Open Systems Standardization: A Business Approach [Hardcover]

Carl F. Cargill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0132683199 | ISBN-13: 978-0132683197 | Publication Date: August 1996 | Edition: 2 Sub

An articulation of the core theories and practices of standardization leading the creation of a "discipline of standardization" in the technology industry Cargill supplies the philosophical underpinnings of standardization and the elements of its implementation, comparing both to organizations oper

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Why standardization is critical to business success—and how to use it to your advantage.
Everybody talks about standards, but few people realize how dramatically the entire information technology standards process has changed, and how critical it has become. No longer are technical specifications an end in itself. Now, standards are about business success, both for a product's suppliers and users. In the era of the virtual organization, companies simply can't survive without cleanly defined, standard interfaces among all the technologies—and people—that contribute value to their products.
Open Systems Standardization: A Business Approach brings unprecedented sophistication and thoroughness to the arena of technology standards. With this book:


*Product managers and marketers can develop an intelligent understanding of the advantages and risks of each approach to standardization—so they can make better decisions about how and when to get involved, and who to work with

*Information technology user organizations can evaluate their vendors and make plans for the future

*Researchers and students can understand the reality of technology standardization—a reality that is dramatically different from yesterday's world of methodical, technically-based standards organizations

Cargill presents an overview of today's standards organizations, and helps you understand today's trends in standardization, especially the increasingly central role of commercially driven standards. He shows how the new and traditional players interact. And he reviews current standards efforts for computer hardware, software, operating systems, networking and telecommunications—both in the U.S. and worldwide. One chapter focuses specifically on the standards efforts intended to carry the Internet into the 21st century.
Today, standards are equally critical to the buyers and sellers of virtually every information technology product or service. You need to understand them. With Open Systems Standardization: A Business Approach, you will.

About the Author

CARL F. CARGILL is one of the world's leading expert on information technology standardization. The author of Information Technology Standardization: Theory, Process and Organizations, he is currently Standardization Strategist for Netscape, and formerly held a similar position with Sun Microsystems, Inc. He is also Editor-in-Chief for StandardView the Association for Computing Machinery's journal of standardization, and standards columnist for UniForum Monthly.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2 Sub edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132683199
• ISBN-13: 978-0132683197
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,778,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you are in standards, this work is worth reading., April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Open Systems Standardization: A Business Approach (Hardcover)

Short review of Open Systems Standardization, A Business Approach, Carl F. Cargill, Prentice Hall, 1997.

Mr. Cargill is a long time information technology standards participant who writes with a considerable depth of experience on standard development organizations and corporate standards departments. This book builds on his previous book, Information Technology Standardization: Theory, Process and Organizations. It appears targeted towards those active in the standards professions as it quickly jumps into the language of the field without benefit of a glossary or definitions section.

The over 300 page book is divided into three sections. The first section of the book explores the basis for standardization and discusses the need for open systems and the concomitant need for open standards and open organizations. Chapter 5 explains two dimensions of standards: practice/conceptual standards and process/product standards and then develops a four state model of standards. Chapter 6 identifies and develops two different views of standards: user and provider, which is expanded in the following chapters into a useful standardization planning model consisting of five elements: reference model, industry standards, functional profile, systems profile and applications implementation. The extensive discussion of company organizational structures in Chapters 6, 7 and 8, while interesting and related to the idea of open organizations, seemed a bit off-topic.

In section two, The Application of Standardization, the author's considerable background in standards development shows. He provides an insider's view of the operation of a company standards department, a detailed explanation of how a standardization development organization (SDO) operates, and explains the operation of different SDOs with a focus on the American National Standards Institute procedures. This section also offers a business-oriented view of standards discussing standards as "infratechnologies," the effect of standards on the product life cycle, and business expenditures on standardization.

In section three, The Organizations, again the author's depth is evident as he describes the operation of the major international SDOs (ISO, IEC and ITU), consortia (not formal SDOs: Open Software Foundation [OSF], X/Open Company, Limited, Unix International, Object Management Group and others), Regional Standards Bodies (ECMA, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI), along with IETF, ANSI, IEEE and US governmental standards bodies. This reviewer finds this the most detailed and accurate tour of the information technology and telecommunications standards world (US-centric) available in a single volume. The only formal US organization left out was the Telecommunications Industry Association.

In summary, Carl Cargill is a "Standards Man", steeped in the legends, language and lore of his field. If standards are your chosen field, this work is worth reading.