The Case for Virtual Business Processes
Reviewer Name: Vikas Arora, CTO Nakina System
Rating: ***** out of *****
Enterprises that have effective business models are well-positioned to execute in the current competitive business landscape. The bursting of the tech bubble to some extent illustrated the point that achieving effective ROIs from IT implementations are no longer driven by just the technology itself. Aligning people, process, and technology with the strategic vision of the organization is imperative to succeed. The book contains a wealth of very timely advice needed by organizations on how technology can become an enabler to business process virtualization. This also falls in line with the current trend within enterprises in maximizing and generating additional value from existing IT investments. The case studies provided in the book provide a wealth of information on how you can achieve competitive edge by breaking the conventional barrier between technology and business. A must read for CXOs and IT/Business Strategy managers of startups, mid-size, large corporations and service providers, to leapfrog the competition and attain unprecedented heights!
John Mihalec, VP, Analyst Relations for IBM
Rating: ***** out of *****
The Case for Virtual Business Processes demonstrates why focusing on technology only will not get today's enterprises where they need to go. To build a truly "on demand" business, you need to integrate business processes in a way that leverages the virtualization, automation and standardization trends in the enabling technology. And this book lays out specific recommendations and examples for how to do that with security and confidence. Bravo.
George Nettles, Denver (CO) Cisco User Group Leader
Rating: ***** out of *****
This new book from Cisco Press, The Case For Virtual Business Processes, may be the sleeper of the year. The authors, Martha Young and Michael Jude, have put a new slant on what happened to the dot-com/dot-bomb era, and how the promise of the dot com era is rapidly rushing down upon us. Simply put, and no surprise now, the dot-com era came to its end because of ludicrous and unsustainable business models. In 2004, we are embarking on a different set of requirements: Profit and Profit. This is most obviously manifested in outsourcing, as corporations have their backs to the wall to lower expenses, ushering the virtual office and other virtual business practices in. It is happening everywhere, in all fields. I left the networking world 18 months ago to go into real estate and have transformed my practice into a virtual office/virtual business. For example, I will soon use an electronic settlement room to post all documents for a transaction on the web for $4.95, rather than pay a transaction coordinator $200.00. Electronic signatures, written on a tablet plugged in to my laptop, can be faxed or emailed electronically, in addition to the normal use of electronic signatures. This quote from page 16 of their book sums it all up perfectly: “This is a wake-up call to all businesses. Profound things are happening; the paradigm for business has shifted. Those who recognize the signs and adopt the new paradigm early will have significant opportunities and competitive advantages. Those who wait may have no opportunity at all. BPV has the potential to accelerate business so extensively that enterprises adopting it will become much more agile and nimble. By the time nonenabled companies recognize the threat, the BPV-enabled firms will be in market-dominating position” Get this book now and know where business is going. For the last 4 months I have been pushing BPV deployment hard in every area of my business. The results already are impressive, as my real estate business has really taken off!
Jim Palmer, Senior Manager, Corporate Planning, Fortune 250 company
Rating: **** out of *****
This book addresses many of the major steps that today's corporations need to have squarely on their radar screen. If your IT and executive management have not acted on, or at least seriously investigated, many of the issues discussed in this book, you are certainly still living in the 20th century. And the 20th century is no place for today's corporation to be living. I, personally, am lucky enough to be working for a company that has addressed a little more than half of the topics the authors discuss. The challenge we face is getting our top executives to look at the other half. Half a loaf might sustain us but we can only step beyond being "average" when we go for the entire loaf.