Book Description
Get self-paced, from-the-source exam preparation and self-assessment for the skills measured by MCP Exam 70-300#151;the one exam every MCSD certification candidate must pass.
Customer Reviews:
MCSD Self-Pced Training Kit Analyzing Requirements and Defining Microsoft .NET Solution Architecture Exam 70-300 .......2007-10-05
It is very readable. A lot of good information and well paced out. Each chapter is marked with time, and ended with good questions for revision. Solutions are readily available to me at the end of the book. There is also an e-book so I can carry with me to my office. Between meetings, eating my lunch. I can maximize the use of my time.
Edward Hsu
Appalling.......2006-06-20
I have not yet taken the exam, so I can only tell you about the material covered for it's own value.
The book's authors seem to know very little about UML and RUP, nor do they seem to care about the material. It's written in a sophmoric, disjointed style, somewhat akin to a kid copying sections of a report out of the dictionary. You will learn nothing about analysis and project management, at least nothing that will make much sense, except perhaps to use the made up Microsoft terms for everything instead of the common terms.
In as far as the test goes, I can only hope that the book is not as inadequate as people make it out to be. Since MS seems to be renaming everything in order to impose their branding, I hope at least to use it to pick up their lingo so I can have a chance to understand the questions and answers on the test. I give it two stars because it makes no pretense of being a primer for anything but the test, and for project's sake -- don't look at it as being a primer for anything else.
Go get another book if you want to pass the exam.......2006-01-05
This book gets one star because it does not cover the material required to pass the exam. I would have almost failed the exam had I used just this book for my preparation. Luckiliy I have used online questions from one of the web-sited listed on Microsoft's web-site and that helped me to pass the exam.
The exam contains mainly case studies and this book gives only one of them from start to finish. The exam is mainly a comprehension sort of exam where you read the passage and answer the questions. So get a book that have those case-studies.
confusing, vague, ambiguous, and difficult to read.......2005-10-01
This book uses words pretty loosely, and frequently confuses the readers. Explanations are not clear. Material is incoherent. Microsoft's proofreaders, reviewers, and/or editors did a poor job on this book. Buying it is a waste of money. Please look elsewhere.
Pragmatic system construction guide.......2005-06-28
This guide describes MSF (Microsoft Solutions Framework) a methodology for building systems which Microsoft recommends. MSF includes mainly a process model, a team model, an application construction model and a deployment / supportability model.
MSF has similarities with other methodologies for software construction and includes things as use cases, object modeling, etc.
MSF is quite different from other methodologies; less formal than CMM; not object based as OOAD; not for extremely small teams like Crystal Clear.
The key value of MSF is its practical nature, it may however not be your best bet if the system you are developing has very heavy documentation requirements, depends on a sequential life cycle or you live in an organization at odds with the team model proposed.
Average customer rating:
- A very good source to study for the exam
- It all depends on what you know already
- This book is garbage!
- a good book for overview
- Good overview but you'll need to do a lot more to pass
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Microsoft Windows Architecture for Developers Training Kit
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ASIN: 1572317086 |
Book Description
For Microsoft Official Curriculum Course #1044, WINDOWS ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPERS TRAINING is ideal for motivated, self-paced learners who require training on Microsoft's advanced Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems software. The course is designed primarily for novice and professional software developers who need to gain a thorough understanding of the Microsoft Windows architecture in order to build integrated, Windows-platform applications.
Additional markets for this course will include: post-secondary and vocational schools that feature CS degree programs with an emphasis on software development and MIS preparation; the Microsoft Authorized Technical Education channel, where professional certification credentials for software developers can be earned; and in corporate MIS departments responsible for developing custom Windows-platform applications.
Course highlights include the Windows operating system architecture; Component Object Model (COM); networking, design methodologies, and code management; using ActiveX(tm) technologies and developing for the Internet; database concepts and database interfaces for developers; Application Programming Interfaces, including MAPI and TAPI; and enterprise solutions.
