Rookie Manager
IT Manager's Handbook: Getting Your New Job Done, Bill Holtsnider and Brian D. Jaffe. This book advises the new IT manager on juggling responsibilities and offers perspectives on e-commerce, remote access, and disaster recovery. It targets IT managers with limited managerial experience; technicians or programmers contemplating a move into management; or technical workers whose positions have evolved to include significant management responsibilities.
Specifically targeting new IT managers, the book covers business practices like recruiting, resource planning, and working with vendors. The authors advise readers about local- and wide-area network management; intranets; and disaster recovery.
The authors also provide a guide on creating budgets, managing projects, evaluating technology, and hiring and motivating personnel. A section lists additional resources on the Web and in print.
Morgan Kaufmann; ISBN 1-558606-46-7; 337 pp.; $41.95.
Global IT Management
5-7 June 2005
Anchorage, Alaska
This conference targets IS/IT researchers, educators, and professionals interested in addressing IT from a global perspective.
Tracks include IT in Africa, which discusses how IT influences business and society, and how local conditions dictate the use and development of IT. Attendees will learn how IT influences social and economic development, as well as novel techniques for overcoming obstacles to IT implementation in Africa. Topics include the role of IT in social and economic development in Africa.
The IT in Asia conference track argues that IT has played a major role in the rapid development of the Asian "tiger economies." Although Asian governments are now building national development plans around IT, other governments have only recently become connected to the Internet, according to the track. This track showcases IS research and implementations that address IT use in Asia.
Another track focuses on the role that culture plays in the diffusion, acceptance, and use of IT.
http://www.gitma.org/2005_conference.htm
IT Management Web
http://www.itmweb.com
This site contains links to Internet resources covering IT development, implementation, research, and support.
The research section contains academic papers for IS practitioner reference, such as "The Internet, the Web, and the Academic: How Some Move and Why Some Do Not," "IT/Strategy Alignment: Identifying the Role of Information Technology in Competitive Strategy," and "Fixed Price IS Development Contracts: An Empirical Study of Contract Theory Propositions."
A tools section contains links to books, conferences, e-commerce resources, forums, a guru list, job listings, research, security, and Association of Information Technology Professionals resources.
Object-oriented articles include "Abstraction, Encapsulation, and Information Hiding," "Creation of Object-Oriented Requirements," and "What Is a Methodology?"
Bitpipe
http://www.bitpipe.com
Bitpipe, Inc. features IT-related white papers, product literature, webcasts, analyst reports, and case studies.
The site provides sales lead generation services by distributing content from IT vendors through the Web site and the Bitpipe Network. The Bitpipe Network reaches technology buyers through more than 70 IT and business-related Web sites such as Bitpipe.com, InformationWeek, Forbes.com, Google, Network Computing, American Banker, Federal Computer Week, and Government Technology. Bitpipe also indexes and syndicates information from more than 90 technology analyst firms, such as Gartner, IDC, and Forrester.
A technology products section contains product descriptions. For example, a featured product listing of Oracle Database 10g contains related products, information on trial software, a technical article ("Accessing Oracle with ODP.NET"), product literature, and a data sheet.
The Bitpipe Research Guide provides links for technology products in areas such as business intelligence, content management, customer relationship management, managing IT, network design and management, security, software, storage, and wireless.
Business Process Management
15-18 May 2005
San Diego, Calif.
BrainStorm's Business Process Management Conference series will include four events in 2005 for IT and business executives looking to improve their business process management (BPM) initiatives.
The 2005 Series will feature keynotes, dedicated tracks, case studies, interactive workshops, and working sessions. Series topics include developing an overall BPM strategy, implementing a process-driven architecture, and managing BPM projects. Other session topics include BPM standards and advantages of rules-driven BPM.
http://www.bpmconference.com
Integrated Network Management
15-19 May 2005
Nice, France
The 9th International Federation for Information Processing/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network Management (IM 2005) will present technical advances in integrated management, the operation and control of networks, networking services, networked applications, and distributed systems. IM 2005 will be a forum of technical exchange for the research, standards, vendor, and user communities in network management.
The IFIP Working Group 6.6 on the Management of Networks and Distributed Systems; and the IEEE Communications Society Technical Committee on Network Operations and Management sponsor the symposium.
Symposium seminars include
peer-to-peer networking concepts, applications, and management,
management issues and challenges in mobile computing,
grid computing fundamentals and management challenges, and
managing network security policies, firewall and IPSec/virtual private networks.
