SGML

It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts! And that one person you always have such a hard time buying for will be easier this year! Not your spouse, your boss! If you have been trying to get your boss to listen to your crazy ideas about SGML or want to let a new boss in on what all of that acronym stuff is - SGML, the Billion Dollar Secret fits the bill. Wait! If you think your boss won't read it - there's pictures! Cute little cartoon picctures that show the publications process as it relates to a busy executives job. The pictures are cleaned up versions of the ones we have all hastily scrawled when we try to show our friends, family, and bankers what we do. Chet Ensign has written the book we all need when talking to the mass market about SGML. The book outlines, in business terms, what SGML is, why someone would want to do it, and what a business can expect to gain by using SGML. Mr. Ensign does a grand job of taking all of the technobabble out of the industry and explaining in clear business terms the problem with information in corporate documentation and how some companies have solved it. And what companies! The real strength of this book is right in the middle of the book. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 are dedicated to in depth case studies of Sybase, Grolier, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Mobil Corporation. Each business case is organized in it's own chapter with a great little executive summary on the first page. The executive summary is invaluable because at a glance you can see if you want to continue reading the business case. Each business case presents the problem the company was trying to solve, details of what they did and the challenges they faced and then the tangible benefits they saw. Each business case is presented in a great narrative style so that we meet the people who made it happen and share their frustrations and triumphs. This very human approach to technology kept me reading even though in some cases, I already knew how it was going to turn out. If all of this sounds a little chatty for your audience, remember, the executive summaries are first and only one page long! You are sure to recognize your company as you go through these business cases. Mr. Ensign has done a good job of not only giving us various industries to study but also various implementation strategies - in fact, the only thing these case studies have in common is that they all saved money - big money - using SGML. Grollier changed out their authoring environment, Sybase didn't. Each case gives a compelling reason why or why not. For those of us in the consulting business, these case studies are a gold mine! One problem we have had with SGML is convincing companies that the up front investment was worthwhile. And we all knew people who were saving big money with SGML but our non disclosures kept us quiet - and most often our customers were unwilling to talk - even to non competitors. Mr. Ensign somehow navigated