Book Reviews
The books listed below cut to the heart of the challenges we now face in the
21st century. They deal with reinventing organizational structures, excelling
in the information age, understanding complexity and chaos, and dealing with
major challenges in the world of information management. We have divided
these reviews into two categories; Organizational Transformation and Information Architecture Transformation. We hope you find our
comments of value.
Organizational Transformation
Book Reviews
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Information Architecture Transformation
Book Reviews
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One From Many: Visa and the Rise of the Chaordic Organization
Dee Hock
ISBN
1576753328
Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus of Visa, not only recalls the
intriguing events that led to the creation of Visa, but shares the roots
of his personal journey that took him to that place and time. This book
chronicles Hock's exploration of the nature of organizations that go
well beyond anything that had been done to that point in time. As a
byproduct, he helped save a credit card industry that was bleeding money
across a sea of large and small financial institutions. The reviews
inside the book and on the cover, along with a Forward by Peter Senge,
ring praises upon Hock for sharing this riveting story. |
Enterprise Unified Process
Ambler, Vizsdos and Nalbone
ISBN 0131914510
The Enterprise Unified
Process (EUP) unites diverse disciplines, including development,
enterprise architecture, operations, production and portfolio
management, reuse and business process modeling, under an easy to follow
framework. It was refreshing to find a book that recognizes the need to
accommodate the installed base of existing software as part of the
planning, development and deployment process. This is an excellent guide
for any manager who wants to ensure that essential IT disciplines are
addressed.
The focus of EUP
is to enhance the commonly accepted Rational Unified Process (RUP). The
authors have added new disciplines to RUP that include business
modeling, portfolio management, enterprise administration, reuse,
enterprise architecture and process improvement. The introduction of
business modeling into the overall process is essential to weave IT
processes and disciplines into the most essential driver of any systems
initiative - the business. The enterprise architecture discussion was
also refreshing given that many organizations have forgone this
discipline and have created redundant, stovepipe applications and data
structures that significantly stifle business agility.
The
"Reuse" chapter
raises the rarely deployed reuse strategy. It is critically important to
not replicate business processes, models, systems, data structures,
source code and interfaces. The costs and risks of trying to keep
parallel assets synchronized have been written about extensively. This
book promotes the idea that reuse is just another aspect of the
enterprise unified process. It is also one of the few discussions about
reuse that recognizes the value of harvesting existing assets.
Also of note is the
portfolio management discussion that focuses attention on the need to
incorporate project management with application management. It should be
noted, however, that portfolio management has much less focus on
applications than the traditional industry definition as promoted by
Gartner, Inc.
Finally, this book makes
great use of tips, tool references and citations to books or papers that
readers can use to expand on their understanding of a given topic. The
last chapter of the book takes a realistic and honest look at deploying
the enterprise unified process, including its possible retirement. |
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Dilbert
and the Way of the Weasel
Scott Adams
ISBN 0-06-051805-7
Scott Adams is one of the great observers of
human behavior. In his latest book, Adams offers advice on how to deal
with weasels in all walks of life; particularly as it pertains to the
world of business. This book builds on his last work -The Dilbert
Principle. Adams skewers everything from management theories to the help
desk function. His comments on scientific theories as applied to
management practices are particularly telling. For example, Adams
discusses the Myers-Briggs practice of subdividing everyone into
personally categories. This is supposedly so one can apply preconceived
notions (my words, not his) to determine how people will react in various
situations. Adams observes that the Myers-Briggs personality categories
donït include weasel, moron, or flaming butt-hole.
He then acknowledges that he rarely has problems with any other
type of personality. Who can argue with this line of thinking?
Adams hits hard on corporate incompetence in
a way that most people can relate to. His examples of corporate bumbling
through shared experiences and email letter reprints are strikingly funny
and so very true. If you are trying to make some sense of this crazy world
in which we live, take some time out to read The Way of the Weasel. Adams
cuts to the heart of a wide range of issues in a way that has to make you
smile.
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MDA
Explained -The Model Driven Architecture: Practice and Promise
Anneke Kleppe, Jos Warmer, Wim Bast
ISBN 0-321-19442-X
Model driven architecture
(MDA) has been a long-time coming. The MDA concept, simply stated, is that
systems should be modifiable at the model - not the source code
- level. This is not a new idea, but this book outlines Object Management
Group (OMG) developed standards for MDA that IT organizations can actually
rely on as they move forward with development plans and tool acquisitions.
The MDA framework relies on the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is
generally accepted as a systems modeling paradigm and well supported by
the tool community.
This book provides a basic
overview of these and related concepts that is highly readable. It
additionally provides a good explanation of how these concepts apply at
the implementation level as well as at a conceptual level. One aspect the
book conveys is how models can be modeled. This means that models can
define modeling languages and modeling attributes at various levels of
abstraction. While this may not mean much to the average practitioner,
information architects and software vendors will find this highly useful.