Avoiding Failure
Information Systems: Achieving Success by Avoiding Failure, Joyce Fortune and Geoff Peters. Information systems can fail. Some systems never materialize. Others appear late or over budget, and those that make it sometimes do not perform as promised. The consequences of these failures affect people throughout the organization and beyond, sometimes to the point where the failures even threaten a company's survival.
The authors use real-life examples to examine system failures, accidents, disasters, and human errors. Using case studies, they present their approach to dealing with system failures. A case study in Chapter 5 discusses one university's development of an online accounting software system. The failed project continued to disrupt the university's activities long after its installation. The authors use this example to illustrate how their approach works. The case also provides source material with which others can conduct their own analyses.
Other case studies include an aircraft engine fire; a massive gas leak in Bhopal, India; and IT in healthcare.
Wiley; ISBN 0-470862-55-6; 224 pp.; $50.
ROI on Software Development
Maximizing ROI on Software Development, Vijay Sikka. The author explains how to execute software development and testing while maximizing return on investment (ROI). The discussion takes place in the context of methods such as agile and extreme programming, and traditional methods such as Six Sigma, the Capability Maturity Model, total cost of ownership, and product line models.
The book explains how quality improvement through software quality assurance testing, planning, and execution improves ROI. It begins by reviewing software development, tools, and methods, and then examines how development, maintenance, and integration have increased complexity. The author explains how to manage this complexity.
The text analyzes ROI by covering nomenclature, project success and failure, mathematics, processes, work products, and techniques. It discusses how to work with global teams and how to evaluate applied ROI implementation. Case studies cover wireless, enterprise, and customer relationship management systems.
Auerbach Publications; ISBN 0-849323-12-6; 253 pp.; $79.95.
Vault to the Top
Vault Guide to the Top 25 Technology Consulting Firms, Stephanie Clifford and Marshall Lager. As computer technology in the workplace has become more advanced, many organizations cannot update the technology internally. The solution for many organizations has been to hire outside consulting companies. Outdated internal tech departments or the absence of such departments altogether are among the reasons companies have hired these consulting firms. Vault surveys and interviews thousands of employees each year to help them land the jobs they want in specific industries or with specific employers. Although Vault has published a guide to consulting for six years, this is its first guide to the top 25 technology consulting firms. The firms in this book range from large corporations to specialized boutiques, with headquarters all over the world.
Vault.com; ISBN 1-581312-65-2; 192 pp.; $29.95.
Top 101 Countdown
America's Top 101 Computer and Technical Jobs: Detailed Information on Major Jobs at All Levels of Education and Training, Michael Farr. This book helps readers research specific careers and learn about salaries, outlook, and the education and skills necessary to land jobs. A section offers seven steps toward cutting job search time in half.
The author includes sample resumes tailored toward computer and technical jobs. Readers can explore which computer and technical skills various jobs require. The book describes more than 100 jobs, including positions in computer and Web technology, healthcare, science, communications, manufacturing, and finance.
The appendices list hundreds of professional and trade associations, Web sites, and books to enhance networking skills.
Jist Publishing; ISBN 1-593570-73-2; 359 pp.; $15.95.
ITWorld Jobs
http://itworld.4jobs.com
This site, which ITWorld.com maintains, is a collection of resources for IT workers hunting for jobs. It organizes job listings according to titles, such as business analyst, computer programmer, data mining specialist, and database administrator.
A careers section contains links to
resources on continuing education,
career consultation information,
resume writing,
upcoming career events,
videos,
career assessment aids, and
a personality test.
The Job Seeker Tools section has a featured resume listing, an advanced job search, a salary wizard, and a job-search-alert capability. Another link helps employers find talent to fill openings.
Dice.com
http://dice.com
Dice Inc. provides online recruiting services for technology and engineering professionals.
Dice Inc. assists companies in hiring, training, and retaining professionals. One of its operating companies is Dice.com, a technology-focused job board that targets technology professionals. Employers and recruiters pay to access Dice.com's online recruiting services to find employees or contractors.
Job seekers can post resumes; search the database of permanent, consulting, and contract job postings; and use career resources, including certification test preparation products and an annual salary survey of technology professionals.
Through strategic alliances with CNET, TechTarget, and Jupiter Media, Dice exposes job seekers' resumes to an engineering and tech-centric audience.
Measureup.com, another company that Dice operates, provides assessment and preparation products for professional certifications. Current vendors include Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, CIW, Oracle, and Novell. The career resources section contains links to sections on IT resources, training and certification, technology-related products, consultants and contractors, and salary information.
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