Customer Reviews

Developing E-Business Systems & Architectures: A Manager's Guide

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this book based on the review by Mike Tarrani, read it and thought that Mike's comments were right on. Checking back, I noticed the unsigned review from Pittsburgh. It's one thing to say that a book doesn't meet your specific needs -- and Pittsburgh sounds like an architect wanting an in-depth treatment -- and another to dismiss it out of hand, as Pittsburgh does. This book is great for a manager who wants an introduction to the problems involved in developing e-business systems and planning for a transition. What Pittsburgh thinks are light weight chapters are, in fact, just the kind of overview I wanted. I've looked at other books and this one is the best for a business manager who is just trying to get a feel for how all the elements involved in moving to an Internet-based system need to work together.

The title of this book is misleading. If you are seeking a book about how to actually develop e-business systems I recommend Enterprise System Architectures or Realizing E-business with Components. However, if you are looking for a book that clearly explains what e-business really means then this book is a gem.

What this book is really about is how to develop an e-business strategy and how to restructure brick and mortar business processes to make the transition to e-business. These topics are often overlooked by those who are bent on jumping on the e-business bandwagon because their competitors are doing it. Therein lies the real value of this book. The approach to developing an e-business strategy will warm the hearts of MBAs who will feel right at home with the basis of the strategy: Micheal Porter's Model of Competition. Good treatment is also given to value propositions and how to effectively craft them in support of an e-business strategy. All in all, great stuff.

Strategy is followed by a realistic look at business process reengineering. Just when you thought Champy and Hammer were old news you see that BPR is very much alive and well in companies that have effectively made the transition to e-business.

The authors next take you on a whirlwind tour of the underlying technologies, and they do it well. MBAs and other management types will feel comfortable with this material. Even technical types will find this to be good reading (and I hope that technical staff will read this business-oriented book because there is much for them to learn from it).

Implementation of an e-business infrastructure and transitioning to it are covered pretty thoroughly considering how few pages are devoted to these subjects. Bear in mind that this book is pretty high level, so don't expect to use it for detailed work breakdown structures. That said, there are a lot of nuggets of advice and information that uncover some of the larger risks.

This book's strengths are its business-oriented approach to e-business and the informative tour of associated issues and technology. While I was initially disappointed in it because I wanted a more technical book I quickly realized that there are many technical books on the subject, but few which focus on the business side. In fact, there are none I have read to date that cover the business side as well as this book. I also thought that the graphics in this book were among the best I have ever seen for visually conveying concepts and information.

This E-Business "Manager's Guide" proved to be much more than the title promised. It would more aptly be subtitled a "CEO's, CFO's, COO's, CIO's, Strategic Planner's, and Manager's Guide". Following a chapter introducing the challenge at hand, the authors review the Competitive Strategy Model introduced in 1980 by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School. This Model - along with variants of the model - becomes a recurring point of reference throughout the book. While predictions are intentionally avoided, care is given to emphasize the difficulty of the several areas of organizational change that must be addressed. The rush to address the growing Internet economy has frequently been met with hastily created web pages, among other efforts to appear to be a part of the information age. The authors do insist that in order to survive upcoming economic changes, organizations must be able to not only change business practices, but also the entire strategic planning processes that form those practices. They look in detail at the many angles of this evident necessity.

I read this book to get up-to-speed in the systems and architectures that provide the underpinnings of e-business. I am neither an e-commerce specialist nor a systems architect, but felt the need to understand the basics. Until this book I searched in vain for one that could do a reasonable job of explaining such an encompassing and potentially complex subject.

What sets this book apart is its business focus and the fact that it was obviously written for managers who need to see the big picture without getting caught up in technical details.

The first four chapters focus strictly on the business issues and provide some good information about how to develop a workable e-business strategy. I like this because the author puts business imperatives and process before technology, which is as it should be.

Chapter 5 steps you through some of the major systems and subsystems that comprise an "e-business" system. Despite the technical nature, the author does not stray far from business issues. This, in my opinion, is big plus.

Architecture is covered thoroughly enough for a solid overview in chapters 6 and 7. I personally gained a good understanding of system architectures in general and e-business architecture considerations in particular. More importantly, although the author went into increasing levels of detain and delved into some areas in the deeper end of the technical pool, I was able to follow the material. This is a tribute to the clear writing, excellent use of illustrations, and the author's personal talent for explaining complex topics in an understandable manner.

The remainder of the book addressed the transition to e-business from business process and technical architecture points of view. While I found this chapter interesting, it did not grab my attention like the previous seven chapters did. However, the material is valuable.

My goal of gaining an understanding of e-commerce systems and architectures at a high level was met thanks to this book. The book itself exceeded my expectations by making the learning experience easy through the author's engaging writing style and fast paced presentation of a lot of material in a relatively short book. It earns five stars and my highest recommendation to anyone looking for a readable book on the topic.

I found the material valuable in helping me convey technical concepts to non-technical personnel. Part of my responsibility is to ensure all parties correctly understand the "why" as much as the "what" and "how" of an e-business project. The primary benefit I got was being able to see what the strategists are looking for in an e-business solution and how to present it in their terms. This book has also helped me address those who would chase "technology du jour" solutions that may be flashy but offer little or no real value other than to pad a resume.

Some of the ideas presented have provided a good starting point for team discussions and follow-on research projects. Also, the material has helped me develop an informal education program to help some mainframe structure programming folks make the transition to an e-business development environment.

At times, some of the material seemed a little jolty but overall I would recommend this to anyone with the desire to get a high-level overview without marketing hype. One reviewer pointed out that you cannot develop a complete solution, or even a detailed project plan, with this book alone. I would agree. However, used as an introduction and an accompanying text for more detailed technical books, "Developing E-Business Systems and Architectures" definitely adds value to my library.

I was disappointed by this book. The book is very dated. Several things discussed in the book as successes have fallen by the wayside.

Don't waste your time or money on this one. Give me a ring, and I will ship it to you for free.

This book is a disaster. Chapters 1-4 are fairly light treatments of the current e-business environment and an overview for developing an e-business system. A few pages of overview on the practice of Business Process Engineering and Porter's Model of Competition are questionable at best. Why include them if you're not going to treat them seriously? The reality of business models intersecting with systems development is interesting, but the set-up here is way too light.

Regardless, the wheels come off in Chapter 5, a chapter I had to read 3 times before finally giving up. The chapter uses terms that are not explained (persistance adapter), presents brand names of software products that are not explained (CORBA Security Service) and lists so many acronyms (CGI-BIN)that are not explained, I couldn't get much at all out of the chapter. Subsequent chapters repeated the same sins and added some new ones.

To properly present complex system architecture concepts the book needs to build a baseline of understanding and then present ever expanding layers of advanced knowledge. This book simply jumps from topic to topic with many mentions of "we will discuss this later", "you read about this in the last chapter". There is no map to follow, no structure to guide you. Throw in too many random references and the reader is hopelessly lost.

Granted, there are some well structured ideas (a well presented but short section on Application Management - Chapter 4). But, I would not reccomend this book at any price.

Wow, what a stinker this book turned out to be.
I've always been impressed with this publishers technical and computer books but this book was pretty dreadful. A mishmash of material cobbled together with gum and tape - there are other books that deal with this subject -pick one of those.

What a collosal waste of time this book is.
The authors obviously don't have much of a grasp on e-business. The book is poorly organized and written in such poor style that it was a torture to finish.

Poor writing, poor execution from infantile minds.