WINDOWS ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPERS TRAINING topics include: The Microsoft Windows operating system architecture Component Object Model (COM) Networking, design methodologies, and code management Using ActiveX technologies Database concepts and database interfaces for developers Application development and user interface issues Developing for the Internet Application Programming Interfaces, including MAPI and TAPI Enterprise solutions Preparation for courses
Customer Reviews:
A very good source to study for the exam.......1999-01-28
I think this is a great study guide. I have not taken the test yet. I have taken sample tests and done good after reading this book. It gives you a quick understanding for the concepts behind the technologies.
It all depends on what you know already.......1998-11-21
If you have a good knowledge of Windows and want to waste no time preparing for the WA exams, this is a good book along with MSDN references. But if you are a windows dummy trying to learn about windows concepts just now, you better buy other material like the Sybex guides.
This book is garbage!.......1998-09-25
Do not waste your money ! Instead of bying this junk, look for other publishers. A good recommendation would be the Sybex's titles: WOSA I and WOSA II separetely. After failing twice, I bought the Sybex books and passed after a fast read.
a good book for overview.......1998-08-13
Inexperienced developers may find out this book is not very usefull to them. But it's a very good book for reference.
Good overview but you'll need to do a lot more to pass.......1998-08-09
This book gives a good insight into the topics to cover but you need to do alot more work, reading articles from MSDN helps alot. The books washes over the subjects and dosen't go into enough detail. Passed WinArch I, and have II to do. This book helped about 60%. Expensive for what it is - you could get by without it.
Book Description
The Pentium Chronicles describes the architecture and key decisions that shaped the P6, Intel's most successful chip to date. As author Robert Colwell recognizes, success is about learning from others, and Chronicles is filled with stories of ordinary, exceptional people as well as frank assessments of "oops" moments, leaving you with a better understanding of what it takes to create and grow a winning product.
Customer Reviews:
Good advice and inside view..........2007-07-16
I thought of this book as a tome of helpful advice for any project manage that has to work on a project that veers far into the unknown. The author was the Chief Architect for the P6 (Pentium Pro) microprocessor. This was a radically new type of processor that broke from previous chip architectures. The team was required to explore untested ideas but at the same time bring them to an operable design. This required considerable balancing and deft handling of various stumbling blocks. The author presents a lot of observations on how to accomplish this. It was also very interesting, for a person who is interested in microprocessors, to see where exactly time is spent in these massive projects. The author gives lots of technical details, but I would have like a bit more. Of course, the intention of this book was as a project management guide, so that isn't necessarily bad.
thin.......2007-04-10
I was looking forward to a history of the depth of, say "Into the Black" about JPL by Peter Westwick, a professional historian. The Pentium Chronicles is thin. I think it's trying mostly to be a project management book. The context is poorly drawn, the technical issues are nearly completely unexplained, and the stories are told without zest. The sidebars make the book feel like it is meant to be bought at an airport and discarded to the next passenger. Colwell is undoubtedly a fine computer architect but his writing leaves a lot to be desired, at least in this book.
Project Management Education.......2007-03-06
This is an excellent case study about Intel's P6 project -- that became the Pentium Pro and part of the lineage for a number of other processors. The author provides the story of compromises made while the project proceded and the corporate politics endured at Intel. He also discusses the Pentium flaw episode and provides a technical rationale that thay may have led to that unrelated debacle. It is fun to read about some of the technical aspects of this project. One flaw to the story is the lack of additional information on why Intel settled out of court and paid millions of dollars for alleged patent infringement accusations relating to the P6 project. The book is surprisingly upbeat considering the author no longer works at Intel. If you like this book, Brian Bagnall's "On the Edge" about the rise and fall of Commodore computer is an excellent follow-up.
How a big project comes together........2006-03-20
On the first page of this book Dr. Colwell gets his marching orders from his boss: 'Your job is to beat the P5 chip by a factor of two on the same process technology. Any Questions.'
'Three,' he replied. 'What's a P5?' What's the process technology plans? Where's the bathroom.'
The P5 became the Pentium chip. The process technology doesn't matter in this book as it was the same. And he found the bathroom.
Dr. Colwell's new chip, the P6 came to the market first as the Pentium Pro, the same basic design was subsequently modified as the basic core for the Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron, Xeon, and the current Centrino products.
But the details of the chip aren't the strong point of the book. It's the organization and structure of a how a big development team works. From the little details like finding an unused storage room to use as a conference room where the blackboards wouldn't get erased, to hiring, firing and getting the product out.
