute to the understanding of IT Governance.

Customer Reviews:

Covers the ground of IT goverance.......2005-02-09

Excerpt: This book, Strategies for Information Technology Governance, is aimed at improving the understanding of Information Technology (IT) Governance and its struc¬tures, processes and relational mechanisms. As will be defined in this book, IT Gover¬nance is the organisational capacity exercised by the Board, executive management and IT management to control the formulation and implementation of IT strategy and in this way ensure the fusion of business and IT. Theoretical models and practices regarding IT Governance will be discussed in the different chapters of this book and attention will be paid to its mechanisms, including IT steering committee structures, Balanced Scorecards, control objectives and management guidelines developed by ISACA, and relational mechanisms such as business/IT job rotation.
This book brings together 14 papers on IT Governance written by academics and practitioners from different countries including Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The authors of the different chapters have been included in the review process and have reviewed and critiqued the manuscripts of their colleague-authors. I wish to thank the contributors to this book for submitting their chapter(s) and for assisting me in the review process as well.
The overall structure of this book follows a logical sequence: introducing the IT Governance frameworks in Section I; reviewing performance management mechanisms in Section II; presenting other IT Governance mechanisms in Section III; and illustrat¬ing how IT Governance can work in practice in Section IV.
Section I: IT Governance Frameworks
This section introduces the IT Governance concepts and consists of three chap¬ters.
Chapter I: Structures, Processes and Relational Mechanisms for IT Governance by Wim Van Grembergen, Steven De Haes and Erik Guldentops respectively from the University of Antwerp, the University of Antwerp Management School (Belgium), and the IT Governance Institute (US), defines the IT Governance concepts and overviews the different IT Governance mechanisms. It records and interprets some important existing theories, models and practices on IT Governance. The chapter is based on relevant academic and professional publications and integrates also the main contribu¬tions of the other chapters in this book.
Chapter II: Integration Strategies and Tactics for Information Technology Gov¬ernance by Ryan Peterson from the Instituto de Empresa (Spain) has three objectives. First of all, to describe past developments and current challenges complex organisations are facing governing the IT portfolio of IT applications, IT development, IT operations and IT platforms. Secondly, to discuss how organisations can diagnose and design IT governance architecture for future performance improvement and sustained business growth. Finally, to provide a thorough understanding and holistic picture of effective IT governance practices, and to present a new organising logic for IT governance.
Chapter III: An Emerging Strategy for E-Business IT Governance by Nandish Patel from Brunel University (UK) develops a framework for global e-business IT gov¬ernance. This framework is based on fundamental re-directions in global e-business IT governance thinking and it applies to companies that seek to integrate Internet, intranet and World Wide Web technologies into their business activities in some form of an e-business model. The framework explains and elaborates e-business strategies for cop¬ing with emergent organisations and planned aspects of IT. The basic premise of the proposed framework is that organisation, especially virtual organisation, is both planned and emergent, diverging from the dominant premise of central control in IT governance.
Section II: Performance Management as IT Governance Mechanism
Section II: Performance Management as IT Governance Mechanism reviews IT governance mechanisms including Balanced Scorecards, business-IT alignment matu¬rity assessment models, ROI measurement and technical IT measurements. This part consists of six chapters.
Chapter IV: Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity by Jerry Luftman from
Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) discusses an approach for assessing the maturity of the business-IT alignment. The proposed strategic alignment maturity assessment approach provides a vehicle to evaluate where an organisation is and where it
needs to go to attain and sustain business-IT alignment. The careful assessment of a
firm's alignment maturity is an important step in identifying the specific actions necessary to ensure IT is being used to appropriately enable or drive the business strategy.
Chapter V: Linking the IT Balanced Scorecard to the Business Objectives at a Major Canadian Financial Group by Wim Van Grembergen, Ronald Saull and Steven De Haes respectively from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), Great-West Life, Londen
Life, Investors Group (Canada), and the University of Antwerp Management School (Belgium) illustrates how the Balanced Scorecard concepts can be used to support the business-IT fusion. The development and implementation of an IT Balanced Scorecard within this financial group is described and discussed. An IT Balanced Scorecard maturity model is developed and used to determine the maturity level of the scorecard under review. An important conclusion is that an IT Balanced Scorecard must go be¬yond the operational level and must be integrated across the enterprise in order to generate business value. This can be realised through establishing a linkage between the business Balanced Scorecard and different levels of IT scorecards.
Chapter VI: Measuring and Managing E-Business Initiatives through the Bal¬anced Scorecard by Wim Van Grembergen and Isabelle Amelinckx both from the Uni¬versity of Antwerp (Belgium), applies the Balanced Scorecard concepts to e-business projects. A generic e-business scorecard is developed and presented as a measuring and management instrument. The proposed e-business scorecard consists of four per¬spectives: the Customer Perspective representing the evaluation of the consumer and business clients, the Operational Perspective focusing on the business and IT processes, the Future Perspective showing the human and technology resources needed to deliver the e-business application, and the Contribution Perspective capturing the e-business benefits. It is argued that a monitoring instrument such as the proposed e-business scorecard is a must when building, implementing and maintaining an e-busi¬ness system because these initiatives are often too technically management and are often initiated without a clear business case.
