This monograph addresses an issue of such general importance that it is difficult to accurately classify its subject matter or its target audience (although information resource management would be a start). It traces a suggested process (the Strategic Value Analysis (SVA) methodology) by which an organization can design its own computerized databases and subsequently its own computer applications. Since this requires an analysis of the organization’s strategic objectives, the process requires the involvement of a wide array of top managers and corporate planners. However, the central players are the managers of the information systems and the database administrators.

In fact, the SVA methodology envisages a task force consisting of senior managers from several different departments to be set up. It is unclear how the task force will function through the ten steps outlined because some of the steps (e.g., the design of the architecture to support the systems and the database) are highly technical.

The views presented in this monograph represent the latest thinking in the information systems field in the area of information engineering. The author claims that the process has been successfully tried in several organizations. While this is reassuring, the book tends to make the steps appear much easier than they really are. Each step is a complex task, requiring a significant degree of managerial or technical expertise. The level of detail involved gets glossed over in the rather brief description of the steps. The volume of work and the resources required are also not adequately documented, although these will vary, of course, for each organization. In spite of these shortcomings, the methodology appears to be a model for most organizations to follow, with potentially substantial benefits.