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Rating: 
Summary: Your book is my current e-commerce Bible
Review: Alan & David,I just want to thank you for helping me in the development of my global e-commerce idea (AllCheckout). I have just unleashed the business plan to Austin Ventures and some others. I hope ebXML provides for tasty VC bait. This idea certainly needs all the help it can get. Your book is my current e-commerce Bible. I can hardly wait to start actual development of these new web services - but I really am going to need some funding first. I'll let you know of any more developments. Regards,
Eric Rainbolt
Austin, Texas
erainbolt@next-commerce.com
Rating:
Summary: Because every business must become an e-business ...
Review: Because every business must become an e-business, people from all disciplines in a company, not just techies, need a working knowlege of ebXML --the new set of specifications that enables companies of any size, in any industry, anywhere in the world to conduct business over the Internet. Uniquely qualified to describe and prescribe, Katok and Webber have created the groundbreaking book that should be on every manager's desktop.
-- Peter Fingar
(...)
Rating:
Summary: Because every business must become an e-business ...
Review: Because every business must become an e-business, people from all disciplines in a company, not just techies, need a working knowlege of ebXML --the new set of specifications that enables companies of any size, in any industry, anywhere in the world to conduct business over the Internet. Uniquely qualified to describe and prescribe, Katok and Webber have created the groundbreaking book that should be on every manager's desktop.
-- Peter Fingar
(...)
Rating: 
Summary: very much an introduction
Review: I found this book nice to read but pretty poor in terms of practical information. If you're looking for material to waffle at a VC it's all here but don't expect to sit down and start writing applications after reading it...
Rating:
Summary: Good for a business person, not so technical
Review: I was looking for the nuts and bolts of how to use the ebXML specification. This book is not for that. However, its a good business and quasi-technical introduction to the concepts. Good for IT Managers.
Rating:
Summary: The first book, therefore a Must-Read
Review: Like we know it from Alan and David both are good in describing complicated technical stuff so you can comprehend it. Therefore this book is a good introduction into ebXML's concepts, and even in some eBusiness, EDI and Markup Background. One will recognize David's previous work on XML/EDI in that book. Very good examples about (mainly) small companies which can benefit from electronical exchange of business information. This book does not aim to help programmers to implement ebXML, but it does aim to understand management, business analysts, edi experts and programers the requirements of business. Personally I missed a bit the practical help you could expect from a writer so deep into ebXML and EDI. So the examples of possible gains in business sound a bit constructed, and you always miss kind of proof, that especially ebXML is the tool to make the job done. If you are a troubled EDI Expert and wonder, how to solve those every day problems you have with "missing informations", "ERP systems which do not have article data", or simple "expensive carriers", you might wonder yourself, where in the ebXML technology is the solution to those little details. There are a lot of good concepts, which eventuelly will help you (if they get explored in great detail). In the book you will learn a lot about the joy of automatically setting up a ad-hoc busines, you will learn that you never again have trouble receiving foreign char sets and you will learn how detailed industrie organisations can describe common knowledge in UML. How easy business would be if.... But you might actually feel, that there is something missing, which is not described in this book. So in short, it is a good book to get to know ebXML and therefore it is highly recommended. I especially recommend this book because it is one source to establish knowege inside your company, no matter if it is an programmer, business analyst, sales guy or the manager of information systems or business development. As a small side note, dont know how you feel about the layout, but I needed to get used to it. On the other hand this book is a GREAT jump-platform. Each chapter is closed with dozents of links and ressources as footnotes. Dont miss to ander off and actually follow those references.
Rating: 
Summary: poor focus, poor structure
Review: The main problem with the book is it's lack of focus. It's neither a book for business people trying to value ebXML, it's neither a book for technical people trying to get more detail about ebXML.
The business intro is poor. It's a collection of trends without much structure or insights.
The technical part is mainly an intro.
