Dot Cloud: The 21st Century Business Platform Built on Cloud Computing

Dot Cloud: The 21st Century Business Platform Built on Cloud ComputingAuthor: Peter Fingar
Publisher: Meghan-Kiffer Press
Category: Book

List Price: $34.95
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Seller: gravess10
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 14 reviews
Sales Rank: 196412

Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 235
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7

ISBN: 0929652495
Dewey Decimal Number: 338
EAN: 9780929652498
ASIN: 0929652495

Publication Date: February 18, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

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!''


Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14



2 out of 5 stars Not a serious book   February 5, 2010
Alfredo Arcieri (MA, USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book is not the result of rigorous research nor is it a dissertation that gives any glimpse into the future of Business or the cloud. There are too many cut/paste from blogs and from unknown writers. I feel like I got robbed. Do not buy it.


5 out of 5 stars Business and Cloud Computing   January 29, 2010
Katharine Ford (Melbourne, Florida)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

A pragmatic visionary, Pete Fingar has accurately predicted and explained socio-technological trends over the past several decades, writing in a format that is easy to understand. Here, in his book Dot.Cloud, he explores the effects of Cloud Computing on business processes. Fingar emphasizes the need for companies to adapt to changing technologies, and to develop new models of organization, and says that otherwise they'll be rendered obsolete.

In Dot.Cloud, Fingar outlines the basic ideas and definitions of Cloud Computing and its uses. He then outlines how the Cloud affects the way work gets done, how innovation occurs within it, and in the last two chapters explores human interactions within it.

Of particular note is his chapter, The End of Management, which discusses a paradigm shift in management, and points the way ahead to organizational democracy and the utmost emphasis on customers, and suggests how humans can learn a thing or two from nature.

This is a book that is not about cloud computing itself, so much as it is about the ramifications of cloud computing and its impact on business processes. Fingar also emphasizes the need to evolve by moving away from a monolithic organizational structure to "dynamic, customer-driven value webs". Well worth a read.








4 out of 5 stars For managers only, technicians wouldn't get much out of it.   January 25, 2010
Courtney Brock Rabon
This is is a great book for business minded folks, but the material would leave a techie, out in the cold.


3 out of 5 stars Lacks focus   January 15, 2010
Mirko Savic (Seattle, WA USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

This book is hardly suitable as an introduction to cloud computing for anyone. Fingar's objective is similar to Carr's (The Big Switch) which mulls over the impact on business and society instead of providing an overview of the subject. Unfortunately it doesn't compare well to Carr's writing style.

Reading is difficult. You need to to wade through long quotes and follow the author's thought processes which are blended with distractions. Take heart. It is a short book with loads of white space and pictures so you wont't suffer for very long if you don't like it.

If you do have the patience to read diligently then there are actually some interesting facts and details that you might learn. I did.



5 out of 5 stars Anand's review   December 23, 2009
Senthil Saravanan
1 out of 3 found this review helpful



Many R&D organizations spearheading towards the cloud phenomenon look for material that can be used as a basis, reference, or a visual aid in all phases of development. `.Dot Cloud' is a book that can be used in the board room and, with the same intensity, to drive the low-level implementation. It's that out-of-the-box view from Peter Fingar coupled with the relevance of the now and the future, that makes the reading joyful.


Showing reviews 1-5 of 14


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