The Trialogue company`s tagline is "Making knowledge work", and with the release of its latest offering, The E-commerce Handbook, it intends to do just that.
Targeted at business people at all levels of enterprise, The E-commerce Handbook aims to bring readers up to speed with new economy principles in a tried and trusted old economy format. The information is also available on CD-ROM.
Appearance
In keeping with the theme of what it terms e-commerce (the book actually discusses all aspects of the overall topic of e-business, of which business-to-consumer commerce is merely a part), the page layout follows quite closely on the menu-driven Web pages to which most PC users have grown accustomed.
A list of sections runs across the top of each pair of facing pages, with the relevant section being "highlighted", to allow readers to navigate their way through them. Each alternate page carries a second navigation box styled in the fashion of a dropdown menu, which indicates to the reader which sub-section they`re focusing on at any given point in the book.
Content quality
Its introduction charts the history of technology and progress in business, and relates the subjects in a simple overview that will help readers understand the symbiotic relationship between the two. It makes for a handsome segue into why 'e` is the future in business, and launches directly into detailed explanations of the various components of e-business.
Backed up and fleshed out by articles from over 70 contributors (whose names read like a Who`s Who in SA IT newsmakers), almost 20 case studies of successful local e-businesses, and countless bits of interesting trivia, the content is incredibly easy to skim through, thanks to the one-line pr'ecis of several paragraphs - a definite plus for the time-pressed executive.
With a foreword by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and supported by the E-commerce Association of South Africa, The E-commerce Handbook discusses aspects of e-business such as strategy and business models, e-procurement, supply chain management, online marketing, tools, legislation, future drivers and how it all impacts on various business sectors.
While some early adopters may feel it takes a very ponderous approach to explanation of concepts and terms, anyone who feels completely drowned by e-business will find this book to be a green paperback life preserver of sorts. The E-commerce Handbook aims at revealing the truly simplistic nature of e-business, and in my opinion, it succeeds commendably.
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