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How clouds hold IT together : integrating architecture with cloud deployment
Waschke M., CA Inc., New York, NY, 2015. 373 pp. Type: Book (978-1-430261-66-7)
Date Reviewed: Jul 12 2016

Waschke has divided his material into five sections. As you read it, you will find a seamless transition from one section or topic to another. The reader is given a fairly thorough history of information technology (IT) development and deployment, and how the focus of his book, cloud technologies, has impacted business organizations and IT. More important, he makes the case for business enterprise gains from cloud technologies. IT students and IT professionals will benefit from the book’s discussions of the present and future impacts of cloud technologies. IT managers may find it a particularly useful guide as their cloud dependence increases. It’s a well-written management book that presents a good mix of technology and business.

Part 1, “Services, Virtualization, Handhelds, and Clouds,” has five chapters. The first chapter, “The Imperative,” provides a description of the evolution of technology and its impacts over the past 60 years. Definitions of cloud, service orientation, and integration are provided, and the accompanying material focuses the reader on today’s technology environment. It’s a good introduction for technically naive managers. Chapter 2, “The Merger,” addresses the business side of the enterprise vis-a-vis IT management. IT services and cloud services are introduced, and the concept of IT as a utility provider is considered. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS) are discussed. Chapter 3, “The Bridge,” considers service management and recognizes IT as a collection of services. It considers the development of a strategy for services based on Deming’s quality work and ITIL practices. These form the foundation used in the book. Chapter 4, “The Buzz,” incorporates handhelds in the workplace, and chapter 5, “The Hard Part,” weighs in on selecting cloud models and considers the financial, managerial, and technical decisions to be made. The deployment of services on a cloud is broadly discussed. This section represents about a third of the material.

Part 2, “Service Management,” has two chapters: “The Foundation” and “The Edifice.” “The Foundation” focuses on the technical and managerial requirements for successful cloud implementations. ITIL guidance on outsourcing for cloud services is considered, and the increased cooperation required between the technical and business specialists is stressed. “The Edifice” focuses on two types of service management apps. Both follow the source, collector, interpreter, and display architecture. A service knowledge management system (SKMS) and a policy or business process management app are both examined for cloud implementations.

Part 3, “Enterprise Integration,” has two chapters: “The Harder They Fall” and “The Contenders.” The first addresses system growth in transaction volume, geographical dispersion, and added processes. Initially the discussion focuses on the growth impacts on IT and subsequently addresses system growth issues and the cloud advantages in addressing this growth. “The Contenders” considers enterprise integration that does not rely on cloud implementation. The discussion focuses on data transmission, data routing, and data translation.

Part 4, “Virtualization,” has two chapters: “Not in Kansas” and “Splendid Isolation.” “Not in Kansas” examines the long history of virtualization, from its early history of supporting multitasking on mainframes to virtualization as a foundation for cloud computing. It discusses several ways it is used and implemented and the challenges it creates. “Splendid Isolation” considers virtual architecture in practice. The chapter presents the power of virtualization and offers a number of ways it is used. It also considers containers, an alternative to virtualization.

The last part (5), “Clouds,” has four chapters: “Slipping the Surly Bonds,” “Tricky Business,” “Fish Nor Fowl,” and “Conclusion.” The first focuses on cloud architecture practices. It “emphasizes the business side of cloud implementation” and identifies “areas where business participation is especially important.” “Tricky Business” is about cloud implementation practices. “It discusses implementing applications and services that [will be cloud] deployed.” The focus is on IaaS implementation. SaaS is also considered, but the discussion lacks specific strategies. “Fish Nor Fowl” examines mixed architectures. Large enterprises are usually a mixture of legacy on-site apps, cloud IaaS or PaaS apps, and SaaS apps. The focus here is the level of integration to consider. Lastly, “Conclusion” discusses cloud practices in a bulleted presentation. It’s a “don’t forget to...,” several-page list that management and technical sides need to consider.

Each chapter includes a set of questions about the discussed material. If the book is being considered as a text, the chapter questions are a bit skimpy. The index is well developed. An inexpensive electronic version is available from the publisher.

Reviewer:  Robert M. Lynch Review #: CR144572 (1610-0749)
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