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Rating: 
Summary: Almost Impressed
Review: I had this textbook in my MBA class at Rutgers University for Computer Info Systems class in Spring 2004. The text in the book is too small to read. They should have made the book bigger and used a more readable font. There are 4 real-life examples in each chapter, but the backround is terrible. It has a grotesque looking glass building which obscures the text. The technology they talk is somewhat out of date, and this book nearly put me to sleep. They make it sound like everything can be simplified down to a few concepts. Zzzzz
Rating:
Summary: Almost Impressed
Review: I had this textbook in my MBA class at Rutgers University for Computer Info Systems class in Spring 2004. The text in the book is too small to read. They should have made the book bigger and used a more readable font. There are 4 real-life examples in each chapter, but the backround is terrible. It has a grotesque looking glass building which obscures the text. The technology they talk is somewhat out of date, and this book nearly put me to sleep. They make it sound like everything can be simplified down to a few concepts. Zzzzz
Rating: 
Summary: e-Relevant
Review: James A. O'Brien really did a wonderful job w/Introduction to Information Systems (IIS) Essentials for the e-Business Enterprise 11th edition. The guiding philosophy of the text is very germane, the style/voice is well written & easily approachable, chapter content is thoughtfully laid out, the topics are well-rounded, the jargon introduced & seamlessly integrated w/plain English definitions, & the book is up-to-date in regard to changing technology & trends in e-Business.Frankly, I've always been of the opinion IT is, well, IT & functions in a vacuum, far removed from the politics of human resources, the spirit bunnies of the sales department, or the prosaic mentality in operations. Yet, I couldn't be further off the mark. IT has come a long way from the couple of underappreciated & oft harangued code slingers in a small, chilled room filled w/tonnes of electronics. Ok, so some things haven't changed-underappreciated & oft harangued-however, as e-Commerce & e-Business have taken on greater significance to the corporate world, the IT arena has expanded to include a wider range of demands & responsibilities to an organization. Granted, IT crews are still mavericks & like to eschew responsibilities beyond maintaining systems integrity, but, like it or not, they're steadily integrated into corporate structure, & no longer working in a space of their own. Indeed, the days of smirking @ clueless end-users are numbered. This is where IIS, if anything, serves as a gentle & poignant wake-up call that IT is no longer separated from the rest of the organization. What's particularly telling, the text is an odd paradox; meant for IT & non-IT would-be managers alike. O'Brien pertinently explains how IT has become a vital component of business just as accounting, sales, human resources, etc are necessary elements to the success of an organization, & worthy of study even if not destined to work in IT. For anyone wondering how does this apply to "me", IIS is demystifying a lot of IT for non-IT managers. So, don't be surprised if a non-IT manager calls the bluff on whether or not something can or can't feasibly be done. The technical aspects from this text aren't going to enlighten those of us who routinely read IS manuals; uber-geeks might get frustrated w/the basics included in the tech sections & decide to nitpick. For instance, when O'Brien explains & compares the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model versus the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). However, as a friendly neighbourhood IT geek, I realise everyone starts somewhere, & this book is meant to impart basic concepts & provide a general working foundation for understanding e-Business as a whole, not a specific technical manual. In fact, what makes IIS so great is the pedestrian natuare of its content. While we tech-heads know our own little world, we're generally not terribly cognizant of IT/IS issues facing other departments. IIS readily explains a basic groundwork for IT/IS in relation to other areas of an organization. Certainly, I'm of the opinion that "user" is spelled w/a silent "L" when I get questions from people struggling w/a simple application. However, after reading O'Brien, I'm inclined to a greater degree of tolerance for end-users; after all, not everyone gets the basics & logic possessing developers to determine the best ways to incorporate the needs of an application. I'll take it a step farther & say end-users-even those who aren't interested in management of any sort-should contemplate reading IIS. I believe even vehement technophobes would come away w/a respectful appreciation of how e-Business impacts their company. Further, users @ the management level will gain some insight as to why the IT staff always seem so jaded & dour due to end-users justifying that silent "L". As I've noted in other reviews; w/any text relating to the technology world, a book would be incomplete w/o jargon-I'd seriously