I recently finished reading Nicholas Carr's controversial "Does IT Matter?" (ISBN 1591394449). Carr's book make some valid points about the state of IT, but seemed to fall short when it came to describing how to rectify problems. This book, written nearly a decade earlier, does describe how to rectify the problems Carr cited. In fact, it is almost as though the authors wrote this book in anticipation of Carr's book!

Meyer and Boone clearly outline how to employ information technology to achieve competitive advantage. Their approach is based on value-added benefits, how to identify them, and how to implement the right systems to attain them.

This book comprises fifteen chapters divided into five parts. Part 1 introduces terms and definitions that will be used throughout the book, as well as the concept of value-added benefits. If you assume the information is too fundamental and skip this part you will probably approach the rest of the book with an imprecise understanding of terms and concepts. Part 2 is a collection of cases and ideas that address basic business processes, and how the value-added benefits are derived in each domain, which include: selling, marketing, operations, HR, finance, rolling out products, and negotiations. Each scenario is realistic and well developed. The conclusions, ideas and benefits are both realistic and compelling. There are no gaps in logic or required leaps of faith here.

Part 3 covers information tools at the executive/senior management level. Like the preceding chapters, this one provides context, key benefits, and an approach to attaining benefits. Also like the preceding chapters, this part of the book uses cases and examples from real life.

Up to this point the authors have proposed a concept and gave examples of how this concept can be applied, making a compelling case. In Part 4 the concept is transformed into an actionable implementation plan. There are four steps, (1) planning for strategic systems, performing a value-added needs assessment, measuring benefits, and adopting the value-added perspective. There is no consultant voodoo here - the steps are clearly articulated, reinforced with examples, and are supported with facts and numbers. Three of the four appendices expand this material by providing needs assessment and measurement interview guides, and expected values.

If you've read Carr's book cited above and are at a loss as to where to start resolving IT deficiencies, read this book. Next, visit the author's web site (paste the ASIN number, B0002EUOU0, in the search box on this page and select all products), and also explore the following other books by Mr. Meyer: "RoadMap: How to understand, diagnose, and fix your organization" (ISBN 0964163527), "The Building Blocks Approach to Organization Charts" (ISBN 1892606178), and "The Internal Economy: How to Apply Market Principles within Organizations to Make Sense of Budgeting, Rate-Setting, Project-Approval, and Accounting Processes" (ISBN 1892606186).

Quentin Fleming is best known for his expertise and published works in the earned-value project management domain. However, he is also deeply experienced in procurement management, and has an impressive body of published work in that specialty as well. This book evidences his expertise, and is one of the most succinct guides on the subject I've read.

Among the reasons I like this book are:

- excellent material on teaming arrangements and subcontractor management. These areas can make or break an engagement, ruining the reputation of the prime and/or subcontractors. The approaches and advice provided will get you around the pitfalls.

- the chapter on selecting the proper contract type distills information scattered across sources ranging from FAR to niche books and other publications. Having the strengths and weaknesses of all possible contract approaches in one place is reason enough to get this book in my opinion.

- managing procurement risks is given in-depth treatment. Everyone from contracting officers to project managers to functional area experts will get something from the chapter devoted to the topic. The related chapter on legal aspects of project procurement is another strong point of this book.

The book covers the spectrum of procurement, mainly from the customer's perspective, but ample information is given about provider viewpoints. More importantly, this information is consistent with the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the six related processes (procurement planning, solicitation planning and solicitation, source selection, contract administration and closeout).

This is more than a glossed-over summary, or for novices - it contains information that even the most seasoned procurement specialist will find useful, and should be in the reference library of every project manager.

Too many development books are slanted towards either concepts or practical, in-the-trenches development. This book manages to balance both by giving not only the what's and why's, but the how to's, and does so in a readable and highly credible manner.

The discussion about why Xquery instead of Xpath, XSLT or even direct access through another programming language shows both the strengths and some weaknesses of Xquery. This discussion extended into documents, databases, the state of the Xquery specification, and culminated in a essential types, and types you will not need. This is both conceptual and practical.

For the developer who wants to get up-to-speed with (or refine skills in) Xquery, this book goes deep into every facet, using concepts, concrete examples, and code. More importantly, the author's extensive experience is shown in Chapter 11, which covers problem areas and common points of confusion. This short chapter will prove invaluable to new developers. I also liked the chapter on query optimization, and the rich reference material in the appendices, which is almost half of this book.

If you want to learn Xquery, hone existing skills, or step back and see the big picture this book is the best one in my opinion. Expect in-depth technical information, and expect it to be provided by someone who understands developers and provides the code to make it real.

The ideas and approach given in this book, and other recent ones from the author, started with concepts outlined in his "Structural Cybernetics" (ISBN 0964163519). In addition, this book is also the keystone for "RoadMap: How to understand, diagnose, and fix your organization" (ISBN 0964163527), and "The Internal Economy" (ISBN 1892606186), which are the capstones on a structured and practical approach to building and maintaining a cost-effective, customer-focused organization at the enterprise or department level.