I can't help but compare this with Tracy Kidders book 'The Soul of a New Machine' written twenty or so years ago. Kidder was a better writer, but Colwell was the one in charge, making the whole thing happen. I would have liked to see a little more technical detail, but I've been in this business a long time and have more interests along these lines than the average reader. As it is, it is an excellent book on project management and I enjoyed it very much.
Solid, practical perspective.......2006-03-05
As may be likely with many readers, I first heard of Mr. Colwell from his IEEE Computer columns, of which I was big fan. Several times I was tempted to send him comments about the insights and occasional humor, but I never did. The same kind of writing and attitude is clearly on display in "Chronicles".
Because other reviewers mentioned "Soul of a New Machine," I agree that it is hard to escape, even though the two books are much different. When I was a young engineer in the early 80s, "Soul" was (and is) a great book. I did not have the experience to grasp some lessons to be learned from the story, and a 1980s version of "Chronicles" would not have hit home, either.
However, Mr. Colwell is completely believable in his anecdotes and in the presentation of the big picture, the project, and countless details both technical and personal. Experienced engineers will no doubt see themselves, their colleagues, and their projects in one form or another. I don't mean just the "Dilbert" moments and inevitable personal clashes, but also the serious business and technical challenges that any complex project must face. I found myself nodding in agreement again and again with his conclusions and advice.
Two reasons I liked Mr. Colwell's columns are that he is not just a techno-geek and that an interesting feisty personality showed through. You see that feistiness at times in the book with stories of taking on the powers that be, for better or worse, without feeling like you are listening to someone covering his tracks to make himself look good. The true engineer comes through, with enough polish to be around executives and to be allowed with customers.
Product Description
This guide provides design-level guidance for the architecture and design of .NET Framework applications and services built on Windows 2000 and version 1.0 of the .NET Framework. It focuses on partitioning application functionality into components, walks
Customer Reviews:
.NET from 50,000 feet.......2004-02-15
This 156 page book, is an ultra condensed book on the Microsoft preferred design for .NET applications. Like many Microsoft books, this one is poorly written. It is obvious that the book was created by a team with a whiteboard, from an outline then filled in later.
The resulting disjoined book is somewhere between an explanative book and a reference.
Not recommended.
I've been looking for something like this.......2004-01-03
I'm not a Microsoft fan at all. But this book is really helpfull in answering lots of designing questions that arise when trying to design a complex system. It explains, tier by tier, layer by layer, all that has to do with OOD, security, communication, etc.
I'm really happy with this book. Although it has no examples or deep info about anything, it provides lots of links to MSDN articles with the missing info. I strongly recomend it.
More worthy than appears........2003-12-30
Yes, this book is more abstact than applicable. Yes, this book covers general design rather then specific approaches. Yes, this book covers information that is not new. That does not mean this book should not be recommended.
I strongly believe that software engineers need to read more abstract, general books such as this along with the specific, applicable type books. The help keeps us focused on problem solving as opposed to solution techniques. Both are needed to keep us fresh and effective in out roles. Kind of like spring training for baseball players - relearn the game basics and practice the needed skills.
Application Architecture for .NET is one of those books that should be read because the information is technically sound, is relevant to today's computing environment, and provides a solid understanding of designing enterprise level applications. Also, the book is short, direct, and straight-forward ( as a good abstract, general book should be ).
If you want or need a book to provide a concrete approach or a specific solution, no, this book is not for you.
But if you want a book to learn or keep abreast of the direction of current application design and the direction of application architecture, it's worth reading.
Oxymoronic.......2003-12-20
The notion of application architecture applied to a "framework" like .NET is somewhat oxymoronic. This book is credited not to individuals but to Microsoft itself, and such books tend to be more marketing-oriented pitches about how cool Microsoft's software is than serious documents containing deatiled technical information. It has all the right buzzwords like "patterns" and "distributed solutions," but there's little of substance here that couldn't be gleaned elsewhere in a less pedantic package.
Nothing new for the experienced developer.......2003-11-21
There's a lot of sensible information and guidelines in this book, but its main problem is that most of it is a bit abstract, and should be known material for experienced developers or architects.
