New Book Announced: Technology Paradise Lost by Erik Keller
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Manning Press Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Technology Paradise Lost
Spring 2004 book will debunk myths of endless IT growth, identify fundamental shift in technology usage
Greenwich, CT – January 29, 2004 – An upcoming book by veteran industry consultant and analyst Erik Keller challenges popular views of the growth of information technology. In Technology Paradise Lost: Why Companies Will Spend Less to Get More from Information Technology (Manning Publications, April 2004), Keller contends that IT spending is poised to shrink–not grow–due to a fundamental shift in the way companies buy and use technology. Using economic, technological and market data, Keller argues that companies will continue to increasingly rely on technology, but will do so by spending less on IT and thus end the phenomenal growth of the computer industry of the past decade.
According to Technology Paradise Lost, the excesses of the 1990s have led to a new penny-pinching mentality: business managers have become IT-savvy and now look to spend less to get more from their IT investments. This shift is occurring just as software, external services and labor spending are experiencing significant price-to-performance gains. According to Jeremy Coote, President of Manugistics, “Erik Keller does a creditable job documenting some of the over-exuberance of the late 90s… he provides a pragmatic checklist for buyers and technology companies alike to ensure that everyone focuses on the new market realities."The book describes new practices, including trends such as open-source software and offshoring. It reveals the new thinking inside some of the country’s most complex and successful organizations—including Merrill Lynch, Jet Blue, Harrah’s, and Motorola—which have cut IT spending and experienced marked gains to their bottom lines. Each chapter closes with separate survival guides for IT buyers and sellers.
While some industry pundits claim that technology has reached the stage of commoditization—that “IT doesn’t matter”—Keller argues that IT does matter. Current technology spending is nearly ten percent of the U.S. economy and the coming shift will cause huge changes throughout industry. Sanjay Kumar, CEO of Computer Associates, remarks that, “…Keller puts his finger on what really changed in the IT market when the bubble burst ...”
Technology Paradise Lost resonates with industry leaders:
-- “Erik has been a thought leader in the software industry for many years”, observed Chuck Phillips, President of Oracle Corp., “He describes a new way of thinking about technology spending, which I think is right on point. Companies really have to be willing to spend less to get more.”
-- Marvin J. Balliet, First Vice President of Merrill Lynch & Co. calls Technology Paradise Lost “a must read for business managers, CIOs and sellers of technology who are searching for practical ways to succeed in this new operating environment.”
-- William Janeway, Vice Chairman of Warburg Pincus finds that Technology Paradise Lost
“… comprehensively documents why ‘the age of experimentation’ is over in the IT sector and what that means for both vendors and customers. … Keller is an expert and insightful guide to this critical and inescapable process."
An excerpt of Technology Paradise Lost is available at the publisher’s website, www.manning.com/keller. Review copy available from contacts below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For over 20 years Erik Keller has been an IT consultant and analyst for many of the Fortune 500 companies and leading technology vendors. He is currently the principal of Wapiti LLC and a Research Fellow in residence at AMR Research. Keller spent over a decade at Gartner Inc. where he was a Research Fellow and managed the enterprise application software group. While there, he was one of the analysts who coined the term ERP. Keller will be a featured speaker at the upcoming AMR Research Strategy 21 conference and at the Sand Hill Group Software 2004 conference.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Manning Publications is a publisher of high-quality technology books for software developers and managers. Manning is based in Greenwich, CT.
ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE: Technology Paradise Lost: Why Companies Will Spend Less to Get More from Information Technology
AUTHOR: Erik Keller
PUBLISHER: Manning Publications Co.
PRICE: $24.95/ Hardbound/ 270 pages
ISBN: 1932394133
PUB DATE: April 2004
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Contacts:
Helen Trimes
Manning Publications
516-887-9747
hetr@manning.com
Erin Brown
Horn Group, Inc.
617-970-7472
ebrown@horngroup.com