Basic concepts are provided in the first thirteen chapters, each of which is filled with clear definitions to give context, and examples to reinforce the concepts. Highlights of this part of the book include a succinct description of what an organization is, what constitutes a healthy organization, and what I call organizational anti-patterns - symptoms and examples of unhealthy organizations and practices that any reader will recognize from their own workplace. This material also leads you through the basics of building a solid organization by showing how to properly align functions, close gaps, and eliminate barriers.

The building blocks presented in chapters 14 through 19 provide a framework and five essential functions that need to be structured within the framework - technologists, service, coordinators, consultancies and auditing. At first glance these do not seem to fit all organizations, but as you read through the detailed definitions of each you'll discover that they, in fact, do - they may go by different names, but the functions are present. The important point Meyer makes is these areas are not distinct functions on an organization chart, but need to be carefully grouped and aligned. How that is done is covered in chapters 20 through 22, which show how to diagnose your structure, design the optimum high-performance structure, and the domains in which functions will be bounded.

Discussions of high-performance teamwork and how to implement a restructuring are provided in the final five chapters.

In total, this short (less than 100 pages of main text) book provides a realistic approach to building a viable organization. Throughout are best practices, such as involving lower level stakeholders in the development of the organizational structure, advice on how to adapt this approach to small organizations, and clear definitions of key concepts. There is also a strong focus on leadership (versus just management), teamwork, and focusing to customers and business goals. Even without reading Meyer's other books this one will greatly influence how you go about organizing or reorganizing your company or departmental structure. With his other books, however, you will have a well designed blueprint for success.

After reading this book - more than once, I might add, I came away with a few impressions:

(1) Law and the legal domain are as logic-driven as the IT profession for which this book is written.
(2) What may make perfect common sense to a non-legal professional is not necessarily in line with the legal view.
(3) The scope of this book goes far beyond how to present forensic testimony as an IT security professional.

The authors establish a context for what it means to be an expert witness, and the basics (testimony, key cases to lay groundwork, and illustrating examples).

By chapter 4, Understanding the Rules of the Game, you may find yourself mired down in more detail than you think necessary; however, it is within the morass of details where you'll start to see the complexity of the legal process. And complex it is. The dissection of key cases, how experts made a difference (either way), and cited cases that show how the law is evolving are necessary background information for any IT professional, either as an expert witness, as a plaintiff, or as a defendant.

If you do wind up in court as a witness (expert or not) in a security, contract or other case (criminal or legal), turn to chapters 9 (testimony), 11 (demeanor and credibility), and 12 (non-verbal communication). These will quickly prep you. If you are going as an expert witness I advise you to cram, especially every chapter starting with Chapter 5.

Who else should read this book? Any IT professional who is involved with contracts, quality, consulting, or product development. Chances are you may wind up in court at some point, and this material is as applicable in many cases to anyone called as a witness as it is to expert witnesses.

While this book is not easy to plow through, and the details may seem to fine-grained or to overwhelming, it will prepare you for your day in court.

This book contains material that is (or should be) familiar to software testing professionals. What makes it unique is how this material is cast into a framework, based on the SW-CMM, for software testing. Before describing the contents of the book some background is in order. The author is one of the driving forces behind the testing maturity model (TMM), and the foundation and evolution can be found in back issues of CrossTalk Magazine (accessible via the web). Specifically, she and coauthors published a series of articles in CrossTalk titled "Developing a Testing Maturity Model: Part I (August 1996), Part II (September 1996) and "A Model to Assess Testing Process Maturity" (November 1998). This early material is excellent and well developed, and this book is a culmination and refinement of those early ideas.

Much of this book is based on IEEE standards and documentation, which have been refactored into the TMM. The book starts by introducing testing as an engineering activity, then segues into fundamentals, a chapter titled "Defects, Hypotheses, and Tests, and two chapters covering test case design. This material is fairly standard fare as standalone chapters, although the latter two chapters are among the best treatment of test case design I've come across.

Within the context of the TMM the chapters on levels of testing, test goals, policies, plans and documentation (completely based on IEEE standard 829-1983), and the testing organization are core topics. Operational topics of the TMM are discussed in the chapters on controlling, monitoring, evaluating and the testing process; reviews as a testing activity, and measurement. Two chapters I particularly liked were "Evaluating software quality-a quantitative approach" and "Defect analysis and prevention", each of which bridges software testing and SQA. The final chapter ties together the book by describing the TMM and the associated test process assessment.

This book is for advanced practitioners and testing professionals who are working in mature organizations. It is not a book for new or intermediate software testers, although it would make an excellent college level text to introduce students to process-oriented testing approaches.

I've read a number of BSC books, from Kaplan & Norton's original classic, to later works, and this is one of the very few that goes into practical implementation and management of a balanced scorecard.

What makes this book better than the others I've read is the way the author points out the pitfalls as well as the advantages of implementing and using this tool. He is objective and, more importantly, experienced, which is evidenced by how he places the BSC in context. This context is shown in the gap he uncovers between strategic themes, mission/vision/values, competencies, and purpose, and initiatives, objectives, measures and targets. The BSC fills that gap - if properly done and all of the key factors are understood.