For inexperienced developers or people just starting out on the path of good software architecture, this book may provide some insights, but doesn't offer much practical advice on how to solve concrete problems.
However, it is a pretty good and comprehensive survey of the state of so-called "best practice" of .NET architecture as it looks today, and I didn't encounter much that I couldn't agree with.
As it is a blissfully short book (157 pages including appendices) compared to most books on software development, it may be worth if you need to get a quick overview of the subject. However, the tone is rather dry and condensed, so don't expect those 157 pages to be a light read.
Book Description
You don’t need to be a financial wizard to ensure the future success of your design firm! An accessible guide to financial management, Financial Management for Design Professionals is written for design firm principals who are responsible for their firm’s finances but have little or no financial management education or experience. For mid-career design professionals looking to advance their careers, the book is an indispensable reference and training guide. Using a simple, step-by-step format, this book shows design professionals how to:
Develop an annual budget and profit plan Calculate the overhead rate for a firm Calculate the break-even rate and hourly billing rate for each employee Establish project fees Use readily available financial information in successful negotiation Design and interpret financial reports Plus: clear explanations of the fundamentals of financial management!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-05-15
As a busy Architect who did not double major in business, this book not only helped me understand how to really know how my company was (or wasn't) doing financially, it helped me communicate what my Accountant needed to know (he did not double major in Architecture.) I highly recommend this book to all Sole Proprietor Architects who want to know how much money they need to keep the ship floating! Good luck!
Product Description
Microsoft publishes a complete range of documentation on Microsoft software and technology. So whether you need a step-by-step instruction, in-depth programming information, high-level technical references, or training for Microsoft Certification, it has
Average customer rating:
- Misleading...
- Good but not enough...
- not the one
- Good reference
- Do not buy - there is a third edition!!
|
A+ Certification Training Kit (With CD-ROM)
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Similar Items:
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Network+ Certification Training Kit, Second Edition
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A+ Certification for Dummies
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A+ Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 220-221, Exam Cram 220-222)
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Security+ Certification Training Kit
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Server+ Certification Training Kit (Pro Technical Reference)
ASIN: 073561265X |
Amazon.com
At times much like an enjoyable lecture from a professor who tends to ramble at times, Microsoft's A+ Certification Training is an excellent starting place for beginners looking to fathom the mysteries of their PCs. But the free-and-easy writing style of this book also makes it slightly more difficult to study for the test; because the book touches on all topics lightly, it might not prepare one for what lies ahead on the final exam.
The good news is that the book is engagingly written, using a conversational style that makes it an easy read. (As easy as certification books get, anyway.) The reader is eased gently into the PC with a historical introduction to the computer, including discussions on the abacus, the Babbage engine, and eventually UNIVAC I--then, the book moves up to showing pictures of common PC accessories, like mice and scanners. As an A+ student's introductory guidebook to the world of PCs, there isn't a better text available.
The book rapidly becomes more complex--as it must--diving into the PC's inner components and showing them bit by bit. (Kindly excuse the pun.) The basic concepts on the A+ exam are presented clearly with somewhat chatty writing and lots of pictures, so it should be a snap to get the A+ essentials down...but the organization of the book is the stumbling block. As stated earlier, it rambles.
For example, "Supplying Power to a Computer" is covered early on, in Chapter 5, and the reader is advised to start opening up and looking at computers, but "The Basics of Electrical Energy" isn't covered until Chapter 13. It's likely that the novice electrician would feel lost at times. Likewise, CPUs are covered in Chapter 4--but motherboards, where CPUs sit, aren't covered until Chapter 6, and the expansion buses that peripherals use to talk to CPUs don't get covered until four chapters after that. If one reads the book all the way through, all will be made clear eventually, but there will probably be times when the reader will want to flip ahead or scan back.
The information, however, is solid, although not the most up-to-date necessarily. (But then, with new CPUs coming out every week nowadays, what hardware book is?) The essential PC operations are covered nicely, and the explanations are sometimes dense, but generally understandable.
The explanations, however, lead us to the final, and most serious, problem with the A+ Training Guide: It's not a test preparation book.
It's an introduction.