Chapter VII: A View on Knowledge Management: Utilizing a Balanced Scorecard Methodology for Analyzing Knowledge Metrics by Alea Fairchild from Vesalius Col¬lege/Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) (Belgium) addresses the problem of developing measurement models for Knowledge Management metrics and discusses what current Knowledge Management metrics are in use, and examines their sustainability and sound¬ness in assessing knowledge utilisation and retention of generating revenue. The chapter also discusses the use of the Balanced Scorecard approach to determine a business-oriented relationship between strategic Knowledge Management usage and IT strat¬egy and implementation.
Chapter VIII: Measuring ROI in E-Commerce Applications: Analysis to Action by Manuel Mogollon and Mahesh Raisinghani respectively from Nortel Networks (US) and the University of Dallas (USA) focuses on measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) as a key element of the IT Governance process. The research in this chapter aims to provide an overview of how to calculate the ROI for e-commerce applications so that this information, and the attached ROI Calculator Tool Template, can be used by organisations to reduce time in preparing the ROI for a project
Chapter IX: Technical Issues Related to IT Governance Tactics: Product Metrics, Measurements and Process Control by Michalis Xenos from the Hellenic Open Univer¬sity (Greece) deals with some technical aspects of the strategies for IT Governance and aims at introducing the reader to software metrics that are used to provide knowledge about different elements of IT projects. Internal metrics are presented that can be applied prior to the release of IT products to provide indications relating to quality characteristics, and external metrics are introduced that can be applied after IT product delivery to give information about user perception of product quality. The chapter also analyzes the correlation between internal and external metrics and discusses how these metrics can be combined in a measurement program.
Section III: Other IT Governance Mechanisms
Section III: Other IT Governance Mechanisms describes other mechanisms in¬cluding roles and responsibilities within the IT organisation, the control objectives and management guidelines of COBIT, and the IT outsourcing solution. This part consists of three chapters.
Chapter X: Managing IT Functions by Petter Gottschalk from the Norwegian School of Management (Norway) discusses imperatives for IT functions, organisation of IT functions, roles of IT functions, roles of chief information officers (CIOs) and key issues in IT management. A survey conducted in Norway revealed that CIOs find the role of entrepreneur most important and the role of liaison least important. This survey also revealed that "Improving links between information systems strategy and busi¬ness strategy" was ranked as most important key issue in IT management in Norway.
Chapter XI: Governing Information Technology through COBIT by Erik Guldentops from the IT Governance Institute (USA) reviews the COBIT framework that incorporates material on IT Governance. COBIT presents an international and generally accepted IT control framework enabling organisations to implement an IT Governance structure throughout the enterprise. Its management guidelines component consists of maturity models, critical success factors, key goal indicators and key performance indi¬cators for 34 identified IT processes. This structure delivers a significantly improved framework responding for management's need for control and measurability of IT by providing means to assess and measure the organisation's IT environment against COBIT's IT processes.
Chapter XII: Governance in IT Outsourcing Partnerships by Erik Beulen from Tilburg University (The Netherlands) is based on 11 international IT outsourcing part¬nerships, five expert interviews and on literature. Three dimensions are described in a descriptive IT outsourcing partnership governance framework: the outsourcing organisation, the maintenance of the relationship, and the IT supplier. In this frame-work, 11 governance factors are defined including the existence of a clear IT strategy at the outsourcing organisation, a mutual trust between the outsourcing organisation and the IT supplier, and an adequate contract and account management. Furthermore, the chapter focuses on the IT outsourcing contract.
Section IV: IT Governance in Action
Section IV: IT Governance in Action describes the application of IT Governance structures in respectively an enterprise and in the health care industry. Section IV includes two chapters.
Chapter XIII: The Evolution of IT Governance at NB Power by Joanne Callahan, Cassio Bastos and Dwayne Keyes, from New Brunswick Power Corporation (Canada) describes the IT Governance framework that NB Power has implemented. Through IT Governance the organisation was able to address the results of a diagnostic study on their internal IT service provider who was attempting to respond to a seemingly end-less list of requests for IT support. Now, after four years, factors critical to the success of implementing an IT Governance framework are evident. The IT Governance frame-work is still evolving, but the organisation is now well positioned to take advantage of its IT investment.
Chapter XIV: Governance Structures for IT in the Health Care Industry by Reima Suomi and Jarmo Tähkäpää from the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration (Finland) discusses the role of IT in the health care industry and focuses on the question of which governance structures are best for managing IT within this industry. Two Finnish cases are described - a small health care federation of munici¬palities and a medium-sized health care unit - to illustrate internal and external gover¬nance structures. It is shown that internal governance structures such as developing a comprehensive business strategy are essential parts of IT Governance and that outsourcing activities suggest that there is a need for developing and managing exter¬nal governance structures.

