Boiling the IT Frog: How to Make Your Business Information Technology Wildly Successful Without Having to Learn Anything Technical (Paperback)

~ Harwell Thrasher (Author)
Key Phrases: simple outer layer, project selection process, process layer, Best Buy, Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Resource Planning (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Driving a car doesn't require knowledge of cylinder heads and compression ratios, and you don't have to understand software and hardware to make optimum use of Information Technology. It's the people managing and using the technology who are important - not the technology itself - and this is a book about those people, their limitations in coping with technology, and how they can better deal with those limitations. This book is for everyone who is frustrated with Information Technology, and for every non-technical person who is at the mercy of a seemingly uncooperative IT organization. It's for business people who want to better understand IT, and for IT people who want to know why their jobs are so difficult and unappreciated. Every manager, executive and knowledge worker in today's world uses information systems, and most of these people have a relationship - good or bad - with some part of an IT organization. This book gives you the information you need to improve your relationship with IT. And with that improved relationship, you can make your own job more successful.

About the Author

Harwell Thrasher is an author, speaker and advisor specializing in the human side of Information Technology. Harwell shows IT and business people how to work together more effectively by taking the magic out of IT. He sometimes describes himself as a “jiggler” because he helps unstick companies and IT organizations who are stuck in their old ways of doing things. Harwell founded MakingITclear, Inc. in 2002 after more than thirty years of experience working in and around IT organizations. In those thirty years Harwell developed and managed systems, created an Internet payroll product, totally revamped the systems and processes for a financial services business, performed technology due diligence for over twenty acquisitions in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Switzerland, and helped acquired companies integrate their IT strategies with the strategy of the acquiring company. A graduate of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Harwell is an Atlanta native. See Harwell’s web site at www.makingITclear.com for more information and for a free monthly email newsletter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (March 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419664158
• ISBN-13: 978-1419664151
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,076 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If your looking at moving up the ladder or having trouble with your IT staff get this book., October 28, 2007

By	Nathan Bradbury (boston, ma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Working as a support agent for a good number of years you start to pick things. This book points out a lot of the obvious, but goes on to explain why it is the way it is. I have and would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to progress their IT department or have a problem with their IT department. The book talks from high level, so if your looking for a technical manual this isn't your book. Great graduation present for any computer/management major.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Opening the "Black Box", July 10, 2007

By	W. Hauserman (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For far too long what goes on in the IT world is akin to the famed "Black Box" syndrome - nobody knows what they do but they must be important because we cannot live without them. Thrasher's book demystifies the IT function, organization and the IT world. We discover what these people actually do, how to communicate with them and most importantly, how to lead and manange them. The idea that you don't have to be an IT "wizard" to manage the IT function is revolutionary. The book is a must read for anyone who deals with IT people; is responsible for making decisions on IT software and hardware purchases; or just wants to find out what really goes on in this until now realm of Harry Potter-like wizards. Highly recommended business book and vitally important as the technological world grows.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kris, September 22, 2007

By	kris - See all my reviews

Great Reading! Should be read by all IT professionals, Business users and management. If only we come to realization - IT is for solving business problems, not IT for the sake of IT, we would be in great shape today.. But I think, this book is a step forward in that direction.