The A+ Training Guide covers pretty much everything one would want to know about basic repairing and upgrading, but it doesn't provide the critical focus necessary for the exam. Without knowing which areas tend to be the "hot spots" on the A+ exam, the reader could spend a lot of time studying, say, monitor repair, and completely ignore the frequently tested CPU model comparisons section. Furthermore, the test questions at the end of each chapter are essay-style, not the multiple-choice questions that will appear on the A+ exam. The questions are designed to test one's knowledge, and they will--still, they probably won't help when it comes to narrowing down one choice out of three reasonable-sounding answers. In short, the guide goes over everything that's essential to know, but it doesn't stress one part over another--which increases study time and could make the reader fail the exam.
What this book is is an extremely good, well-written guide for the student looking to get a comprehensive overview--and, to that purpose, it does its job well. As a beginner's introduction to the premises that are necessary to know for the A+ exam, this comes highly recommended. But if the main goal is to get that certification on a resume, the reader probably will want to start out with this, and then move on to a book that tells specifically what can be expected on the exam. --William Steinmetz
Book Description
The A+ Certification program was created by a consortium of companies, including Microsoft, to define baseline knowledge and skill levels for IT professionals who support hardware and software based on the Intel platform. Fully updated to cover the latest operating systems, including Microsoft Windows(r) 2000, the A+ CERTIFICATION TRAINING KIT, Third Edition, applies Microsoft's popular, competency-based learning format to A+ certification test preparation. Entry-level IT professionals, computer service technicians, and other computer science track students can use the kit to build real-world expertise with systems hardware and operating systems-as they prepare for the corresponding skill areas of the A+ exam. The kit is modular and self-paced, with hands-on, skill-building exercises. The entire course is featured on CD-ROM for easy searches and reference.
Customer Reviews:
Misleading..........2005-01-21
Just ordered this booking thinking that it was the new edition shown in the picture (blue cover - in the style of all of teh new microsoft books)... upon clicking to see more images, i see that all of the images are of the older book (white cover). Now, looking further at the publication date, as some others have said, this is an old edition of the book. Pretty crappy that they're even selling it on amazon, and I don't even see the new edition for sale on here! Not overly happy that I just wasted my money...
Good but not enough..........2004-04-11
Hey all.. this book is a really good resource for the exam, but for sure it is not enough, cuz it doesn't cover the new 2003 objectives such as WinXP in the OS section and many other things in the core section.. I passed the tests using this book as one of my study materials, as well as the Microsoft Readiness Review and A+ Exam Cram, A+ Exam Prep (useful for WinNT), and Macaraft PrepLogic 4th edition, and still non of these books cover all of the new 2003 objectives...
Good luck all...
not the one.......2003-10-11
Although the third edition, ISBN 073561265X, was published 3/7/2001, there is still not a whisper about Windows XP in the book. Very much the best book on the subject is Scott Mueller's, ISBN 0789729741.
Good reference.......2003-01-31
I just passed (January 2003) both A+ exams, using this book as one of my references. It certainly offers a different approach and unique perspective than the other A+ books. I found information in this book that is not in any of the other major A+ references; however, some of the good, nice-to-know info seems beyond the A+ objectives. I would recommend it and the Microsoft A+ Certification Readiness Review as supplements to one or more of the slim A+ Adaptive Exam books by either Meyers or Crayton. I didn't look at the info on the included CD.
Do not buy - there is a third edition!!.......2002-01-07
Nowhere is a potential buyer warned that there is a third edition of this book. I made the mistake of getting this book. It is a good thing that I also purchased the Readiness Review which which, to my shock, started testing me on things not even mentioned in the Training Kit. To get the most recent edition - so you do not fail the exam - get ISBN 0-7356-1265-X.
Book Description
Get expert, pragmatic guidance on how to design and build smart client solutions that combine the benefits of traditional, rich-client applications with the manageability of thin clients. Software architects and developers will learn how to evaluate whether a smart client solution is appropriate for their client architecture, and get practical recommendations on how to deal with the design and technical challenges associated with building smart clients solutions using Microsoft- Windows- Forms technology in the Microsoft .NET Framework. Topics include handling data, connecting to the back end, offline functionality, security features, multithreading, deployment, and performance. PATTERNS PRACTICES guides are reviewed and approved by Microsoft engineering teams, consultants, partners, and customers#151;delivering accurate, real-world information that's been technically validated and tested.
