Latest Review at the bottom of this page !

Book Title: Enterprise Integration Patterns (Designing, Building, And Deploying Messaging Solutions
ISBN : 0-0321-20068-3
Score : 9.5 out of 10

Strengths : I found this book an excellent read to the extent that I could not fault it !. Not often can I say this and recommend that every Enterprise Architect tries to have a copy close to hand to refer to.

Heres a little bit of advice, if you are in a book shop, pick up a copy of this book - look at the “messaging Gateway Pattern (P46 where the authors states “Loose Coupling between applications provides Architectural advantages, such as resilience to minor changes in message formats (i.e. adding fields) - little gems like that make this book excellent value - and the code examples such as the Messaging Gateway P475-476 snippet add clarity.

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Weakness - I do not wish to find fault , just for the purpose of this review - so I will not try !..

Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (Sept 2006)

Book Title: SARBANES OXLEY Guide for Finance & Information Technology Professionals
ISBN : 0-471-78553-9
Score : 5 out of 10 (When viewed from a IT Perspective)

Compliance is a factor that must encapsulate the definition and maintenance of all Enterprise Systems Work. This Book was rather disappointing when viewing it from a technology perspective, which lead me to read the act itself - for this reason I have supplied this site a copy of the act with my Highlights with the focus on the relevant sections for IT professionals.

Strengths : The book presents one view of the SOX Act that all senior persons involved in Corporate Governance should be aware of. As IT Professionals one should be aware of this act as it does impose stringent information requirements on systems that are deployed in a production environment. Recommend that you look at exhibit 11.1 (P108)/ exhibit 11.2 (P111) quite useful.

Weakness After the first 100 pages (some what padded out) It was my opinion that Information Technology Professionals will not gain any true value from reading this book. However, as I continued I did find some useful snippets of useful information- However not enough for me to gain true value. Some detailed comments - Whilst, there are some good quotes in the book, it lacks the essence of the Systems view to which it aims targets in its title - certain parts of the book confused me e.g. Exhibit 1.1 (P27) - this I felt was a very poor example?. In the monitoring section P56 - The author missed the opportunity to discuss the monitoring of internal systems messages within the enterprise. Exhibit 2.1 (P44) is repeated as Exhibit 6.1 (P76) with no real value added- On P77 the Author states that XML, middleware , Java will be a success factor - This statement is wrong !... let the debate begin!.

 My Advice Skip the first 105 Pages - go straight to P106. and read the next 120 pages !.

Reviewed by : Daljit Banger - White Knight Management (July 2006 )

Book Title: Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
ISBN : 0-0321-12742-0
Score : 8.5 out of 10
Strengths : Martin states in his book that his “test for the book is not whether it’s complete but merely if it is useful.” - well I think he has pased the test. I would describe the book as a excellent read that helps spark the creative thought cells in a ‘softaware architect’ . I would say a must for software architects.

Weakness - The book is useful, however I did find some missing pieces in the puzzle - but maybe it was just me t thinking the inevitable ‘ if I use this pattern how can I ?’.... with 510 pages of content one will drill...

Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (Jan 2006)

IBM(R) WebSphere(R) Application Server Programming
Bassem W. Jamaleddine / Osbourne
ISBN : 0-07-222459-2
Score : 4 out of 10
Strengths - Covers quite a bit of useful information for Administrators
Weakness - The title of the book implies that this book is about programming, as Websphere is a J2EE Compliant Application Server I was expecting a lot server side programming  - But hey still a very useful book.
I would like to add that the first 241 pages is all bout how to configure the WAS and the database etc., together with chapters 24 - 26  about monitoring the app server left me with the notion that this book would be ideal for systems administrators
Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (Nov 2005)

Newton’s Telecom Dictionary
CMP Books / Also See (http://www.harrynewton.com )
ISBN : 0-07-222459-2
Score : 10 out of 10
This is a very useful and essential resource - As a dictionary It contains more than 22,400 terms and gives breif descriptions, we feel that it is great value for money 
pages 6 - 25 have a list of dates that provide a nice history lesson. I find picking up this dictionary occasionally and looking at some keywords, provokes thought. WKM Jan 2006

