Cloud Computing - Hardcover

by Eric A. Marks (Author), Bob Lozano (Author)

Your organization can save and thrive in the cloud with this first non-technical guide to cloud computing for business leaders

In less than a decade Google, Amazon, and Salesforce.com went from unknown ideas to powerhouse fixtures in the economic landscape; in even less time offerings such as Linkedin, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and many others also carved out important roles; in less than five years Apple's iTunes became the largest music retailer in North America.

They all share one key strategic decision - each of these organizations chose to harness the power of cloud computing to power their drives to dominance. With roots in supercomputing and many other technical disciplines, cloud computing is ushering in an entirely new economic reality - technology-enabled enterprises built on low cost, flexible, and limitless technical infrastructures.

The Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing reveals how you can apply the power of cloud computing throughout your enterprise, giving members of the C-suite a detailed look at:

• Why cloud computing must be a top priority on your company's IT roadmaps
• How the drive for scale, lower costs and greater agility is making cloud computing a fiscal and technological imperative
• The relationship between cloud computing and other relevant IT initiatives
• The strategic implications of cloud computing for the enterprise
• Where to begin and how to get started integrating cloud computing into your existing operations

Now you can harness cloud computing's potential for your organization. Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing shows you how.

Front Jacket

What is cloud computing? Is it real, or just another marketing phenomena that you should simply let run its course? These questions and more are on the minds-or should be on the minds-of senior executives and leaders at a wide range of organizations around the world.

As with any other area in which there is rapid innovation, cloud computing can seem to be nothing more than one big, jumbled, confusing tangle of ideas and opinions. Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing demystifies cloud computing and offers basic understanding and clear guidance about its realities: what it is exactly and how you can use it optimally to your organization's greatest advantage.

Here, you'll find out:

• Why you should care about cloud computing

• How to create an adoption model for the enterprise, with special comments for the startup

• Where to begin with cloud computing

• Why inevitability is . . . inevitable

• How to create cloud-enabled applications that work equally well on both private or public clouds

• Why you will re-think everything about data-the crucial currency of the new economy-in order to succeed

Complete with practical steps for planning, executing, and measuring incorporation of cloud computing in a wide variety of organizations, Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing explores why cloud computing is happening, why it will happen, and consequently, why it is well worth understanding.

Back Jacket

Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing

What is cloud computing? Is it real, or just another marketing phenomena that you should simply let run its course? These questions and more are on the minds--or should be on the minds--of senior executives and leaders at a wide range of organizations around the world.

As with any other area in which there is rapid innovation, cloud computing can seem to be nothing more than one big, jumbled, confusing tangle of ideas and opinions. Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing demystifies cloud computing and offers basic understanding and clear guidance about its realities: what it is exactly and how you can use it optimally to your organization's greatest advantage.

Here, you'll find out:

• Why you should care about cloud computing
• How to create an adoption model for the enterprise, with special comments for the startup
• Where to begin with cloud computing
• Why inevitability is . . . inevitable
• How to create cloud-enabled applications that work equally well on both private or public clouds
• Why you will re-think everything about data--the crucial currency of the new economy--in order to succeed

Complete with practical steps for planning, executing, and measuring incorporation of cloud computing in a wide variety of organizations, Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing explores why cloud computing is happening, why it will happen, and consequently, why it is well worth understanding.

Author Biography

ERIC A. MARKS is President and CEO of AgilePath Corporation, a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web services solutions firm. He is focused on driving executive insight, strategy, and planning, and business execution of Web services and SOA. A software and technology services veteran with seventeen years of experience with firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cambridge Technology Partners, Novell, Electronic Data Systems, StreamServe, Ontos, and Square D Company/Schneider Electric, he serves on the Advisory Board of Directors for LogicLibrary, the leading software asset reuse firm, and lectures at Syracuse University's nationally recognized School of Information Studies. He is a regular columnist for Computerworld online, Managing Automation magazine, and the industry portal www.SearchWebServices.com.

ROBERTO (BOB) LOZANO is chief strategist and founder of Appistry, Inc., a leading provider of cloud application platforms. An experienced entrepreneur with a history of building successful companies, Lozano founded and led PaylinX, a leader in the payment solutions market. He has also held management and technology positions with Southwestern Bell (now AT&T), Monsanto, and Sandia National Laboratories, has lectured on artificial intelligence as an adjunct faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis, and also founded Intelligent Computer Systems. He is a frequent speaker around the industry and blogs at www.thoughtsoncomputing.com.