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

~ (Author), Michael Rosen (Author), Michael Guttman (Author) "In this first chapter, we want to briefly review what a few companies are doing to adapt to the Internet challenge..." (more)
Key Phrases: enterprise component architecture, request granularity, enterprise tier, Visual Basic, Charles Schwab, Federal Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Inside Flap:
"Wow--I read the book on the plane last night--it's the book I've always wanted to write. You'll want to keep this book close at hand. It is an eminently readable dissertation on best practices, application architectures, and organizational metamorphoses that every e-business IT manager needs to know."
-Anne Thomas Manes, Director Business Strategy, Sun Microsystems

"A powerful yet easily understandable strategic blueprint for successful transition to e-business augmented with liberal examples showing the application of technology for business advantage. A must read for those tasked with managing the migration to e-business."
-Paul Allen, Principal Component Strategist, Computer Associates -- Review

Review

"Wow-I read the book on the plane last night-it's the book I've always wanted to write. You'll want to keep this book close at hand. It is an eminently readable dissertation on best practices, application architectures, and organizational metamorphoses that every e-business IT manager needs to know."
-Anne Thomas Manes, Director Business Strategy, Sun Microsystems

"A powerful yet easily understandable strategic blueprint for successful transition to e-business augmented with liberal examples showing the application of technology for business advantage. A must read for those tasked with managing the migration to e-business."
-Paul Allen, Principal Component Strategist, Computer Associates

"I was delighted to see a book that talks to the people who need to get us where we are going. Not overly technical and a healthy change from the overly generalized genre of business IT books published."
-Gregory Maciag, President and CEO, ACORD

"This is really a terrific book! In the current rush of books on e-commerce, the treatment is generally too high-level to be of any value, or too low-level to help manage the difficult transition from business to e-business. This book finally bridges the gap, with hands-on details for the manager who has to somehow transition 40 years worth of computing detritus supporting a bricks-and-mortar operation to an online business melding the walk-in customer with the surf-in customer. Congratulations to one and all."
-Richard Mark Soley, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO, Object Management Group, Inc.

"The software architectures that have evolved over the last decade to drive the Internet and the "knowledge economy" are truly complex-they are today's rocket science. The authors have produced a cogent, readable explanation of state-of-the-art thinking about modern e-business software: a useful framework for corporate decision makers. The book gives high-level perspectives and practical guidance for rethinking business processes and retooling applications development to support business in the modern, totally wired age. The inclusion of several case studies is particularly helpful."
-Avron Barr and Shirley Tessler, Stanford Computer Industry Project

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1st edition (December 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558606653
• ISBN-13: 978-1558606654
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,655,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for managers!, April 9, 2001

By	Curtis Hall (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real gem with a misleading title, February 8, 2001

By	Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mistitled but Valuable view of cultural and business process, May 13, 2001

By	"[e-mail]" (Canton, OH United States) - See all my reviews

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.