Bookviews by Alan Caruba, February 2002

Thinking about starting a web site business? Well, the single most complete and authoritative reference available is The Ultimate Web Developer's Sourcebook by Jessica Keyes ... and it runs over 780 pages, is two and a half inches thick, and worth every penny! The author is a noted authority on the science and business of technology and the book has contributions from more than thirty web development experts. It is a one-stop guide and reference that will enhance any existing site and help insure the success of a new one.

I looked through the Dummies and Idiots book on this subject but they didn't offer much. What I wanted was a book that could start me out as a novice and then grow with me when I started getting good at it. This is the only book I found that could do all of that.

This book has a great html and cascading style sheet reference. This alone is worth the $$ the book costs.

This is an expensive book that will be a sound investment for the right audience and a disappointment to others. The right audience consists of high-level management in business process domains, IT executive management, marketing and strategic planners.

I'll start with what this book is not, which will help you determine if it's right for you. It is NOT:

- a technical book, although technology is discussed, compared and contrasted within the context of e-commerce
- a methodology, however the information provided is a straightforward examination of business issues and how e-commerce processes and associated technology can be leveraged for competitive advantage
- highly detailed, although there is sufficient information with which to develop business strategies around e-commerce.

What this book does provide is a high-level, succinct discussion of the major issues and factors that will be of interest to its target audience as I've defined it above. Although Jessica Keyes is credited as the author she is really the editor who has pulled together articles from experts and those in the trenches and one of then more frequent contributors. Ms. Keye's selection of content and her skills as an editor are showcased in this book, which consists of 6 sections (A through F), that address specific aspects of e-business as follows:

Section A: Introduction. Although one would think that all businesses have thought this through, most are still reacting to the phenomena of the web and its possibilities, with no realistic idea about the opportunities and pitfalls that are inherent. Highlights that I like are: selling and value propositions from a business perspective, learning from mistakes, partnering and alliances, implementation strategies, personalization, and a strategic framework for e-commerce.

Section B: E-Commerce. This section covers customer retention, e-commerce testing, driving revenue and customer satisfaction, e-merchandising, and strategic models.

Section C: E-Business. How to recast your thinking from bricks and mortar to e-business. Highlights include: integrated B2B, selling hard goods and info to businesses (business models and product development life cycles), ASPs, transforming your business into e-business-best practices, budgeting & reporting.

Section D: Financials. This is the most business-focused section, and one that is in line with Ms. Keye's extensive background in business and financial analysis. It includes: valuing an internet business, financial model for CFOs, e-procurement, taxation, e-service, infrastructure investment decisions, finance dept role in e-biz development, developing e-business plan, raising money for internet venture, web revenue models, measures for e-business, outsourcing and initial costs to build e-business, procurement savings,

Section E: Social Aspects, including legal issues, advertising, trust management, and e-culture and change.

Section F: Technology. This collection of articles is a high-level overview that is aimed at upper management and decision makers to reveal the technical issues. Included are: content as cornerstone, testing, underlying technology, security and the impact of e-business on IT organizations.

Each chapter is an easy read and is packed with only the essentials. In fact, I marveled at the way the information is condensed and presented because most chapters were less than 10 pages, yet captured everything a decision maker needs to know. In many respects this book is similar to a highly focused collection of Gartner or Meta Group reports, and therein lies the value - busy executives can quickly get the information they need to make strategic and tactical decisions without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

I found this to be a most useful book, especially the chapter describing the advanced forecasting systems developed at Quaker Oats. Kudos to the authors!

If you want to understand the internet this book is for you. Doesn't go into great detail but explains complex systems succinctly and clearly. Especially good for someone who wants to understand the internet beyond just URL's, what's a server and WWW. A bit pricey but it's directnes more than makes up for that. Finally a thick internet book that actually needed to be thick.

I was looking for a practical, easy-to-read book that explained the nuts and bolts of developing large systems. Most books on the market are too much into theory and too little into practicality. I found this book and couldn't be more pleased. On top of readable chapters on all facets of analysis and design there is a large section on quality and productivity. On top of that, the appendices contain 19 or so samples of filled in templates such as a sample text plan, a design spec and a requirements spec. It's pricey but worth every penny.

It gives the reader a great introduction on webcasting concept, technology, theory and implementation. It is a great book for beginners as well as for amateur technicals. A must for all people interested in webcasting.

Jessica has taught this subject matter on the HP website. The course was great. I built my first website successfully because of her. Now I'm going professional. I was laid off a few months ago and needed a new career. Jessica gave me confidence in her course and her book gives me all sorts of ideas!

I hope to make my first million soon :-) and it will be all because of Jessica.

...

I read this book when it first came out.
I liked the simplicity of it. It has a good recipe for running
your website consulting firm and gives you hardcore technical information and strategy for us computer engineers alike.
I kept this as a basic reference for myself if I needed info
on HTML, VRML, Plugins, Cookies, JPEGS, UUNET and Business Planning.

Enjoy.

...

I recently finished the book. What a great read. I zipped through it, and now keep it handy as a reference tool. I espeically found the section on fees and charging for Internet based services to be helpful.

