STEPHEN HAAG is a professor of Information Technology and Electronic Commerce in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Previously, Stephen has served as Chair of the Department of Information Technology and Electronic Commerce, Director of the Master of Science in Information Technology program. Director of the MBA program, and Associate Dean of Graduate Programs. Stephen holds a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from West Texas State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Stephen is the author/coauthor of numerous books including Computing Concepts in Action (a K-12 textbook), Interactions: Teaching English as a Second Language (with his mother and father), Information Technology: Tomorrow’s Advantage Today (with Peter Keen), Excelling in Finance, Business Driven Technology, and more than 40 books within the I-Series. He has also written numerous articles appearing in such journals as Communications of the ACM, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, the International Journal of Systems Science, Managerial and Decision Economics, Applied Economics, and the Australian Journal of Management. Stephen lives with his wife, Pam, and their three sons—Darian, Trevor, and Zippy—in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

FROM STEPHEN HAAG To the entire author team—coauthors and contributors alike—I commend you for all your efforts. I am also grateful to the many people who helped me along the career path of writing books. They include Peter Keen, Dr. L. L. Schkade, JD Ice, Rick Williamson, Paul Ducham, and a host of people at McGraw-Hill.

My colleagues in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver also provide support. I wish I could name all of you, but there isn’t enough room. To James Griesemer (Dean Emeritus), Karen Newman (Dean), and Glyn Hanbery (Senior Associate Dean), I thank you all.

And my writing efforts would not be successful nor would my life be complete without my family. My mother and father live just a few minutes away from me and give me unending support. My two sons—Darian and Trevor—make me smile after long nights of working. My four-legged son—Zippy—doesn’t really care that I write books; he offers me unconditional love. Finally, my wife, Pam, should be listed as a coauthor on many of my books. Her work is never done, and she loves every minute of it.

MAEVE CUMMINGS is a professor of Information Systems at Pittsburg State University. She holds A B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science and an M.B.A from Pittsburg State and a PH.D. In Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has published in various journals including the Journal of Global Information Management and the Journal of Computer Information Systems. She serves on various editorial boards and is a coauthor of Case Studies in Information Technology, the concepts books of the I-Series, entitled Computing Concepts and Information Systems Essentials, now in its second edition. Maeve has been teaching for 25 years and lives in Pittsburg, Kansas, with her husband, Slim.

FROM MAEVE CUMMINGS My sincere thanks to the many people who helped directly and indirectly with this edition and the previous ones. Thanks to Steve, who is every bit as good a friend as he is a lead author. Thanks to all the people at McGraw-Hill who put in long hours and a lot of work to bring this book to completion.

A special thanks to Keith Neufeld, who is an expert on networks and generous with his knowledge, and to Lanny Morrow, who keeps me in touch with the fascinating world of computer forensics. Felix Dreher and Barbara Clutter were, and always have been, unwaveringly supportive and helpful.

Thanks to the Holy Faith and Loreto nuns who gave me an excellent early education, which served as a solid foundation on which I was able to build. These were exceptionally dedicated teachers and I learned much more from them than the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Much credit goes to Jan Guynes Clark, who helped me through several exhilarating and terrifying years at the University of Texas at Arlington.

As always, I want to thank my great family: my parents (Dolores and Steve), sisters (Grainne, Fiona, and Clodagh), and brother (Colin). And last, but by no means least, thanks to my husband, Slim, for making everything I do possible.