A book on the history of business software

Question

Maybe it is not directly programming related question, but anyway.

Is there a book you can recommend, covering some history of business software with kind of a big picture of how the field originated and went trough its evolution to become what it is today?
I don't mean the history of software development, but the history of business software per se.

I mean business software in the sense wikipedia defines it.

And it would be great if the books emphasis is on the business side and how the usage of this software evolved.

P.S. I know this a broad topic and a book cannot cover everything.

Answer 1

Fire in the valley

Soul of a new machine

Accidental empires others?

EDIT

Although these are not really about business software. Other than some information about Mitch Kapor and the first spreadsheets I am not sure a book exists specifically for what you are looking for.

Answer 2

Do you mean the business of software?

Not history but Eric Sink is good stuff.

Answer 3

Why not get the book cited in the Wikipedia article: James O'Brien and George Marakas, Management Information Systems, 7th ed. McGraw-Hill

I don't think there's one book that covers the history of business software at such a broad level. However, there is one that I've read that encapsulates a discussion on business software, albeit from the Microsoft perspective. It's called Gates, by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews.

The book tells the whole story of how Microsoft came into existence, and along the way you learn a lot about the emerging business software world. Companies like VisiCorp, Data General, Lotus, Ashton-Tate, Borland, and so many others are talked about in the book as the authors go through the history of Microsoft. There's some really interesting stuff in there.

It's actually a great book. I'm working on my second read.

Answer 4

Michael Cusumano, "The Business of Software" contains a concise history of business software as part of explaining the current software business. This is an excellent book overall, with Cusumano's typical thorough research behind it. It was written before free software had a big impact on the business, but the discussion is still thought-provoking.