In addition to these high-level concepts, this book includes case study
examples of detailed transformations from MDA to relational models, EJBs
and Web-based components. I recommend this book to anyone not familiar
with MDA and seeking to understand the future of software
development. |
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Birth of the Chaordic Age
Dee Hock
ISBN 1-576-75074-4
Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus of Visa International, weaves an
intriguing tale as he darts between intense visions of the parallels between
nature and organizations and the creation of the most successful financial
institution in history. He takes us from his earliest days through his founding
of Visa, all the while bringing us back to the questions that have haunted him
about parallels between nature and organizational structures. Learn about
Chaordic organizing principles, the visionary beyond them and their application
to real world organizational challenges.
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Modernizing
Legacy Systems: Software Technologies, Engineering Processes, and Business
Practices
Robert C. Seacord, Daniel Plakosh, Grace A. Lewis
ISBN 0321118847
Modernizing Legacy
Systems: Software Technologies, Engineering Processes, and Business
Practices provides an overview of basic analysis techniques and single
path options for migrating COBOL applications to J2EE environments. The
book offers an overview of the J2EE environment, yet surprisingly stays
clear of .NET. It also offers background on middleware and related
integration options.
I found that the book does
not address variations on legacy transformation scenarios (e.g.,
application consolidation, package deployment) or techniques for code
slicing, program restructuring or data definition rationalization. These
are fundamental interim and / or preparatory techniques for many legacy
applications. There is limited discussion of project cost models, but not
much insight into how to structure a project. There is also little
mentioned about application metrics and the use of those metrics in
planning and estimating a project.
The book does contain an overview on database types, but little ground is
covered on cleanup, abstraction, rationalization and redesign of legacy
data. The book states that "the marketplace is slowly evolving toward
object-oriented database models." I found this interesting given that
relational databases are still the de facto way to store corporate data,
even for object oriented applications.
The authors followed a
case study throughout the book and addressed multiple hypotheses on how to
approach the planning of such a case study. This offers useful insights
into any organization pursuing an effort to move COBOL applications into a
J2EE environment.
Tool discussions were
limited to one or two tools per topic, and were embedded in the book
itself as opposed to being located in an Appendix section. Unfortunately
this limits the reader's impression of tool availability and will make
tool and vendor updates to future editions more difficult.
My overall impression is
that the authors are academically oriented and take a somewhat singular
view of the legacy transformation topic. They do, however, provide a good
modernization strategy for many mainstream companies. I am also pleased
that more authors are tackling this subject and would suggest this book to
anyone seeking to migrate COBOL applications to new, distributed
environments. Readers are, however, cautioned to consider more detailed
information on the following topics; enterprise level analysis,
application consolidation, package assessment deployment and integration,
metric analysis, code improvement techniques, variations on case studies
and a more expansive list of vendor and tool options. |
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The
Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual
Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger
ISBN 0-7382-0244-4
This book began as an Internet chat group and grew into guiding wisdom for a
new virtual world. The authors share basic concepts that every business
executive should understand and act upon. They cut through the rhetoric and tell
it like it is. The challenge basic principles while shunning traditional
corporate hierarchies. They understand the impact of the Internet. One reviewer
called them troublemakers. And, best of all, people are listening.
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Just Enough Wireless Computing
By Ian S. Hayes
ISBN 0130994618
By cutting through the confusing acronyms and technocratic garble that earmark most wireless technology discussions, Ian Hayes delivers solid advice for creating and refining a corporate wireless strategy. Hayes provides readily actionable advice to managers, executives and IT personnel who need to quickly come up to speed on the ins and outs of wireless technology. Most impressive is his use of case studies and concrete examples to communicate how wireless technology can be deployed within corporate environments. Hayes offers cost justification guidelines that include how to communicate and sell a wireless solution to executives. This book is highly readable and offers practical advice on how to move forward with a corporate wireless computing strategy. If you are confused by the endless jargon that seems to accompany every wireless conversation and need to cut to the chase, this book is highly recommended reading for you and your management team. |
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Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Transformation Transforms Strategy
Philip Evans, Thomas S. Wurster
ISBN 0-87584-877-X
The Encyclopedia Britannia, a 100-year-old company, fell apart in short
period of time because the company did not understand how technology,
communication and information flow was changing their world. The authors use
this and other stories to explain the value of information flow and how it is
changing basic economic and marketing principles. They provide insights into how
the Internet is changing all of the rules � and why companies need to
understand this. Are you with a company or an industry that is going to
disappear or change in ways you never conceived? Read this book to find out.