Book Title : Web Services Platform Architecture - SOAP, WSDL , WS-Policy, WS-Addressing, WS-BPEL and more...
Sanjiva Weerawarana, Fancisco Curbera, Frank Leymann, Tony Storey, Donald F.Ferguson
ISBN :0-13-148874-0
Score : 8 out of 10
The specs discussed in this book are dynamic as the authors acknowledge and thus is a state of change - so this book provides an excellent background to Web Services. Definitely worth a read. Some excellent snippets in this book for example P10 - Adapters & Channels ... ‘adapters wrap existing applications that need to be integrated’. and my favourite is on P230 - ‘An activity is defined as a computation carried out as tasks on one or more web services’

Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (December 2006)

Book Title : Service-Orientated Architecture- Concepts, Technology, and Design
Thomas Erl
ISBN :0-13-185858-0
Score : 8.5 out of 10

Strengths : I found this book an excellent read - but I could not fault the book , excellent to the point diagrams Chapter 8 & 9 are a must read with the use the Business Process Layer, Service Interface Layer and the Application Layer in these chapters is ideal for Enterprise Architects to reuse.

Weakness - This book is a great read - I would have liked to see standard notations through out the book - have a look at Fig 12.1 (page 399) Fig 17.5( Page 643) - But the diagrams convey the information they are meant to - so not much of a problem.                       Reviewed by : Daljit Roy Banger (Nov 2006)

Book Title : Implementing Lean Software Development - From Concept to Cash
Mary & Tom Poppendieck
ISBN :0-321-43738-1
Score : 5 /10

Strengths : The books has some nice snippets of wisdom and examples for example “Every bit of code that is there and not needed creates complexity that will plague the code base for the rest of its life (p25) and ”Toyota engineers learn the discipline of condensing complex thinking to a single A3 sheet of paper”

Weakness - I had heard good things of the authors previous book and felt I should read this new book- but the title is misleading , There are quotes from Mary e.g. ‘we don’t want bonuses! (p145) Joint Venture (p220) - which I felt were way of the mark - these were experiences the author had encountered - but my personal opinion is that these did not add much value to the concept promoted in the books title i.e. implementing lean software ... this is up for debate

In summary - Worth a quick scan - but not worth an investment of $39.00 but more important the time invested in reading                Reviewed by : Daljit Roy Banger (Dec 2006)

Book Title : Core Security Patterns - Best Practices and Strategies for J2EE, Web Services, and Identity Management
ISBN :0-130146307-1
Score : 9.5 /10

Strengths :This book is excellent value for money - there is enough material in the book to enable it to be split into 2 books. This book contains some excellent material. As one who does not claim to be an expert in domain of Security I could not fault the book as it contained some excellent patterns e.g the Identity Management Security Patterns (chapter 12) complimented by use of Java Code. .If you have time have a look at the Best Practice and Pitfall sections at the end of the Chapters e.g. P813 - 814) these are in my professional opinion - SPOT ON !

Weakness - This book is a great reference manual - I started reading this over Christmas 2006 and finished it today (Feb 2007) - the 998 pages of text and diagrams requires some alone time to read and digest - BUT definitely value for money !

Reviewed by : Daljit Roy Banger (Feb 2007)

Book Title : Architecture and Patterns for Service Management, Resource Planning, and Governance - Making Shoes for the Cobbler’s Children.
Charles T. Betz
ISBN :0-13-978-0-12-370593-8
Score : 5.5 /10
Positive - The author covers the quite a bit, and I like the use of Porters Value Chain links - But I think the title is misleading as there is not many ‘reusable patterns” that one could use on a daily basis unlike some of the books I have reviewed above - If you are working in Service Delivery and have an interest in ITIL then you should pick up and view - it may meet your requirements. However not for Enterprise Architects.