Rich compendium with wide scope.......2004-06-21

The collection of essays that comprise this book cover the full spectrum of IT governance thought and practice. There is no single prescriptive approach to IT governance set forth in this book, but instead, approaches that address a single facet of governance, which can be used as a resource for ideas and practices.

There are fourteen essays grouped under the following topics areas:
- IT Governance Frameworks
- Performance Management as IT Governance Mechanism
- Other IT Governance Mechanisms
- IT Governance in Action

Among the most thought-provoking (in my opinion) essays are: Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity, Measuring and Managing E-Business Initiatives through the Balanced Scorecard, Technical Issues Related to IT Governance Tactics: Product Metrics, Measurements and Process, and Governance in IT Outsourcing Partnerships.

Major standards are also addressed (see the essay titled, "Governing Information Technology through COBIT"). My only disappointment is there was no contributions by Peter Weill or Jeanne Ross, both of whom have coauthored an excellent book on IT governance titled "IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results" ISBN 1591392535. Overall, this is an outstanding book for senior management who are crafting an IT governance strategy.

Average customer rating:

Good

Comprehensive, but weird and boring

very technical

Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation

a useful collection of case studies and key papers

Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation
Robert A. Burgelman , Clayton M. Christensen , Steven C. Wheelwright , and Modesto A. Maidique
Manufacturer: McGraw Hill Higher Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Strategic Management of Technological Innovation

Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change

Harvard Business Review on Innovation

Managing Strategic Innovation and Change: A Collection of Readings

Crossing the Chasm

ASIN: 0071232303

Book Description

Burgelman, Maidique, and Wheelwright have written the market leading text for a course in technology and innovation. This text covers the latest research by using a combination of text, readings, and cases. Based on reviewer response to a survey, the authors have updated many of the cases and instructors found outdated or lacking. As in the current edition, the book has a strong case foundation at Harvard and Stanford. Classic cases such as Claire McCloud have been kept, while newer cases such as Intel Corporation in 1999 have been added. There is also a strong set of readings from sources such as Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and Sloan Management Review.

Customer Reviews:

Good.......2007-08-01

This is a textbook for my class. The information is chock full of case studies. The studies are written in a way that they are understandable and easy to follow, more of a story rather than a lecture. This is not a book that you read from cover to cover, but would instead refer to for a specific instance. It is dense and heavy but all told it is very acceptable as a text.

Comprehensive, but weird and boring.......2006-11-10

I bought this as a textbook for one of my classes. Overall, this is a decent book on strategic management of technology and innovation. I think some of the articles in the book are really good, but the book is very disorganized and hard to read. I would recommend it, but it seems that the editors should address major organization issues in the next addition.

very technical.......2006-02-24

The book was ok but it made for very difficult reading; it was very technical. I had to purchase it for class. Luckily I had a good professor who could break down the concepts more clearly. I would, however, suggest that Devry get an easier book to digest next time.

Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation.......2005-10-24

This book includes many good papers and many hi-tech business cases associated with technology and innovation management. Some of them are a little old but still useful to understand strategic management. If you have learned general management and marketing and want to get a view of the management of technology and innovation, this is worthwhile reading.

a useful collection of case studies and key papers.......2000-03-17

This book offers a large number of case studies from the areas of research and technology development in various industries. It covers most the important concepts of technology management such as "core competencies". It follows the traditional model employed in business schools: learning from others' experiences by means of case studies. Particularly relevant are the sections on "heavyweight teams".

From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line

Average customer rating:

Great book!
From Business Stratey to IT Action
Bottom Line --> Results
One of the best books on the subject!

From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line
Robert J. Benson , Tom Bugnitz , and Bill Walton
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471491918

Book Description

From Business Strategy to IT Action gives companies of all sizes the tools to effectively link IT to business strategy and produce effective, actionable strategies for bottom-line results. The authors present CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and IT managers with a powerful and accessible resource packed with such useful material as:
* The Strategy-to-Bottom-Line Value Chain, which integrates the management practices relating to planning, prioritization, alignment, and assessing a company's entire IT budget
* Methods for using IT Impact Management to establish IT culture and performance models for the business/IT connection
* The IT Improvement Zone, which quickly identifies where a company can focus its energies for maximum results
* And much more

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Great book!.......2005-09-30

Only few words to say that this book was very useful to let me introduce a clear project portfolio framework in the enterprise in which I work (bank, IT department).
"Concrete", "Best practices" are the most "plus" of this book.