Customer Reviews:
Only fair.......2005-11-18
This book is OK as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Although it has some good guidelines in some specific areas it does not live up the the standards set by another book in this series: "Enterprise Solution Patterns Using Microsoft .NET". That book covers Web based .NET application design and lists many of the usefull design patterns as well as how they can be implemented in .NET. I would have liked to see this book do the same.
Compact and useful.......2005-08-22
This book reminds you about important aspects of the new NET-based generation of rich cient - smart client - development.
It goes not too deep into the subject, but rather gives you a big picure and contains references to MSDN. It may help a lot, because MSDN is bigger than a whole life.
This book covers the following areas:
- A comparison of smart client with thin and COM/DCOM-based rich client
- Data management on client - caching, concurrency, dataset, and data binding in WinForms
- In brief - connections management - remoting, messaging, enterprise and Web services. How to avoid distributed transction, how to manage large datasets.
- More detailed - occasionally connected clients, including handling dependencies and resolving data and rules conflicts.
- Security
- Multithreading
- Deployment
- Performance
As I stated before, useful and compact handbook. I gave only 4 stars, because even if you have this book, you need MSDN also.
Book Description
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed in 2002 in response to a series of high-profile corporate scandals and requires that public companies implement internal controls over financial reporting, operations, and assets; these controls depend heavily on installing or improving information technology and business methods
- Written by one of the most visible personalities on the tech-biz side of the SOX discussion, this highly readable, engaging book provides a clear road map for integrating SOX compliance into the fabric of everyday IT infrastructure and business practice
- Shows the reader how to leverage and use service-oriented architecture (SOA), a set of technologies that enables interoperation of heterogeneous computer systems, to achieve the level of internal controls over IT that SOX mandates
Download Description
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed in 2002 in response to a series of high-profile corporate scandals and requires that public companies implement internal controls over financial reporting, operations, and assets; these controls depend heavily on installing or improving information technology and business methods Written by one of the most visible personalities on the tech-biz side of the SOX discussion, this highly readable, engaging book provides a clear road map for integrating SOX compliance into the fabric of everyday IT infrastructure and business practice Shows the reader how to leverage and use service-oriented architecture (SOA), a set of technologies that enables interoperation of heterogeneous computer systems, to achieve the level of internal controls over IT that SOX mandates
Customer Reviews:
Joy of Sox.......2007-01-13
Well written book, but too detailed about Sarbanes Oxley. I was looking for something with more emphasis on Service Oriented Architecture which is barely touched on in the book.
Little Joy in SOX, but Helpful Understanding.......2006-10-02
I make a living leading seminars discussing topics on software project estimation, requirements, and project management. It is not uncommon during one of these seminars to have a participant ask how the practice under discussion would impact or aid Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. What I wanted out of Hugh Taylor's book was a deeper understanding of SOX and some pointers I could give my students.
The Joy of SOX delivered on the first half of my quest. While not an accountant, Taylor did a good job explaining the key points of the act, focusing on section 404. I grew in my understanding of the role software systems play in acting as a "control" and the impact of changes to those systems. A simple definition of a "control" is that it is a device (practice, checkpoint, division of roles) inserted by a company to assist in the determent and detection of fraud.
Taylor, after painting a very bleak picture of what it means to comply to SOX (i.e. insert and maintain all the necessary controls), goes on to propose a solution that allows a company to react as necessary in business while keeping compliant. His solution, using a web based Service-Oriented Architecture. For those who are not buzzword compliant, that means using non-proprietary methods over the internet to communicate between different computer systems. Most of the time today, companies have to pay software development professionals to write a proprietary method. That takes a lot of time.
It is on the second point of my quest that I felt a little let down. Being a software development person, the word "agile" has a lot of baggage with it. He uses the word to mean the fundamental fluidity of the business to engage in new business practices. We software people want to enable that but we use the word an approach to software development. The two don't quite mean the same thing. So when I got to his prescription, I was into an alphabetic soup of software development acronyms that I have never quite liked, even being in the field. Perhaps his way would work, but I think the hype machine is still on over XML, SOAP, SOBA and the like. Hey, given the alternatives he paints in the first half of the book, it is probably worth considering.
