A relatively practical approach to acquiring, organizing, and properly operating information technology resources is provided. The book consists of four major parts. The first part discusses how a firm can organize its computer resources. It starts with a discussion of the location of software and hardware resources. The authors discuss the centralization of such resources or their distribution throughout the organization. They describe the different approaches as they pertain to organizations requiring computer systems of different sizes. The chapter goes into depth on how to organize a large computer data center. The discussion then shifts to human resources and covers job descriptions, recruiting of information systems personnel, and career development. The role of management and steering committees in the oversight of computing is covered next, and the first part ends with approaches that can supplement or even replace in-house computer resources. These include consultants, vendors, facilities management, and outsourcing.

Part 2 gives comprehensive, practical guidelines on how to ensure adequate control of processing. Recommendations are made on where control mechanisms should be located to monitor systems for human and machine error, and solutions to common problems are suggested. Then the issues of privacy and security are examined. The authors make recommendations about how to provide layers of protection to systems while enabling them to operate properly and efficiently. This part ends with recommendations on how computer centers should evaluate their own performance objectively by performing various types of external audits.

The third part deals with the management of information resources in daily operations. This part is important. While it focuses on the daily responsibilities of computer center managers, it also suggests ways to prepare employees for the inevitable changes in the organization when information technology changes rapidly and its use proliferates throughout the organization. In this part, the authors describe daily information processing and offer ways to make improvements when the processing output is not satisfactory. Ways to approach the budgetary process as well as the process of setting standards are also examined.

The fourth part discusses the impact of information systems on today’s managers and then looks ahead to some of the political issues and technical advances in information technology that are expected to affect the way we do business in the future. This part also addresses the issues of technology transfer to developing countries and tries to look into the future and project the advantages or disadvantages of continuously improving information technology.

The authors state that they intended this book as a classroom textbook for upper-division undergraduates or masters-level students, and I totally agree with them. The book is of the right size and structure to be used as a textbook in an information resource management course with a general management information systems course as a prerequisite. The cases and the discussion questions are excellent and make first-rate classroom material. While the writing style is that of a practical guide, the book maintains its theoretical background. The glossary and the index are good and comprehensive and, to assist readers who desire additional reading, current references are listed at the end of each chapter.