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Developing E-Business Systems and Architectures: A
Manager's Guide
Paul Hamon, Michael Rosen, Michael Guttman
ISBN 1-55860-665-3
This is a good book for managers working on transition strategies needed to
turn a company into an e-business. The authors have a solid understanding of
business process reengineering, information architectures, component-based
development and systems management. They offer a nice synopsis on transition
planning, including the recognition that IT will need to be reengineered before a company can fully deploy enterprise class, e-business environments.
Their emphasis on infrastructure was particularly valuable. They could have
spent a little more time on the ramifications that the e-business metamorphosis will have on management structures. It is very likely that
companies making the transition to an e-business will need to apply sweeping
changes to organizational infrastructures and this should not be underestimated. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone needing a good
overview of what it takes to become an e-business. |
Chaos: Making a New Science
James Gleick
ISBN 0 14 00.9250 1Chaos is a basic theme in nature, science and in organizations. Chaos,
where order can be found in what appears to be random behavior, has tremendous
implications on how we create and leverage organizations. If you want some
excellent background reading on where Dee Hock is coming from in the Birth of
the Chaordic Age, check out this book. Or if you just want to get a better
understanding of the world in which we live, understanding chaos is a great
start.
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Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex
Systems
James A. Highsmith III
ISBN 0-932633-40-4
Highsmith applies Chaordic organizational disciplines to large-scale
projects. He breaks away from the notion that a project can be neatly broken
into little pieces, organized like a puzzle and laid out in a neat and
predictable manner. Rather than the traditional task-driven thinking that has
permeated project management for too long, Highsmith focuses on results-driven
concepts. The book discusses collaboration and adaptability as overriding
factors in managing complex projects. If you are deploying an e-business
strategy across your enterprise, or tackling any other type of large, complex
project challenge, this book is strongly recommended reading.
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Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
M. Mitchell Waldrop
ISBN 0 671 87234 6Self-organizing systems are all around us. Whether you are talking about a
hurricane, a pot of soup, the economy or an organizational infrastructure.
Lessons from Complexity can be applied broadly, particularly when
brought back into the realm of organizational structures. One important aspect
of this is that self-organizing systems are more adaptive. Ever wonder why
corporate hierarchies segregate people rather than encourage collaboration, or
why they hinder rather than enable communication, or why they break before they
adapt? Self-organization and other fascinating insights into a variety of
disciplines provides the reader with, as Waldrop puts it, a "vision of the
whole".
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Exploring Requirements: Quality Before Design
Donald C. Gause, Gerald M. Weinberg
ISBN 0-932633-13-7
Weinberg is one of the best authors in the computer field and this book is no
exception. Exploring Requirements addresses the biggest weakness in
specifying systems miscommunication between the developers and the people
that want the system built. Internet and web-based developers are not immune to
this problem and anyone in the field of IT that needs to build any type of
system should take a look at this book.
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Fractals: The Patterns of Chaos
John Briggs
ISBN 0-671-74217-5A visual ride through the world of fractals . Briggs brings together nature, math, science and art to show us what
chaos looks like from many perspectives. My interest here continues along the
lines of how organizations really look like fractals if you expose their true
nature and do not try to pretend that they are really hierarchies. You will
enjoy this one and can even put it out on your coffee table.
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B2B Application Integration
David S. Linthicum
ISBN 0-201-70936-8
The release of this book is well timed given the demand for business-to-business (B2B) solutions across a range of industries. Part IV in
particular offers a good look at supply chains, XML, RosettaNet, BizTalk,
XSLT and other B2B standards and facilities. One item deserving mention, however, is the disturbing overlap between Linthicum's first book, Enterprise
Application Integration, and this one. In his preface, Linthicum states that
"e-business depends on many of the same concepts and approaches that I outlined in his last book...". This is an understatement given the overlap in
topics, content and graphics between this book and his last book. We still
recommend this book to anyone needing a good education on B2B or on EAI. If
you buy this book you do not need to buy his first book. |
The Politics of Information Management
Paul A. Strassmann
ISBN 0-9620413-4-3Paul Strassman is one of the great intellects in the field of information
technology (IT). The Politics of Information Management provides an in
depth look at every aspect of IT, including an extensive discussion on IT
governance structures. This book is the definitive guide to understanding the
good, the bad and the ugly about information management. IT and non-IT managers
dealing with the management of information should use this book as a reference
guide on wide ranging matters including infrastructure setup, policy
development, customer coordination, cost management, data management and
security. There is no better book on IT than this one.
