Product Description

Shift happens. The unexpected matters. Remember how the retail book industry was slow to grasp an understanding of the Internet before it got ''Amazoned?'' Well, here we go again, only this time the shift could be even greater, and it's happening in the midst of economic turmoil. Right now, there's something in the air, something really big. It's so big that to many it's hidden in plain sight. To others it's as clear as seeing a cloud in the sky. In fact, that something is indeed the Cloud, the 21st century business platform.

Just as it was with that new-fangled ''Internet'' thing a decade ago, the Cloud and the technologies of Cloud Computing suffer from confusion and hype. And pat definitions won't do when it comes to understanding these two new buzzwords. But, as they are game-changing phenomena, business leaders--and the rest of us--must gain an understanding of what these terms really mean and how they will affect us, just as much as the Internet affected us all. In Dot.Cloud business strategy expert and former CIO, Peter Fingar, explains the main ideas of Cloud Computing in lay terms. Peter also does some old-fashioned reporting to bring together the ideas of the movers and shakers who are actively building the Cloud.

But this is not a technical book about Cloud Computing technologies; it's a business book. It's about what the Cloud portends for business ... about transformation in the ways companies are managed ... about business models for the 21st century. It's about how companies carry out their work in the Cloud instead of office buildings and skyscrapers, and how they manage their business processes in the Cloud. It's also about human interactions in the Cloud, and about the end of management and the rise of self-organizing, self-managed ''Bioteams.''

Even more, it's about unlocking human potential in business, about unleashing passion. All this points to your company's future, and your future, set in the context of the biggest economic downturn since World War II. So ultimately, it's about lighting a fire in you.

According to Jim Sinur, Vice President of Gartner, ''To say that we are living in interesting times is an understatement, and Peter has captured the essence of how business will work going forward. Dot.Cloud is both visionary and realistic in that each of the pieces of the vision have working examples today, but not woven together like in this writing. The goal of the virtual business platform is not just a dream, but attainable once all the contributing pieces are brought together. Peter brings them together here in a way that will work under any number of situations, across just about any industry.''

Gregory Simpson, Chief Technology Officer of GE, remarked, ''Dot.Cloud isn't just about the Cloud; it's really about embracing change in the workplace. It pulls together elements of Web 2.0, BPM and other dreaded three-letter acronyms, as well social and economic trends, to give you a vision for how harnessing the Cloud can transform the way your company works. Peter's unique ability to pull all of these concepts together in an understandable fashion make this a business book for the future, and the future is now!''

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75577 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 235 pages

Review
I became a fan of Peter Fingar's abilities to take complex topics and reduce them to understandable, logical flows after reading his book Extreme Competition. And now, Dot.Cloud serves up a crisp understanding of why cloud computing is critical, and where and how to apply it to gain true business benefits. --Andy Mulholland, CTO and author, Mashup Corporations

Peter Fingar does it again. His uncanny knack for bringing technology and society together to extrapolate the future never ceases to amaze me. Reading sections of Dot.Cloud had me picturing him with crystal ball, reading the minds and secret product plans of cloud computing's finest visionaries. Every executive should read it. --George Barlow, CEO, Cloud Harbor

With Dot.Cloud, Peter again signals a sea change in how one can better deliver customer value by taking advantage of ''the Cloud,'' not only as a mode of delivery, but as a way of thinking about how organizations innovate and execute. --Richard Welke, Director of the Center for Process Innovation, Georgia State University

Peter Fingar does it again. His uncanny knack for bringing technology and society together to extrapolate the future never ceases to amaze me. Reading sections of Dot.Cloud had me picturing him with crystal ball, turban and robes reading the minds and secret product plans of cloud computing s finest visionaries. Every executive should read it. --George Barlow, CEO, Cloud Harbor

Peter's gift is that he can discern and communicate significant points of convergence that offer the potential to differentiate organizations from their competitors. With Dot.Cloud, he once again signals a sea change in how one can better deliver customer value by taking advantage of ''the Cloud,'' not only as a mode of delivery, but as a way of thinking about how organizations innovate and execute.

The unique value proposition of this, and Peter's prior works, is that it doesn't focus on the technical aspects, but rather on how the Cloud can, and should, affect how organizations organize and behave; how they retain and engage their clients. If you want to adapt, survive and thrive in a world that has become location agnostic and expects ubiquitous solutions from you, read this book! --Richard Welke, Director of the Center for Process Innovation, Georgia State University

About the Author
PETER FINGAR, Executive Partner, Greystone Group, is one of the industry's noted experts on business strategy, and a practitioner with over thirty years of hands-on experience at the intersection of business and technology. Peter has taught graduate computing studies and has held management, technical and advisory positions with GTE Data Services, American Software and Computer Services, Saudi Aramco, EC Cubed, the Technical Resource Connection division of Perot Systems and IBM Global Services. He developed technology transition plans for clients served by these companies, including GE, American Express, MasterCard and American Airlines-Sabre. In addition to numerous articles and professional papers, he is an author of nine best-selling books. Peter has delivered keynote talks and papers to professional conferences in America, Austria, Australia, Canada, China, South Africa, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Germany, Britain, Italy and France.

Customer Reviews

An Executive's Guide to Cloud Computing
Technology tools can fundamentally change how we do things, both in
business and in our personal lives. For example, the advent of the
spreadsheet changed how business people keep track of things,
email changed how we could communicate with one another, and the Web
revolutionized how we could communicate with the world at large.

Technology changes, businesses adapt. Some business exploit new technologies and disrupt their industries. Some businesses keep their heads in the sand and get left behind. Though you've no doubt heard of clouding computing (it's all over the press these days) what you may not realize how cloud computing is going to change the way you work and the way you do business.

This book isn't for geeks, it's for business people who want to know how cloud computing will facilitate new breakthroughs in business innovation, how work gets done in organizations, how companies will interact with each other in value chains, and what we now call `management' will change. One of my favorite chapters is The End of Management, which is about unleashing human potential in organizations. If you are in some way responsible for the success of your company, you should read this book. If you are a CEO or CIO, you should definitely read this book.

One Step Ahead
I've read most of Peter Fingar's books. He writes on topics at the intersection of business and technology and always keeps you one step ahead. He wrote a best-seller on e-commerce at the onset of the dot-com boom, followed by a book that came out just before the dot-com crash, "The Death of `e' and the Birth of the Real New Economy." His book on business process management helped launch the BPM movement that is center stage in the world of business today. With his background as a computer science professor and long-time practitioner in business, he brings insights that only deep knowledge and experience can offer. Not surprisingly, Fingar now has his head in the clouds, describing the cusp of a new era in business technology. I only recommend this book to business people who want to survive in this new era, and to technical people wanting to educate their business counterparts.

Excellent business book
Dot.Cloud gives potent explanations and examples of how and why Cloud Computing is happening and the implications of it now and in the future. I found the book very interesting with its socio-political analysis coupled with history lessons in technology and macroeconomics. Definitely very thought provoking and educational.