Negative - There are some statements in the book that many a Enterprise Architect would challenge for example Page 243 - “Enterprise Architecture is a function, not a process and Architecture modelling efforts often have no defined maintenance process” together with Fig 4.7 on the same page - which missed the Enterprise System interface to the Business processes and operating environment - Really didn’t like any of the Dialogs - they were quite annoying.                                 Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (March 2007)

Book Title : Build the Best Data Center Facility for your Business - A comprehensive guide to designing and operating reliable server environments..
Douglas Alger
ISBN : 1-58705-182-6
Score : 9 /10
Recently I was asked to interview a candidates on behalf of a client with the aim to develop a ‘Distributed Data Centre Strategy in Europe’ . The candidates were all network centric and lacked that ‘strategic viewpoint’. I picked this book up to provide me some core information in attributes of the Data Centre. This book was first published in 2005 and has stood the test of time in the 2nd edition.

Douglas throughout the book defines five key design strategies, which are 1) Robust 2)Modular 3) Interchangeable Components 4) Standardize & 5) intuitive I would have added a sixth one - reuse ? anyway If you don’t wish to read the entire book - I would strongly would recommend reading the Summaries at the end of each chapter .

In Summary - If you are managing a infrastructure team, designing a data center or asked to produce a strategy for a distributed data center - I would spend a few days reading this book .                                                        Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (April  2007

Book Title : Enterprise Architecture As Strategy - Creating a foundation for Business Execution - Jeanne W.Ross,Peter Weil, David C.Roberston
ISBN :ISBN 13:978-1-59139-839-4
Score : 8.5 /10
The book is a pleasant read, which seeks to use several examples to make its point - The book captures the escence of the Value that Enterprise Architecture can bring to an organisation. The book avocates 6 Steps to rethink the foundation for execution, which are;
1. Analyse your existing foundation for execution
2. Define your Operating Model
3. Design your Enterprise Architecture
4. Set Priorities
5. Design and Implement an IT Engagement model    - Maybe the author should consider this as ranked as 3 ?
6. Exploit your foundation for execution for growth
The book is a read for Business Architects, Application Architects etc i.e. individuals who operate at the Business Modeling and Integration - It is not a Technical Book and doesnt sell it self as one.                                 Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (May 2007)

Book Title : Enterprise Security Architecture , A Business-Driven Approach - John Sherwood, Andrew Clark, David Lynas
ISBN :ISBN 1-57820-318X
Score : 8 /10

The authors clearly have a wealth of experience which they share in the 567 pages in this book.
The book contains a wealth of useful Information and some hiden gems, it does however contain ‘padding’, which could have been excluded to reduce the the number of pages down from 567.
 I think I will leave you to judge it with regards to “Value for money”, as this really depends on your background - If you are new to Enterprise Architecture and Security - then the book is a must ! If however you are seasoned EA - you may find a lot of stuff you already know - This is however a good ref to have on your shelf.
At the heart of the book - is the SABSA framework, a derivative of the Zackman framework. The problem with aligning is that you inherit the shortcomings found in Zackman (a great tick list), which for a seasoned EA, who is challenged by a distributed service based enviornment, may find it frustating.

 Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (June 2007)

Book Title : Enterprise Architectures and Digital Administration (Planning, Design & Assesment) - Ambrose Goikoetxea
ISBN :ISBN 13-978-981-270-028-5
Score : 7 /10
The book is good primer, especialy for anyone new to Enterprise Architecture. It is focused very much on the Orgaisational needs and requirements of today and thus would be difficult to use as a baseline for developing a target architcture that alignes to any business operating models of the future. Thre is a great diagram on page 126 - if your in a book shp I recommend a view.

The book captures and documents some great facts about current architectural frameowrks and would be ideal for a course on EA. The mathemateical stuff is a bit heavy - My recommendation is to view the book and use as reference point for students.
1.      Reviewed by : Daljit Banger (August 2007)