The Great Transition: Using the Seven Disciplines of Enterprise Engineering to Align People, Technology, and Strategy

by James Martin

Describes seven innovations which can help corporations respond to the impact of information technology and remain competitive and profitable

Genres: Business

Hardcover

First published October 27, 1995

About the author

James Martin (1933) is a British Information Technology consultant and author, who was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for his book, The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow (1977). James Martin was born in 1933 in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England. He earned a degree in physics at the Keble College, Oxford. He was awarded an honorary DSc by Warwick University in July 2009. Martin joined IBM in 1959, and since the 1980s established several IT consultancy firms. Starting in 1981 with Dixon Doll and Tony Carter he established DMW (Doll Martin Worldwide) in London, UK, which was later renamed
James Martin Associates (JMA), which was (partly) bought by Texas Instruments Software in 1991. He later co-founded Database Design Inc. (DDI), also in Ann Arbor, to promulgate his database design techniques and to
develop tools to help implement them. After becoming the market leader in Information Engineering software, DDI was renamed KnowledgeWare and eventually purchased by Fran Tarkenton, who took it public. He lives on his own private island, Agar’s Island, in Bermuda. According to Computerworld’s 25th anniversary issue, he was ranked fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science. Martin is an expert in the field of systems design, Software development methodology, information engineering and computer-aided software engineering. He was one of the first to promote fourth-generation programming languages, and is the main developer of the Rapid Application Development methodology. In 2005 Martin donated $100 million to help establish The James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford. This school aims to "formulate new concepts, policies and technologies that will make the future a better place to be". In 2009 Martin pledged up to an additional $50 million if it could be matched by other donors. This condition was met in April 2010.

Reviews

[Melissa Nikolic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly an excellent book! Although this book is from 1995, the clarity with which Martin describes the coming 'cybercorp' is prescient! Today, all businesses are information technology businesses. With this book, understanding how to create a system that embodies agile, with a lean framework and continuous improvement with Kaizen, and the generation of value through value stream management is possible. Even DevOps is alluded to in the discussion of communication.

It is a classic, and perhaps those who would benefit most from this information are companies that don't make software. By studying the Seven Disciplines of Enterprise Engineering, any organization can become more competitive by focusing on what matters: delivering superior customer value relative to your competition through the alignment of people, technology, and strategy.

[VENKATRAMAN C K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that was truly ahead of its times. It is a fascinating read. I read it in mid nineties and I must read it again ! I love the way the author expounds the concepts.