Book Reviews

A review of technology books that I have taken the time to read.

Review: Reshaping Your Business with Web 2.0

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Billy_book

Reshaping Your Business with Web 2.0

Vince Casarez, Billy Cripe, Jean Sini, and Philipp Weckerle

I have to say that I was pretty excited when Billy Cripe asked me to review his new book.  I’ve been a big fan of his blog for a while now and I have enjoyed his writing on the topic of Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0.  I haven’t always agreed with him, but the dialog has always been engaging and enlightening.  I had very high expectations for the book.

I want to start by saying that I did find the book quite useful and informative.  I’m not sure it could be called definitive on the topic, but it was an enjoyable read and provides a solid insight into both the why and how of implementing Web 2.0 technologies in the enterprise.  If you are looking to implement Enterprise 2.0 initiatives, this book will help you understand the various challenges and provide ideas on how to overcome them.

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Review: Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Compass

SOA_Compass Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Compass
Business Value, Planning, and Enterprise Roadmap

IBM Press (Various authors)2006

The time came for me to read-up on SOA in order to further develop my concepts of how Enterprise Content Management should fit within the Enterprise. So I starting looking for some books on the topic. A large majority of the recommended books were hundreds of pages long, not exactly easy reading for the Metro. I researched and picked SOA Compass from IBM Press.

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Review: Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

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eaa-sm Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Martin Fowler

2003

I saw this book on the desk of a colleague. I had already been thinking of picking it up, so I did. I learned two things from this. One, ownership of a book does not equate to an endorsement. Second, take more time when determining if a book is going to meet the desired goals.

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My First Book Report in Decades

Normally, I don’t read too many work related books. I spend my time on public transportation reading either an entertaining Baseball Book or some good History. I normally expand my knowledgebase with experience, seminars/conferences, and research on the web. However, with the advent of D6 as an “SOA platform”, and the ever-enlarging reach of my projects, I decided I needed to accelerate the normal learning curve and do some extra outside reading. To help other Enterprise Content Management experts expand their knowledge, I decided to offer brief reviews of the books I read that apply to that world.

I am having to make Documentum part of the larger Enterprise more and more on each successive project (the challenges around that are best left for discussion another day). I have decided that I needed to at least become more familiar with the concepts around Enterprise Architecture. If my systems are going to be part of a properly architected Enterprise, I want to make sure I understand the high-level concepts and goals. I hadn’t run into any issues or misunderstandings yet, but I figure why wait?

Building Enterprise Information Architectures, Reengineering Information Systems After asking around, several people recommended the book, Building Enterprise Information Architectures, by Melissa A. Cook, to serve as an introduction into the concepts of Enterprise Architecture. So I borrowed it from a colleague and started reading. Only being 180 pages, it didn’t take long.

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