So, who should read this book? Well, if you want a decent way of understanding what SOX means to a public business, then the first half is worth reading. The use of the case study makes it a little HBR like and I enjoyed that. If you are a software development professional like me, well, the first half is worth knowing and you can skim the second half. If you are a business professional, you better know the first half. The second half? You can read it but this is what my friends and I would call "beer discussion" topics. There is no "right" answer, only answers that are better given the situation. Maybe bring your favorite IT person along for the beer.
A useful overview.......2006-08-04
How can you resist a book with a title like "The Joy of SOX"? I liked the book - it was the first intelligible or helpful summary of Sarbanes-Oxley I have come across. Using an imaginary scenario it laid out both a plausible current state and accurately described the way in which business change might put the company's IT systems, and SOX compliance, at risk because they could not be changed quickly or accurately enough to respond. The book goes on to lay out how SOA is a key ingredient to building a profitable business that is also highly controlled and where processes are visible both to management and to regulators.
Most of the chapters are very readable, even some dealing with an alphabet soup of standards and standards bodies. A couple were heavier going and a few seemed like they needed to be longer - there was a certain amount of "and then magic occurs" that I am sure Hugh could have addressed in a longer book.
These complaints are, however, minor. For those of you interested in Sarbanes-Oxley or COBIT but not willing to wade through a lot of material, this book is a nice introduction.
A 'must' for any forward-thinking business.......2006-07-24
Here's a new case for business compliance: a review of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how compliance has the power to both make demands on American business and advance its purposes. Chapters in THE JOY OF SOX: WHY SARBANES-OXLEY AND SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE MAY BE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU provide sample company experiences in compliance, covering both painful changes and positive results which can evolve from new business directions. From changes in the IT field which reorganize its purposes to maintaining control under new IT systems and understanding tolerance levels, data integrity, and the review process, THE JOY OF SOX is a 'must' for any forward-thinking business.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
I'm Convinced - SOX is Good for Me.......2006-07-21
I teach at UC Berkeley's School of Information and write about "document engineering" and "information architecture." The essence of SOX for someone with my perspective is that a firm needs accurate information about anything that affects its financial statements, and the best way to capture and maintain that information is by automating business activities and internal operations.
Much of the writing about SOX is impenetrable, filled with accounting and business jargon. But "The Joy of SOX" reads almost like a novel, because Hugh Taylor has brilliantly written it as a comprehensive case study of a fictitious company's efforts to deal with SOX. So Taylor's CFO character explains aspects of financial controls and reporting, his CEO and COO characters explain the interdependence of business strategy and controls, and his CIO character explains how computing infrastructure and software development practices shape and are shaped by the controls and strategy.
I especially enjoyed (and so will my students, because now my lectures on SOX will be more concrete) the many examples of how controls, business models, and information technology come together. For example, the case study firm doesn't have a uniform product coding standard, which makes it hard to track inventory and transactions, and this problem is made worse by its practice of buying closeout inventory from suppliers. Another example shows how a good policy for managing employee passwords and access privileges is worthless without policy enforcement and change management processes.
This book enabled me to finally understand some of the arcane details of compliance, just as accountants and business people who read this book will be able to understand service-oriented architecture, enterprise integration, and business process specification languages.
In addition to being hard to read, most of the writing about SOX presents it as a necessary evil to prevent worse evils from being done to unsuspecting investors or other stakeholders in a business. No question that SOX is causing increased spending (some say excessively so) in document and records management, security, business process management and document engineering as companies define, document, and automate the processes that are needed to run the company while enabling auditing and timely reporting. Some of my former students who are working for IT consulting firms are saying that SOX is like "Y2K that won't go away" or a "full employment act" for them.
Again, here's where The Joy of SOX is unique. Taylor argues against the standard "lose-lose-lose" proposition that most people see in SOX:
- If you comply, you may harm your ability to be agile and stay competitive
- If you don't comply, you could go out of business (or go to jail)
- If you make an empty effort at compliance, you may pass through the process but merely bury company-killing problems (and spend a lot doing so).
