Technology Strategies

Epitomy: Wordy, somewhat outdated, but has good observations and advice.Although published in 2001 (the copyright date in my copy is actually 2002), it appears to me that this book was written a few years earlier, perhaps in 1997-1998, and not brought up to date. I found it to be mostly well thought out and historically informative, citing many examples both of successful and of failed business strategies and practices. In my opinion it gives excellent strategic advice to anyone who is an employee or entreprenure in any kind of business -- i.e. it makes good points that should be useful to most of us. It was interesting to compare the predictions made so long ago with the actual outcomes in some instances. Nevertheless, I found the text to be not well written/edited: the style is rather rambling (boring) at times. Although it is a small book (especially considering the list price...), still I found myself wishing that it had fewer words.

Having read every book in the Enterprise Computing Series I was expecting something quite different. Where all of the other books in the series follow a People-Process-Technology structure, and are filled with methods and techniques, this departs from that formula and does so in a refreshingly fashion.The author starts with the history of technology, listing many ancient innovations that are still in use today - plow, compass, and the like. He builds from there in the same manner that James Burke's "Connections" program that aired on The Learning Channel shows how ancient discoveries evolve into modern technologies. In fact, James Burke is cited, as are philosophers, historians, and contemporary technologists and business figures. This makes for interesting reading that is presented in lucid, thought-provoking prose.Throughout the book the author never loses an opportunity to connect the past with the present. He also stays focused on business issues and reinforces key ideas with case studies and his own analysis. The practical aspects of this book are given in Chapters 3, 8 and 9, wherein advice and methods for managing technological change, developing business strategies and integrating technology are discussed in detail. These more practical chapters balance the 'softer' parts of the book and should satisfy both the hard core types who want methods, and the big picture types who want to see the whole fabric of technology. I usually fall into the former category, but found the book so thought provoking and interesting that my initial disappointment when I first thumbed through this book turned into delight as I read it.If you want a book that provides quantitative methods, and leads to step-by-step through the process of technology management this is not it. However, after you get your fill of processes, procedures and number crunching you will benefit from the deep thoughts and holistic views that are so well presented here.