I liked the way this book uncovers subtle key factors, such as the differences between strategy and operational effectiveness (often mistakenly viewed as the same thing), and what you should and should not be measuring. I also liked the way strategic themes were defined as a concept, as well as the use of tool called a paradox map to verify the alignment of tasks to strategy.

The bulk (and value) of this book is the implementation plan, which is governed by six critical success factors necessary to implement a BSC. It is here that the book shines because the implementation is laid out as a project (in fact, one of the six CSFs is to treat the implementation as a project), and is achievable with no non-value added steps.

If you want to gain an objective view of balanced scorecards and their value, and a pragmatic approach to implementing one, this book is the one I recommend.

The authors have impeccable credentials in the software estimating discipline, with Putnam's experience dating back to his breakthrough approach using Rayleigh curves to model staffing developed in the early 1970s, and Myers as his coauthor and collaborator for three earlier books from which this one is roughly based and represents a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas.

Material in this book is not done justice if you go solely by the table of contents. It contains deep thought and a wealth of information that support the five core metrics proposed. After introductory material in the first chapter, this book picks up pace by going into what the authors consider to be the right metrics and why. They follow this discussion with a chapter that shows how they align to a development lifecycle (using the RUP's inception, elaboration, construction and transition phases as a framework). This is followed by two chapters that address the five metric areas, time, effort, quality, workload and productivity, and sizing. Chapters 7 and 8 address productivity and reliability as they relate to the metrics.

I liked the material in the final chapters the most because it takes the concepts in the first eight chapters and applies them to problem spaces such as project control, requirements management, trade-off analysis, and how to use estimates to formulate accurate bids. This material is practical and reflects the real world. Among my favorite chapters are 15 (Replan Projects in Trouble), 17 (Evaluate Bids on the Facts), and 21 (Metrics Backstop Negotiation). However, each chapter in between was also on the mark and credible.

If you are immersed in an unmanageable morass of metrics and want to manage to a smaller set of key indicators in projects or maintenance this book is an essential resource. If you are using Ad Hoc metrics or none at all, this material is an ideal starting point.

Jones is a master at data collection, distilling it, and drawing supportable conclusions. Like his other books (especially Estimating Software Costs, ISBN 0079130941), this one is wide in scope and deep with data and techniques.

He begins with background material on software process assessments, comparing his company's technique to SEI's, and correlating the two. Note that Jones' approach predates the one developed by SEI and was first published in his 1986 book "Programming Productivity", ISBN 0070328110. This book is a natural extension of that earlier work.

The next part of this book is an exhaustive survey of benchmarks and baselines, including pitfalls and an interesting discussion on activity-based software benchmark data. This material is a lead-in to 36 key factors that Jones identifies, including software classification, project-specific, technology, sociological, ergonomic, and international factors.

Subsequent chapters address best and worst practices, process improvement, and benchmarks and best practices for various software classes and development approaches, including internal IS, outsourced development, systems, commercial, military and end-user software development and delivery. Each class is treated in a comprehensive manner and the findings are well supported.

This book is an ideal resource for any organization wishing to establish a baseline before implementing initiatives such as CMMI, SPICE, etc. More importantly, much of this book is as applicable to the SEI assessment approach as it is to Jones's SPR methodology. I also recommend using Software Program Managers Network (ASIN B0001M00RA)in conjunction with this book (paste the ASIN number in the search box at the top of this page to reach it).

I was first introduced to the precursor of CoCoMo II when I ftp'd a whitepaper on estimating from the old decwrl site maintained by DEC in the mid 1980s. That led me to Boehm's seminal book, "Software Engineering Economics", ISBN 0138221227. Over time CoCoMo started to show its age, especially in environments with heavy GUI development, so I opted for function points as my sole estimating technique. With experience I discovered that technique alone was useful for estimating scale, but was weak on sizing estimates. Version II of CoCoMo rectifies this, and this book is an exhaustive description of software cost estimating in general and CoCoMo version II in particular.

The contributing authors to this book read like who's who in software estimating, and the contents of this book will not only get you up-to-speed on using CoCoMo II as an estimating tool, but will also explain its inner workings, how to calibrate it, and its inherent strengths and weaknesses. Among the parts of this book that I found especially useful are Chapters 2, Model Definition, and 4, Calibration. These are the keys to understanding and using CoCoMo II to its best advantage. Real world examples are given in Chapter 3, and emerging extensions and future trends provided in chapter 5 and 6 round out the body of this book.

Significant added value is provided in the appendices and on the accompanying CD ROM. The appendices include how to use CoCoMo II in environments ranging from the older waterfall SDLC, RUP, incremental and iterative development, and give project planning considerations and data collection templates. The CD ROM itself contains a full working copy of the 2000 version of USC COCOMO II, complete documentation, and data collection forms, and trial copies of commercial versions of the application.

This book is one that every serious project manager, software engineer and cost estimator should read and keep in their work area.