We started in the marketing business, with a specialty in sponsorship -- the ultimate in analog communications. Having built LitLamp.com, we have developed expertise in web strategy, planning, interface with engineers, copywriting and website promotion. We are now developing plans to begin offering these services. Here at LitLamp.com your words have become a part of our daily banter.

There is so little quality information available to web entrepreneurs who are breaking new ground. More sizzle than steak. Your book came at just the right time.

In 92, during my MBA, I read "Infrotrends" of Mrs Keyes and thought it was a brilliant book. I just finished this one, as a IT banking consultant and I can assure it is very disapointing.

First, An unorganized collection of article is not a handbook, specially not this one with articles of 5 to 15 pages that cannot dig in the various subjects they develop.

Second, the articles quality is poor to average (except 2 or 3 - Regarding the "security industry of 6 articles, I skipped but the previous review might apply)

Third, Mrs Keyes contribution is minimal, with an intriductory chapter about TQM in IT, which does not provide anything new about the subject. If she is the editor for "fishing customers" (it worked for me) it's a bad mistake for her long term reputation ... Four, if you expect to learn anithing specific about IT in Financial services, you will be disapointed : its mainly, five years old IT ideas, with a few FS cases. Let remind that, we are speaking about the most IT intensive industry and a lot could have been written about the core subjects (new Front and Back office packages emergence, IT Alignement with strategy, BI and KM implementation, ...). Some of these subjects are evoked but the analysis is (almost always) too limited ...

Unless you want to decorate your library, don't buy this book, it will save you a fortune ($175!)

I was quite amazed at the depth of this book. There's about 40 different contributors - each of whom is a real industry expert. Taken together this book is a real goldmine.

I've collected several of Jessica Keyes' books. She's written, I think, about ten or so. Each of them is meticuously done. Her contributed books are the best, however. She somehow has the knack of getting a bunch of experts all in one place and then picking their brains.

I'd recommend getting a copy of this book if

you're a serious technican in the financial services industry.

As a long-time veteran of the financial services industry I'm always on the lookout for books that help me to do my job better.

Given the profusion of technologies on the market today I also wanted help in understanding what these technologies are and how to implement them.

There aren't too many books that combine technology and financial services so when I found Keyes' Handbook of Technology in Financial Services I grabbed it immediately. I wasn't disappointed.

Keyes has gathered together some of the smartest people in the field who have gone out of the way to share their expertise with us.

I was particularly impressed on the wealth of information on Internet technologies. Given that this is an area that I'm just getting into, the Handbook offered some solid advice.

Keyes describes the impact technology is having on banking and the tools banks are using to become faster and more efficient. E-commerce, bill pay/present,imaging, internet banking -- all are clearly detailed and made easy to understand. A good book for both those who've worked in the industry and for those who are starting out.

Each chapter of this book appears to be written by a salesperson hawking their software.

The book was good for a general overview of Datacasting concepts. However, just after the first couple of chapters, all of the examples were specific to software that is expensive to purchase and time-consuming to use. Unless you own or maintain one or more of the systems she details in the book, it's usefulness is not worth the $$ spent.

Book Review - The Black Art of Data Broadcasting From Byte Magazine, June 1998 By Stanford Diehl

The excitement of static Web pages as worn off. Now it's time to face more difficult challenges, such as seamlessly extracting live data from corporate databases and automating the delivery of Web content.

Datacasting: how to stream databases over the Internet discusses Web-based access to a wide range of database technologies, from displaying flat files to tapping desktop databases, from exporting data with Java applications importing legacy COBOL to the Web. The book is chock full of juicy technical information.

Datacasting canvases tools and strategies recently adopted by the major database vendors to support Internet connectivity. For example, IBM Connectors is a set of gateways for deploying enterprise applications and data over the Internet. IMS Web Studio lets browsers download a set of Message Format Services (MFS) source files, generates C++ and HTML files! for transactions, and compiles the C++ code as an executable CGI-BIN program. Sample code shows how to convert a legacy payroll system to a Web-based application. Other connectivity solutions cover Sybase's web.sql, Informix-Universal Web Connect, Oracle's Designer/2000, and Progress Software's WebSpeed for securing Internet transactions.

Refreshing, shareware solutions are not left out. MiniSQL, developed by David J. Hughes, supports a subset of SQL, a database engine, and a C programming API. A second shareware component, basically a CGI scripting mechanism, provides the interface between miniSQL and Web. WDB, a shareware application written to archive and access observations made with the Hubble space telescope, installs as a CGI script and generates a standard HTML form for accepting database queries.

Three chapters are devoted to database access with Java. Java's portability, security, and Object-oriented architecture make it ideal for Web-based development, b! ut the same features cause problems for database access. F! or instance, security restrictions prevent Java applets from connecting to a server other than the one that downloaded the applet. Databases generally reside on dedicated servers. A three-tier approach employs middleware such as JetExpress or OpenLink to accept the Java query on the Web server and pass it to the database server. Datacasting also grapples with client side implementation issues when deploying proprietary interfaces, ODBC, or JavaSoft's Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) drivers. Other chapters cover specific database optimizations for Web applications, natural-language interfaces, Directory Services, and in-depth case studies.