TEAM Zarate Tarrani Notes From the Field

I finally got my copy of The CRM Handbook: A Business Guide to Customer Relationship Management that Jill Dyché sent me via Linda and it is more than I expected. I just finished reading The Mobile Internet: How Japan Dialed up and the West Disconnected and am struck by how these two books complement each other. There is much to digest and ponder. Jill Dyché is a principal in her company, Baseline Consulting, and the web site is worth checking out. I will be honest and say that the site's design leaves much to be desired - too much emphasis on wiz-bang visuals and too little on useability. I do not like the pop-up box that wastes screen real estate and makes one scroll through a small text box, but I do like the content and message. As onerous as it is to navigate, it's still worth the time and effort.

Decided to pull a dusty book from my shelf and go back through it this morning as an exercise in contracting. I purchased Information Technology Outsourcing Transactions: Process, Strategies, and Contracts in 1997 when I was working on a project at AT&T Wireless in Bellevue/Kirkland, read it and referred to it a few times over the years. I hadn't touched it in at least a year and am amazed at the wealth of information. This book is about much more than outsourcing - it covers contracts and contracting in great depth. I checked Amazon to see if it was still in print and discovered that there is a 2001 supplement, which I may get. Interestingly, I paid $100.00 for the book in 1997 (the retail price was $150.00, but the Bellevue, WA Barns & Noble had it marked down when I purchased it) and today it lists for $220.00. The supplement is $78.00 on Amazon.

This is a good time to recap the top five books I read in 2001- in no particular order:

1. Web Business Engineering: Using Offline Activities to Drive Internet Strategies
2. Integration Models: Templates for Business Transformation
3. e-Data: Turning Data into Information with Data Warehousing
4. B2B Application Integration: e-Business-Enable Your Enterprise
5. E-Business and IS Solutions: An Architectural Approach to Business Problems and Opportunities

What made these books so special? Each was written by an author who pulled no punches (especially Jill Dyché!), imparted common sense, and provided insights. Each of these books either profoundly influenced my thinking or validated the approach that I had developed over the years while giving me additional knowledge.

Revisiting Information Mapping - the July 1995 issue of CIO Magazine has an outstanding article titled, Information Mapping: Guiding Principles that is among the best I've read on the subject. I also found a good description of Information Mapping for anyone who is wondering what this is all about. Interestingly, there is a book titled, Demystifying ISO 9001: 2000 that shows how to use Information Mapping techniques to develop an ISO 9000-compliant quality manual. I've walked by this book at least a dozen times without picking it up. It's now on my list.

Started the day with Software Architecture Resources and Evolving Centralised Legacy Systems to Intranet-based Architectures, both of which are pages rich with information and content.

Allahu Akbar! More wonderful things are happening in my life right now. They will be duly chronicled in this log as they unfold. Insha'allah, this year is going to be among my best.

On the topic of requirements management books, I also spotted Software Requirements: Styles and Techniques, which was just published. The author, Soren Lauesen, published an overview and sample content document in MS Word format if you're interested in the book or its contents. Note: my ISP, bluedomino.com, is dumb when it comes to setting up services. Right-click on the link to download it.

I also found an excellent document titled Process Improvement Proposals in System Requirements Management that is worth taking the time to read.

New day dawns and those tardy reviews are priorities! I finally managed to answer all pending e-mail. Living the virtual life has its rewards and its burdens. I'm going to seek the rewards today. I did note that traffic to our IT Operations Management Forum is slow. Worse, most passersby are coming in as guests and not posting. Something to ponder, but not right now. I did spot a good book that I failed to mention yesterday: A Requirements Pattern: Succeeding in the Internet Economy. A quick thumb-through at the book store yesterday convinced me that this isn't your ordinary requirements management book. I love the way the author addressed change control and the viable approach to requirements management that she gives.

Final post before sleep - just finished reading about more Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act issues and want to share with anyone who stumbles across this log some key points: UCITA: Objections from the consumer Perspective by Jean Braucher, Roger Henderson Professor of Law, University of Arizona (the document is in RTF format), Letter from the President of the ACM re UCITA, July 12, 1999, Opposing Adoption of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act by IEEE-USA Board of Directors (Feb. 2000), and an entire UCITA page hosted by Cem Kaner. I need to get a life!

I managed to end the day without getting any of the reviews written, but there's always tomorrow. Sigh.

Just got back empty-handed from my local bookstore, which normally carries every Wiley title on the planet. My disappointment at not finding Doug's book evaporated when I read an e-mail from him that he had just mailed me a copy. I hope this serendipitous incident portends great things for 2002 because 2001 left a lot to be desired :-) Thank you Doug!

Off to buy a copy of Strategies for Web Hosting and Managed Services so I can intelligently discuss it on Doug's forum.

Finished an interesting disussion with Steve Page (author of top selling policies and procedures manuals) about his newest book ... the conversation drifted into self-publishing, the need for IT policies and procedures manuals, etc. Unmesh Laddha also let me know that project work is picking up and the Pioneer ITI project in India is coming to fruition. Not to be outdone, Muthukumar U sent me a list of jobs in Dubai - that is my dream to work there! The day is filled with thoughts and possibilities. Now, back to my regularly scheduled real life ...

Today's "to dos": Complete the reviews of The Mobile Internet, Know Your Enemy, Building Secure Software and Planning Using Primavera Project Planner.

Doug Kaye's Web-Hosting Discussion Forum, which augments his book titled, Strategies for Web Hosting and Managed Services, has consumed my attention for the past few hours. The discussion groups within the forum are thought-provoking. I am definitely going to get the book as soon as I finish the pile I have scattered in my room and on my desk.

In my stumbling about the net I came across an excellent Information Warfare site. The content is amazing and worth revisiting. Also worth remembering are The Art of Information Warfare Site and attrition.org.

Starting the new year with a list of tasks that I need to take care of. The most pressing chores are reviewing the pile of books and getting serious about developing commercialized content.