question the validity of any manual free of geek-speak-however, O'Brien skilfully bridged the gap between technophile & technophobe. Though, the ubiquity of tech speak has become commonplace to the degree of confusion, IIS explains terms in end-user friendly language w/o alienating any party. IIS is structured around the 5 major regions of IT: foundation, information technologies, business applications, development processes, & management challenges. The chapters are built, as O'Brien says, in a modular approach. Content from previous & upcoming chapters is smoothly inserted, &, chapters can stand alone or in any combo w/each other, making skimming an easy process. While it seems a bit much to introduce concepts from upcoming readings, it really works to the reader's advantage as the author only touches upon the subject, weaving in & noting where such material will come later. Therefore, when the reader arrives @ the portion dealing w/this material, its application is understood from making its earlier acquaintance. Each chapter contains 4 current real world case studies w/relevant questions for contemplation of the studies. These studies are incredibly useful, indeed, for those reading industry standards like C-Net & IT Papers, will immediately appreciate the value of having news stories as case studies. IIS falls down in one place: illustrations. The amount of illustrations would put a years worth of USA Todays to shame. Worse, most violate a pet peeve of mine. While the responsibility of the layout editors, I despise when a text refers to a chart that's on the next page! Ergo, I have to flip back & forth to get anything from the illustration. Aside from illustration flaws, IIS introduces readers to basic, & sometimes advanced, ideas surrounding all the functional components of e-Business. From enterprise resource planning (ERP) to supply chain management (SCM), it's all here. Further, the "why" these are important to IT & the rest of the organization are explained so even the most cynical help desk personnel will appreciate their significance. O'Brien's book is incredibly relevant, fantastically current, & led me to a greater appreciation for e-Business beyond what's involved in maintaining a system.
Rating: 
Summary: A boring book
Review: The organization of this book is very good, and very understandable. The way the author organized the main concepts and backed them up with real-world examples is commendable. However, there is a problem with the book's content. The main concepts are presented in such a way as to assume the reader had previously been taught what they were. I am presently taking a class with this textbook, and it took three chapters before I finally grasped the idea of what an information system really was! The definitions are sparse, and the language too haughty and technical for students whose main focus is not business management or computers.
Rating:
Summary: Introduction to information systems
Review: This book is just what it claims to be--an introduction to information systems. There is not a tremendous amount of detail here, but I believe there is enough to give the reader a good idea of the concepts involved. At times, the author does seem to carry on more than is needed, and often you can understand the concept of a chapter very well just by reading the sentences containing the bold words. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the use of real-world examples, to show how the concepts discussed are being put into use, and how they have benefited real-life companies. Chances are, if you're buying this book, it's for a college level course. I am a non-business major, and this book was part of a class I took as a general education credit. For this, I think the book is adequate, because it gives a decent introductions into IS without a lot of details. BIS majors, however, will not benefit a great deal from this book, as everything is so basic that it will be of little benefit to someone serious about working with information systems.
Rating:
Summary: Introduction to information systems
Review: This book is just what it claims to be--an introduction to information systems. There is not a tremendous amount of detail here, but I believe there is enough to give the reader a good idea of the concepts involved. At times, the author does seem to carry on more than is needed, and often you can understand the concept of a chapter very well just by reading the sentences containing the bold words. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the use of real-world examples, to show how the concepts discussed are being put into use, and how they have benefited real-life companies. Chances are, if you're buying this book, it's for a college level course. I am a non-business major, and this book was part of a class I took as a general education credit. For this, I think the book is adequate, because it gives a decent introductions into IS without a lot of details. BIS majors, however, will not benefit a great deal from this book, as everything is so basic that it will be of little benefit to someone serious about working with information systems.
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