| Book Reviews and Excerpts from Intranet as Groupware
Chapter 9 of Intranet as Groupware, What's So Hard About Groupware?, is reprinted in Intranet Design Magazine. Also, read a review there. In addition, Chapter 3 of Intranet Business Strategies, How Intranets Are Changing You and Your Organization, is excerpted there, and reviewed there as well.
Intranet Groupware Strategies by Erin Callaway, PCWeek (not available on the Web)
Intranet as Groupware by Mellanie Hills ($29.95, John Wiley & Sons, 308 pp.)
This new book from the author of "Intranet Business Strategies" explores the use of an intranet as groupware. Her premise is that users won't automatically begin using intranets as groupware; rather, they must formulate a strategy and plan for helping them take that step.
Hills says up front that her book doesn't "get into technical details." Instead, she has written the book for anyone interested in implementing groupware in his or her organization that focuses on higher-level implementation issues, such as selecting the appropriate tools, preparing to deploy them and understanding intranet groupware's effect on users.
In Part One, Hills offers an overview of intranets--what they are, why companies create them, their advantages and disadvantages, and how intranets are likely to change your organization. From there, Hills launches into discussion of the intranet as groupware. She begins with the fundamentals, explaining what groupware is, what it does and why you should consider the intranet as a groupware solution. In this section, Hills covers the various functions of intranet groupware, such as calendaring and scheduling, voice conferencing, videoconferencing, electronic meetings, chatting, and E-mail. In each case, Hills lists the available tools to create each of these functions.
In Chapter 6, Hills gives the reader an alphabetical list of intranet groupware and workflow products.
Hills follows up her product roundup with a section for readers who would like guidance in selecting intranet groupware products. Next, Hills drills into the criteria to determine which products will fit the bill. Once you have chosen your intranet groupware tools, move to Part Three to understand more about implementing the product and how the new platform will change the way users work. For anyone who doesn't already have an intranet, Hills offers a quick primer on creating an intranet infrastructure. People already familiar with intranets can move on to Chapter 9, which covers the people and change issues that make any kind of groupware a challenge to use. Hills wraps up by discussing ways to deal with those challenges and suggests some approaches to implementation.
To order, call (800) 594-5396 or point to www.wiley.com. ISBN#: 0-471-16373-2.
Upside-Amazon.com Bookstore--Recommended Books
Intranet Business Strategies and Intranet as Groupware By Mellanie Hills
Hills, who helped J.C. Penney develop its intranet, wrote her books from the point-of-view of a nontechnician who has to determine where and how an intranet fits into business strategy, and who should use it. The books are aimed at managers who oversee intranet strategies as well as technicians who want to know where their work fits in. Hills writes from experience and in clear, nontechnical language, attributes that too many of the plethora of intranet books don't possess.
Net.INTERACTIVE Book Review by Madanmohan Rao, IndiaLine
Intranet as Groupware By Mellanie Hills
"Intranet as Groupware" is a handy guide and reference for organisations evaluating the importance of Intranets and groupware; the checklists and case studies, along with the cited literature and online resources, round off the material perfectly.
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Ordering Information
You can order Intranet as Groupware from Amazon.com.
Other Information
Mellanie Hills is also the author of Intranet Business Strategies, another intranet best seller at Amazon.com. You can hear the author speak at these conferences and events.
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