Thinking strategically about the Internet? The Corporate Internet Planning Guide: Aligning Internet Strategy with Business Goals by Richard J. Gascoyne ($29.95, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 307 pp.)
Get out your laptop and get ready to take notes. This book delivers on its promise to help you formulate an Internet strategy.
You realize immediately "The Corporate Internet Planning Guide" isn't just another cookie-cutter, skin-deep take on Internet strategy. (The author, by the way, uses the phrase "Internet strategy" in reference to both the Internet and intranets.) For one thing, Gascoyne, a director of the Internet division at Claremont Technology Group, in Seattle, doesn't waste time dragging you through the all-too-common 100-page summary of Internet history. As the title implies, he regards Internet technology as strategically imperative; thus, he focuses immediately on helping you decide how to apply and integrate that technology into business strategies.
To that end, Gascoyne explains why you must strive to make your Internet strategy innovative and why it should be complementary to your intranet strategy, not separate. He walks through specific steps for formulating an Internet strategy, clearly outlines business risks and barriers to success, and explains what needs to be done to manage the changes the Internet will affect in your company. He also very clearly identifies the different stages of an emerging Internet strategy, providing guidelines to assess which stage you are currently in.
Whether you should be developing an Internet strategy is not up for question. As Gascoyne provokes thinking about how you could be using Internet technology, he weaves in arguments against any rationale that could justify why you aren't doing more, if anything at all, with the technology.
Perhaps, for example, your company isn't looking at the Internet strategically because your customers aren't online. Hogwash, says Gascoyne. The point is not to use the Internet to service current customers online so much as it is to use this technology to create new business opportunities.
One of the best attributes of "The Corporate Internet Planning Guide" is the way Gascoyne presents his material--namely, he delivers the goods in a well-thought-out and clear manner. Yet unlike authors who write books so formulaic they are almost insulting, Gascoyne uses repetition, lists and charts only when they are really necessary. -- By Erin Callaway, PC Week Decembern 23, 1996 -- PC Week- December 23, 1996
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
This book breaks down the complicated decision-making process involved in establishing an Internet presence and in creating an intranet. It provides simplified problem-solving steps that will help you confidently plan, develop, implement, and manage a corporate-wide Internet or Intranet strategy.|You'll find all the tools you need here in a format you can put to work right away. Planning questions, checklists, and examples help you analyze your company's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, enabling you to create a customized plan for maximum impact--or if you're already on-line--to evaluate, enhance, and redefine your current Internet/intranet strategy.|Richard J. Gascoyne is a Director at Claremont Technology Group, a leader in innovative business and systems consulting. He works with leading organizations to build effective Internet and intranet business and technology strategies.