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Enterprise Application Integration
David S. Linthicum
ISBN 0-201-65766-X
Linthicum provides a good overview of enterprise application integration (EAI). He discusses non-invasive data,
application, package and method-based
integration, which is highly valuable for the uninitiated reader. I do not fully concur with Linthicum's discussions on legacy data or description of
business processes, but the breadth and depth of topics covered compensate
for these limitations. He offers a checklist of how to attack the EAI
challenge, a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of EAI and a glossary of
terms. Unfortunately, evolving e-business requirements and related
architectures can quickly obsolete some of the technical content in this
book, which is likely why Linthicum produced a sequel entitled B2B
Application Integration. See our review page for more details on this book.
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Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change
Barbara Benedict Bunker, Billie T. Alban
ISBN 0-7879-0324-8This book provides good insights
into managing organizational change. Any executive team that thinks they can
lock themselves up, build a new organizational hierarchy and then implement it
from the top down should read this book. Of course those executives that do the
most damage are likely to be the least likely to think they need advice on this
topic. Bunker and Alban explore many ideas regarding topics such as
participative design: a key
element in building new organizations.
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Implementing Directory Services
Archie Reed
ISBN 0-07-134408-X
Over the past decade, proliferation of distributed computing, networks, the
Internet and Intranet, collaborative tools, local web sites and the mainframe
computer has left us with an endless number of directory structures. Companies
that are opening their systems up to suppliers, customers, employees, business
partners and others are finding that challenges in everything from security to
sign-on procedures. This may sound like a technical problem, but it is a major
challenge that is sneaking up on everyone from the financial community to the
telecommunications industry. With this as a backdrop, Archie Reed has delivered
the definitive guide to understanding and addressing the challenge of directory
services management. If your company, like most, relies on the Internet and a
long list of distributed computing technologies, you can benefit from this book.
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From Chaos to Coherence: Advancing Emotional and
Organizational Intelligence Through Inner Quality Management
Doc Childre & Bruce Cryer
ISBN 0-7506-7007-XMost our reviews address the challenges of dealing with the complexities of
moving enterprises further into the information age. From Chaos to Coherence
addresses the human side of the equation. Childre and Cryer are from the Heartmath
Institute and offer proven
techniques for organizations undergoing radical changes in chaotic times. They
offer tools to deal with real-time changes in companies and across industries.
They also offer scientific underpinnings for their work something the Heartmath
people have been doing for a long time.
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Death March: The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving
"Mission Impossible" Projects
Edward Yourdan
ISBN 0-13-748310-4
If you work in IT for any period of time, you have likely worked on a
"death march" project. You knew the project was in trouble, but you
had your orders and were not going to abandon your team or your collective
vision. I have been on a death march project, watching managers get taken out,
one by one, up the line. Yet we continued coding and testing like soldiers in a
battle. Ed Yourdon discusses how to avoid getting into these situations and what
to do it a death march project is thrust upon you.
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Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Douglas R Hofstadter
ISBN 0-394-74502-7Most people know that Bach was a musical genius and that M. C. Escher created
art that drove you crazy when you tried to follow the recursive patterns into
infinity. Kurt Godel was a German mathematician that found you could express
the same strange loops mathematically as Escher could visually and Bach could
musically. The author parallels the work of Bach, Escher and Godel and ties it
back to concepts including order and chaos. It is not light reading, but if you
like the Chaos and Complexity books and have some spare time on your hands you
should take a look at this one.
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Successful Software Process Improvement
Robert B. Grady
ISBN 0-13-626623-1
This book is a surprising choice for me to recommend because I am not a big
believer in achieving success through the dissection of a process into
controllable parts. I do, however, believe in being able to assess how well a
software organization is doing through some type of measurement program and,
based on the findings, attempt to improve the overall process. With much of the
development going on today around the Internet, developers within these
environments have little sense of process or quality control. Organizations
pursuing IT and/or e-business projects on a large-scale would be well advised
to look at this book for insights into how to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of their development and management of software.
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Cognitive Patterns: Problem Solving Frameworks for Object Technology
Karen M. Gardner, Alexander Rush, Michael K. Christ, Robert Konitzer, Bobbin
Teegarden
ISBN 0-521-64998-6
As the authors so eloquently put it, "As systems become more complex,
the human limitations to comprehending system requirements become more
evident." This book tackles the system specification process based on the
processes that humans use to reason and think. Too much development today is
done with too little understanding of the problem-solving models presented
within this book. Developers may choose not to apply these techniques, but shame
on them for not knowing that they exist.
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Testing Computer Software
Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, Hung Quoc Nguyen
ISBN 1-85032-847-1
A former mentor said to me 25 years ago, "testing is an art and it
shall remain an art." This book takes it beyond art and into the cold realm
of common sense, checklists and structure. These guys are not big on
lighthearted conversation, but they cut to the heart of testing when none of
your colleagues wants to play by the rules. If you are involved in software
testing, or are supposed to be, you need this book. If you know anyone
responsible for testing, I would recommend it to him or her.
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