Enterprise.Com

In the publishing industry no book worth its salt would appear on the shelves without a positive quote or two on the cover, and Enterprise.com is no exception. What impressed about this book, however, was who the quotes were from - back-slapping quotes from none other than Scott McNealy (SUN CEO), Eric Schmidt (Novell CEO), Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO) and Mitchell Kertzman (Sybase CEO), not to mention the fact that the book itself is written by Jeff Papows, President and CEO of Lotus. An impressive list indeed, and a great marketing ploy, but can the book itself live up to such high standards?

Subtitled 'Market leadership in the information age' you could be forgiven for expecting yet another 'happy-happy Internet-commerce-is-the-future' book written by someone who can't see beyond the market hype. Although Papows is most certainly a 'technologist' by definition, he doesn't have his head in the clouds as far as business is concerned. This down-to-earth, no-nonsense feel pervades the entire book. Not only are you treated to the simple visions of a business guru who has a clear vision of the road ahead, but you're also warned of impending dangers. Papows isn't afraid to take issues such as privacy and encryption, standards and regulation, and tackle them with honesty. On encryption, for example, he writes, 'The IT industry and US law enforcement couldn't be much further apart on this issue,' continuing '...there is too little logic and too much political posturing driving this debate and widening the gulf between industry and government'.

At the end of the day, this could be just another 'business in the electronic age' seminar, bound, indexed and sold to punters the world over. Fortunately, it most certainly isn't. Instead, Enterprise.com is a decisive, definitive look at how businesses of all sizes can effectively grasp the opportunities offered by emerging and maturing e-commerce markets. The book benefits from the insight of Papows, who has a vested interest in ensuring that the concept of 'market facing enterprise' is accepted and understood. If your company wants to use evolving technologies to strategic advantage, look no further than this tour of Papows' mind, one of the leading brains of the information revolution.

Author: Davey Winder