Welcome to Amjad Umar's Personal Web Site.

On this website you will find the following information:

- Research and development projects I am currently involved in

- My current, future, and past books.

- Course materials (course outlines, presentation slides, project assignments) based on university and industrial courses that have been taught from these books

- Information about other matters based on requests

                                  - Some other completely irrelevant information J

 

PISA (Planning, Integration, Security & Administration) Project

 Intelligent Decision Support for IT Managers and Planners  

PISA is a research and development project that I have been supervising for the last few years. The main purpose of this project, being collaborated through a startup, is to help the IT managers and planners make decisions regarding planning of new systems, integration of new systems with existing ones by using SOA, securing the IT assets, and administrating the resulting complex IT systems. This project was initiated based on the lessons learned from first hand experience of working on 50+ IT planning, integration and security assignments. The project is proceeding in the following directions:

  • Research. The research is attempting to capture the essence of strategic decisions, abstract them, and develop models and methods so that managers instead of developers or vendors can control the planning, integration, and security decisions. If you are interested in reviewing the research in progress, Contact Us  (please indicate “PISA Research” in email header).
  • PISA Environment. The models, methods and algorithms produced by the research have been instantiated into a "PISA" environment that is currently operational as a mature prototype. The PISA environment guides the users to quickly build enterprise models in 12 industry segments and then develop application plans, network plans, security plans, requirements documents, integrated architectures based on SOA and project plans.  For more information, please visit the PISA Environment Website  
  • PISA in Classroom. PISA has been, and is being, used to support courses in IS planning, security, networks, systems analysis and design, and architectures and integration.  If you are interested in using PISA in a classroom, please first visit the PISA Environment Website  and take a look at the “PISA Overview” and “PISA in Classroom” documents. To use and experiment with the toolset,  Contact Us  (please indicate “PISA Teaching” in email header).

Book: Mobile Computing and Wireless Communications

Applications,  Networks, Platforms, Architectures, and Security

July 2004 Edition

This book, suitable for IS/IT courses and self study, presents a comprehensive  coverage of the technical as well as business/management aspects of mobile computing and wireless communications.

Instead of one narrow topic, this classroom tested book covers the major building blocks (mobile applications, mobile computing platforms, wireless networks, architectures, security, and management) of mobile computing and wireless communications. Numerous real-life case studies and examples highlight the key points. 

Click here for   more information about this book

 

Book: Information Security and Auditing in the Digital Age

A Managerial and Practical Perspective

December 2003 Edition (UPDATED: August 2004)  

This book integrates people, processes, and technologies to solve the current and future security problems in highly distributed and mobile enterprises. The focus is on recent issues such as Web Services security (e.g., SAML), wireless security, and integrated systems security. Additional topics include security management, policies and requirements, risk assessment and mitigation, cryptographic techniques, security packages (PKI and security auditing tools), a systematic methodology, network security, host security, web security, middleware, security, application security, and auditing in modern environments.

Click here for   more information about this book

Book: e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook

From Strategies to Working Solutions

May 2003 Edition (Updated: AUGUST 2004)  

This is an extensive handbook, available through Amazon.com and other book sellers as paperbacks and e-Book, consisting of the following modules:

e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Overview Module ISBN: 0-9727414-1-0
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Applications Module ISBN: 0-9727414-2-9
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Architecture Module ISBN: 0-9727414-3-7 (Updated: August 2004)
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Integration Module ISBN: 0-9727414-4-5 (Updated: August 2004)
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Management Module ISBN: 0-9727414-5-3
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Networks Module ISBN: 0-9727414-6-1
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Middleware Module ISBN: 0-9727414-8-8 (Updated: August 2004)
e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook: Platforms Module ISBN: 0-9727414-9-6 (Updated: August 2004)

Click here for   more information about this handbook
   

BooK:Third Generation Distributed Computing Environments

Middleware, Web  Services, Platforms, and Architectures 

July 2004 Edition

This book gives a systematic analysis of Third Generation Distributed Computing Environments (3GDCEs) and shows how these environments can be used to architect and integrate modern applications. The book contents are based on selected chapters of the "eBusiness and Distributed Systems Handbook" (see the handbook outline above). The selected chapters have been updated and edited to present a recent and relevant view. This book serves as a second edition of the book "Object-Oriented Client/Server Internet Environments", A. Umar, Prentice Hall, 1997.  Numerous real-life case studies and examples highlight the key points. 

Click here for   more information about this book

 

 

Previous Books (Oldies but Goodies)

1. "Distributed Computing and Client/Server Systems", Prentice Hall, 1993.
2. "Object-Oriented Client/Server Internet Environments" Prentice Hall, February 1997.
3. "Application (Re)Engineering: Building Web-based Applications and Dealing with Legacies", Prentice Hall, May 1997.

 

The "e-Business and Distributed Systems Handbook" is a major synthesis, re-write, and upgrade of these three books. For information on these books, visit the Prentice Hall site (www.prenhall.com) or Amazon.com.