A lot of writing about electronic commerce has been problematic: many authors describe a cutting-edge infrastructure they've created, but ignore larger strategic issues. Others stick to generalities to such an extent that their books provide no real technical advice for someone trying to architect an Internet commerce business. Opening Digital Markets: Battle Plans and Business Strategies for Internet Commerce, Second Edition, manages a reasonable compromise between these extremes. It provides a basis for evaluating electronic commerce technologies in the context of an organization's larger issues--technological, organizational, legal, and cultural.
The book presents a strategic outline for an e-commerce architecture rather than specific recommendations about which payment system, rapid application development environment, or server back-end to adopt. It talks generally about providing the level of systems integration necessary to give customers a persuasive electronic buying experience, along with some general case-study information. As such, it tells a persuasive story and provides some firm business sense for the planner, manager, strategist, and even the developer, despite the fact that, in many areas, the guide raises more questions than it answers.
Review
"If you're trying to discern trends and build corporate strategies for Web commerce, then Opening Digital Markets is important reading." -- Web Marketing Today
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