In today’s world virtually all available information on any technical topic is
just a few clicks away on the web. This is especially true of an emerging area
such as cloud computing. So why write a book, and, who should read this
book and why?
Every few years a new ‘buzzword’ becomes the rage of the technology world.
The PC in the 80s, the internet in the 90s, service-oriented architecture in
the early 2000s, and more recently ‘cloud computing’: By enabling computing
itself to be delivered as a utility available over the internet, cloud computing
could transform enterprise IT. Such a transformation could be as significant as
the emergence of power utilities in the early twentieth century, as eloquently
elucidated in Nicholas Carr’s recent book The Big Switch.
Over the years large enterprises have come to rely on information technology
to run their increasingly complex business operations. Each successive
technology ‘revolution’ promises tremendous gains. It falls upon the shoulders
of the technical architects in the IT industry to evaluate these promises
and measure them against the often significant pain that is involved in adapting
complex IT systems to new computing paradigms: The transition to cloud
computing is no exception.
So, this book is first and foremost for technical architects, be they from IT
departments or consulting organizations. The aim is to cover cloud computing
technology, architectures and applications in detail, so as to be able to
properly assess its true impact on enterprise IT.