A very good book!

From Business Stratey to IT Action.......2004-04-10

Drawing from a wealth of success in balancing business requirements with IT solutions, the authors of "From Business Strategy to IT Action" have identified the elements required to keep IT budgets in-line with the overall goals of the business. As many IT managers know it is easy to get caught up in the swirl surrounding keeping the "lights on" and lose focus about using technology to bring value to the organization in ways that help achieve the goals necessary to move the organization forward. I particularly liked the chapter devoted to discussing the culture of an organization. As they point out, losing sight of the bottom-line is easy when organizations get hung up on the culture of the institution and continue to do things the old way rather than routinely evaluating the goals of the organization with an eye toward improvement. To quote them, "New Information Economics (NIE) is a set of practices and principles for moving from business strategy to IT action to bottom-line impact". To me this means staying focused on the business of the organization and not getting caught up in thinking that IT is in business for itself.

Bottom Line --> Results.......2004-03-17

This book provides solid, rational, and most importantly, actionable guidance for managers and executives faced with the challenge of identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing their IT spend. The authors provide a concise, structured framework which leads the reader through a step-by-step process to make reasoned decisions about both steady state ("lights on") expenditures and new project investments. The writing style is clear, fluid, and easily digestible. Each chapter includes fact-filled charts and diagrams to make the concepts come alive, along with a chapter summary, targeted questions, plus additional reading references. From defining goals, asking the penetrating "right questions," through charting a path to implementation, this truly is a guidebook to learning how to control spending while concurrently maximizing the impact on your bottom line. This book should be required reading before the beginning of your next planning cycle. Whether you've been in the IT business for a year, a decade or longer, you will undoubtedly benefit from the multiple layers of insight contained within this book. Note: I also recommend sales personnel absorb the concepts in this book -- if you understand how your customers are evaluating IT investment decisions, you can communicate the value your offerings will deliver in a manner which will better resonate with the decision maker.

One of the best books on the subject!.......2004-03-17

I've read a stack of books related to this subject, and this is one of two books that I think hit the bullseye and that I recommend to peers and clients (the other is Value-Driven IT Management, ISBN 0750659254).

What I most like about this book is the highly focused, clearly defined approach to transforming strategy into action. In fact, 'action' is the main characteristic of this book, both in writing pace and in the results you can achieve if you follow the map the authors provide. Chapter 1 leads you through defining your goals that links the strategy to your bottom line. This establishes the methodology that you'll follow through the rest of the book.

Each subsequent chapter is a milestone in the process of transforming strategy into action. What I like is the consistent format, which starts with "Ask the Right Questions", then listing steps, ending with a summary. More importantly, the bottom line remains the focus of this book from start to finish. This keeps the reader's attention on the goals, business issues and costs.

The topics covered in each step represent best practices that should be present in any organization that is mature enough to undertake a business-IT alignment. For example, portfolio management, prioritization techniques, and aligning to a value chain are addressed, In addition, the challenges faced by both business and IT are uncovered, with advice on how to meet them during the process. Finally, the book sets forth the transformation process in a well ordered sequence that will get you from inception to meeting all objectives if followed. The chapters on scoring and measurement are invaluable.

One topic that makes this book exceptionally valuable is the introduction of the Business Value Maturity Model. This model, in my opinion, is the missing link in the quest for Business-IT alignment initiatives, and one that I hope gets wider dissemination than in this book. Other aspects of the book that I especially like include the excellent use of graphs and diagrams, and the absence of empty claims and theory. The material is clear, actionable and realistic. Think of this book as both a compass and blueprint. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, particularly to organizations that are struggling with business-IT alignment.

Average customer rating:

Information Economics

Great Book

Classic book for IT value

MBA

Information Economics: Linking Business Performance to Information Technology
Marilyn M. Parker , and Robert J. Benson
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
MIS | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0134645952

Customer Reviews:

Information Economics.......2002-07-12

I was happy when I read Information Economic by Marilyn M. Parker. I will be happy if I can discuss Information Economics with Mr. Marilyn M. Parker. Althaugh, I get new knowledge form the book, but I want to learn Information Economic more. Because I was very intersted to the topics. Thank

Great Book.......2001-12-14

This book presents a concise approach to evaluating IT technology projects. Though the examples cited are definitely not "up to date", the concepts and approaches ring truer today than in the 1980s when this was published.

Classic book for IT value.......1998-11-25

After my MBA final work, I comment the Parker book is a classical source of knowledge that most students must access concerning IT value. However, other updated books with new perceptions are needed as well.

MBA.......1997-09-09

I'm using this book as a main part of my Master Business Administration final work. I'd like to know the authors or people to exchange some info concerning the subject

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