Drawing on an international survey of over 1,000 business and executives, this book provides a management perspective on cloud technology. It outlines the need to know information for strategic decisions on cloud technology including its capabilities, how it can be implemented securely and the way forward for the next ten years.

The long-awaited second collection by a central literary figure, Columbia University professor, and poetry editor of the Boston Review.

A close look at cloud computing's transformational role in business Covering cloud computing from what the business leader needs to know, this book describes how IT can nimbly ramp up revenue initiatives, positively impact business operations and costs, and how this allows business leaders to shed worry about technology so they can focus on their business. It also reveals the cloud's effect on corporate organization structures, the evolution of traditional IT in the global economy, potential benefits and risks of cloud models and most importantly, how the IT function is being rethought by companies today who are making room for the coming tidal wave that is cloud computing. Why IT and business thinking must change to capture the full potential of cloud computing Topics including emerging cloud solutions, data security, service reliability, the new role of IT and new business organization structures Other titles by Hugos include: Business Agility: Sustainable Prosperity in a Relentlessly Competitive World and Essentials of Supply Chain Management, 2nd Edition Practical and timely, this book reveals why it's worth every company's time and effort to exploit cloud computing's potential for their business's survival and success.

This invaluable guide addresses the Why, What, and How of enterprise cloud adoption, leveraging a clear framework and proven best practices from Microsoft's own experience. “Great book. What’s particularly impressive is the outline of steps Microsoft itself is taking in its move to the cloud. Do as I do is always more powerful than do as I say.”—Al Ries, Coauthor, War in the Boardroom “This book takes on enterprise cloud adoption to a level I’ve not seen before—made even more elegant with its structured framework and crisp approach.”—Anthony D. Christie, CMO, Level 3 Communications, Former CTO/CIO, Global Crossing “A practical and timely guide that covers the entire journey to the cloud from an enterprise perspective, including business, technology, and organizational impact.”—Bart Luijten, CIO Corporate Functions & Corporate Technology, Philips “The cloud powers business solutions for building tomorrow’s enterprise and this book offers a simple, well-structured, and high-level process map for cloud adoption.”—Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Co-Chairman, Infosys Limited Cloud computing is full of tremendous opportunity, but is also riddled with hype and confusion. Business and technology leaders know the cloud is essential, but lack clarity and experience. To the Cloud cuts through the noise and addresses the Why, What, and How of enterprise cloud adoption. The book lays out a four-step framework leveraging the experience and best practices of Microsoft's own IT group. It provides end-to-end business and technology guidance, including how to analyze application portfolios to identify good cloud candidates, choose the right cloud models, consider architecture and security, and understand how shifting operations to the cloud affects budgeting and staffing. The book is applicable to all cloud platforms and providers, and debunks myths in its clear and concise style (e.g., real clouds are more than just web hosting, virtualization, or the Internet itself rebranded). It takes a balanced approach, addressing concerns and hybrid adoption scenarios alike. Leveraging the authors' proven expertise working for Microsoft's CIO on cloud migration and with cloud platform development teams, the book is supported by clear frameworks, graphics, tables, summaries, and checklists to provide a true practitioner’s guide to the cloud. In this book, you will learn how to Explore cloud computing to understand its promise and challenges Envision how cloud computing can transform your organization Enable your organization with the necessary resources and skills Execute the design, development, and operation of cloud workloads To the Cloud is an essential guide for IT professionals seeking to lower total cost of ownership, improve the return on IT investment of existing services, or help the business bring new products to market more quickly.

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Infrastructure as a Service -- Chapter 3: Platform as a Service -- Chapter 4: Application as a Service -- Chapter 5: Paradigms for Developing Cloud Applications -- Chapter 6: Addressing the Cloud Challenges -- Chapter 7: Security -- Chapter 8: Managing the Cloud Infrastructure -- Chapter 9: Related Technologies -- Chapter 10: Future trends and Research Directions.

This book is a guide for achieving innovation through outsourcing. Unpacking the various challenges faced by client firms and suppliers, the authors take the reader through the innovation lifecycle and devise a clear plan to achieve valuable results. Offering practical frameworks and tools to ensure informed decision-making at every stage, this book also includes collaborative structures and metrics to measure outcomes. Written by leading figures in the area of outsourcing, this book offers both the academic rigor and the hands-on experience based on dozens of cases that walk the reader from the very beginning of the outsourcing journey to the successful delivery of transformative innovations.

How do you start? How should you build a plan for cloud migration for your entire portfolio? How will your organization be affected by these changes? This book, based on real-world cloud experiences by enterprise IT teams, seeks to provide the answers to these questions. Here, you’ll see what makes the cloud so compelling to enterprises; with which applications you should start your cloud journey; how your organization will change, and how skill sets will evolve; how to measure progress; how to think about security, compliance, and business buy-in; and how to exploit the ever-growing feature set that the cloud offers to gain strategic and competitive advantage.