Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

The IT Agenda: Required Reading: Page 2 of 3

• The Practical Manager's Guide to Open Source, by Maria Winslow (Lulu Press, 2004). Although biased slightly toward Linux, this book is a one-stop shop for information on open-source software. Its approach is particularly well-suited to people who find themselves in a large or midsize organization that hasn't yet availed itself of open source. It walks the reader through open source's origins, and current and future uses, and then it lists the software that fits specific enterprise needs. It's not a super-appealing book visually, but it serves as a great reference (though the Internet is a better source of alerts on open-source software updates and viruses), and the information is right on the money.

• The Art of Project Management, by Scott Berkun (O'Reilly, 2005). Project management is like statistics: It's a fine art, people misuse and abuse it, and, as one of my stats professors used to say, it's a subject you can study repeatedly and learn something new each time. Every IT person must know something about project management to get anything useful done for his or her end users.

Berkun's book makes good points about breaking projects into manageable chunks and being realistic. My favorite line: "If the brain surgeon tells you it will take five hours, would you pressure him to do it in three?"

• It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To BeZ, by Paul Arden (Phaidon Press, 2003). Written by an advertising expert, this little book serves up a wallop to all professionals in all professions, IT included.

Like any demanding field where you must be good to succeed, IT is peopled with prima donnas. But ongoing success in IT is all about your drive, not about how well you did on your CCIE test.