I was disappointed. Is mainly my problem, but I would advise future buyers to look for more focused books.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and in-depth description of ebXLM (and XML)
Review: This book doesn't purport to cover programming. Instead it is a comprehensive guide that describes ebXML from business and technical perspectives, and does so is such a clear, well written manner that it deserves 5 stars. If you're more interested in writing ebXML applications you may want "ebXML Simplified" by Eric Chiu (ISBN 0471204757), which shows how and provides sample code. What I most like about this book is the way the authors manage to integrate the technical details with the business value of ebXML without going over the heads of business users or talking down to IT professionals. I also like the fact that the book is kept up to date on the companion web site, and the additional information that is provided there to supplement what is covered in the book. The highlights, in my opinion, are: Chapter 2, ebXML in a nutshell. This chapter uses clear prose and illustrations to portray ebXML, how it fits into an enterprise solution, and all of the underpinnings. If you only read these 30 pages you'll come away with a solid understanding of what it is and how it works. The next chapter, ebXML at Work, takes this material a step further with case studies that are realistic. All of Part II, which shows how ebXML fits into the much larger XML picture (including an interesting history of XML and how it evolved from SGML). History aside, this section ties together a number of related technologies, such as Java, XML, HTML and platforms. In fact, the four legs of a table metaphor that the authors use is one of the most elegant depictions of the interrelationships I've seen. They don't stay at high level, however. The book drills down into DTDs, and also does an excellent job of describing the business processes and technical architecture in terms that anyone can grasp. I especially liked the way UML and use cases were introduced. If you want a book that describes ebXML (and in a larger sense, XML) from business and technical perspectives this is the one to read.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and in-depth description of ebXLM (and XML)
Review: This book doesn't purport to cover programming. Instead it is a comprehensive guide that describes ebXML from business and technical perspectives, and does so is such a clear, well written manner that it deserves 5 stars. If you're more interested in writing ebXML applications you may want "ebXML Simplified" by Eric Chiu (ISBN 0471204757), which shows how and provides sample code. What I most like about this book is the way the authors manage to integrate the technical details with the business value of ebXML without going over the heads of business users or talking down to IT professionals. I also like the fact that the book is kept up to date on the companion web site, and the additional information that is provided there to supplement what is covered in the book. The highlights, in my opinion, are: Chapter 2, ebXML in a nutshell. This chapter uses clear prose and illustrations to portray ebXML, how it fits into an enterprise solution, and all of the underpinnings. If you only read these 30 pages you'll come away with a solid understanding of what it is and how it works. The next chapter, ebXML at Work, takes this material a step further with case studies that are realistic. All of Part II, which shows how ebXML fits into the much larger XML picture (including an interesting history of XML and how it evolved from SGML). History aside, this section ties together a number of related technologies, such as Java, XML, HTML and platforms. In fact, the four legs of a table metaphor that the authors use is one of the most elegant depictions of the interrelationships I've seen. They don't stay at high level, however. The book drills down into DTDs, and also does an excellent job of describing the business processes and technical architecture in terms that anyone can grasp. I especially liked the way UML and use cases were introduced. If you want a book that describes ebXML (and in a larger sense, XML) from business and technical perspectives this is the one to read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent synthesis of business and technology issues
Review: This book provides a nice combination of the technical underpinnings of ebXML with an explanation of the new business strategies that it makes possible. Too many managers believe that they can conceive and implement an eBusiness strategy without understanding the underlying technologies. This hubris contributed to the recent rash of web business failures. The Kotok and Webber book does an admirable job in explaining the technical to the business mind and the business to the technical mind. And I believe that even many of the more technically inclined will benefit from the history of how ebXML came about and how it leverages but is fundamentally different from Electronic Data Interchange. The global focus and variety of examples from both business and not-profit organizations is also a welcome widening of the normal discussion of eBusiness. I would read this book before many of the supposedly more business savvy tomes on eBusiness.
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