Instead, Taylor argues for "agile compliance," urging firms to treat their SOX efforts as an investment. This approach relies on service-oriented architecture, business process specification languages, and so on. He makes a very compelling case.
(This review is an edited version of one I posted on my "Doc or Die" blog on 7/20/06)
Book Description
This completely revised second edition of Seaside is the guide to the famous Florida resort town, complete with maps, walking tours, updated addresses, aerial views, and a look inside some of Seaside's most beautifully decorated homes. For the first time, a complete list of every town structure and its designer is included.Tourists from every continent travel to Seaside to enjoy its beautiful beaches, award-winning architecture, diverse restaurants, and array of cultural and sports events. Designed by small-town planning pioneers Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Seaside boasts work from renowned architects such as Leon Krier and Walter Chatham. Even England's Prince of Wales has called Seaside a model of humane urban planning.
This small community was founded in 1980 on a remote eighty acres near the town of Seagrove Beach along Florida's northwest Gulf coast. Through his close friendship with Seaside founder Robert Davis, writer and photographer Steven Brooke gained unique insight into the thinking and planning that gave birth to Seaside, a community constructed on the belief that "our lives are unalterably affected by our architectural surroundings." With nearly two hundred lush color photographs, Brooke takes the reader from the earliest pioneer stages of the town, with its dirt streets and scrub landscape, to its development as an emerging cultural and intellectual center. In Seaside, we view the town from the first tin-roofed cottages to streets and boulevards of award-winning houses and public buildings.
Brooke's text includes a discussion of the architectural elements that compose the Florida style and elaborates on the widely hailed urban design principles in effect at Seaside. This is the guide to the town of Seaside, complete with maps, walking tours, aerial views, and a look inside some of Seaside's most beautifully decorated homes. Brooke's images, which celebrate both the town's architecture and spirit, have contributed to Seaside's fame--the small town that influenced architecture throughout the world.
Customer Reviews:
Great value for this book.......2002-04-05
This book is mostly a historical account as Seaside, the development in the panhandle of Florida, is being developed. It mostly shows photographs of the different houses built so both architects and designers can get an intimate view. It is a great book as a reference for building in the Florida vernacular...
Disappointing.......2001-01-11
I have an abiding interest in homes on the sea. I've ordered a batch of them. When I saw this book, I assumed that it was a book about a variety of seaside homes of varying architectural styles. I was disappointed to find that it was a book about a single community in Florida, most of the homes being done in an architecturally consistent style. If you're looking for a book of relatively contemporary homes in Florida, this might be of interest to you, as it's well done from that perspective. Otherwise, I'd look at the other available titles, many of which are quite beautifully done.
Photographic Equivalent of Birthday Cake!.......2000-05-12
This exquisitely-photographed book about the 80-acre northern Florida community is the perfect antidote to the winter blues or for anyone wishing to take an armchair trip to this breathtaking beach area. Located approximately 70 miles east of Pensacola in the Florida panhandle, Seaside was featured as the perfect city in the movie "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey. The movie itself was dreadful, and the real star was Seaside. ( )
Good book on a great town.......1998-07-10
Brooke's book accurately portrays the rewarding small, Florida gulf town of Seaside-an architectural delight. I had the opportunity to visit recently, and didn't want to leave it's relaxing environment. The book contains a good description of the town's history and it's founder, Robert Davis, as well as vivid photography. As the town continues to grow, I'd like to see updates on new features in Seaside, as well as more information on the cottage owners and how they choose the decor and color schemes for their individual homes. It's a great coffee table book and must-have for visitors to Seaside.
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- Middlesex: A Novel
- Modern Hydronic Heating for Residential and Light Commercial Buildings, 2E
- MOURN NOT YOUR DEAD: A Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Crime Novel
- National Electrical Code 2005 Softcover Version (National Fire Protection Association National Electrical Code)
- National Park Ranger: An American Icon
- Plundered Promise: Capitalism, Politics, and the Fate of the Federal Lands
- Police Officer Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) (Scpd)
- Prefabulous: The House of Your Dreams Delivered Fresh from the Factory
- Professional Real Estate Development 2nd Edition
Books Index
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