Silver Clouds, Dark Linings: A Concise Guide to Cloud Computing, Rough Cuts

Description

• Copyright 2011
• Dimensions: 6 X 9
• Pages: 135
• Edition: 1st

• Rough Cuts
• ISBN-10: 0-13-259966-X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-13-259966-5

This is the Rough Cut version of the printed book.

The Executive’s Strategic Guide to Driving Maximum Business Value from Cloud Services

Cloud services represent a fundamental shift in how individuals, enterprises, and governments conduct business, interact, and use technology. If used effectively, they can increase business agility and focus, simplify capacity planning, and strengthen cost control. Unsurprisingly, however, the cloud also presents risks. In this concise, executive level book, leading experts Archie Reed and Stephen G. Bennett share the insights and guidance decision-makers need to drive maximum value from cloud services--and avoid the pitfalls.

The authors explain what cloud computing is, how it works, who provides cloud services, and how companies are using them. Next, they walk through the entire cloud lifecycle, offering expert guidance on planning, governance, compliance, security, operations, administration, management, and more. You’ll learn how to:

·   Assess the opportunities, benefits, and risks of cloud services in your environment

·   Use the cloud to improve processes, accelerate system/product delivery, or create entirely new products and businesses

·   Approach the cloud strategically (and learn why you should)

·   Understand cloud infrastructure, operations, and standards from the decision-maker’s point of view

·   Build on existing solution architecture, design practices, and SOA investments

·   Ensure appropriate control, monitoring, compliance, and security

·   Use IT process standardization to simplify cloud services management

·   Define a flexible roadmap that enables multiple projects to move forward in parallel, and can change as the marketplace evolves

Cover illustration by RapidEye /iStockphoto.com

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Sample Content

Table of Contents

     Preface

Part I:  Shift Happens!

1  Introduction

The Cloud Services Market

Cloud Services Benefits

    Benefits of Cloud Services

    Summary of Benefits

What Is Cloud?

    The NIST Essential Characteristics of Cloud Computing

    The NIST Service Models of Cloud Computing

    The NIST Deployment Models of Cloud Computing

What Can Cloud Do for Me?

Summary

Endnotes

2  Evolution or Revolution?

Cloud Capabilities

Benefits Versus Risks

Summary

3  Reflections on the Shift

Endnotes

Part II:  The Cloud Service Alphabet Soup

4  Introduction to Cloud Services

Cloud Usage Models

Cloud Architecture: High Level

Public Cloud Architectures

Private and Hybrid Cloud Architectures

Cloud Architecture in Depth

Software as a Service

Platform as a Service

Infrastructure as a Service

Cloud Architecture Conclusions

Endnotes

5  State of the Industry

Cloud Services Create New Markets and New Threats

New Markets

New Threats

Standards

Assurance in the Cloud

Summary

Endnotes

6  Reflections on Cloud Services

Endnotes

Part III:  Life in the Cloud–Planning and Managing the Cloud

7  Introduction to Cloud Planning

Enterprise Architecture

Solution Architecture and Design

    Service-Oriented Architecture

Data and Application Interoperability

    Data in the Cloud

    Recovering Data from the Cloud

    Managing Workloads in the Cloud

Governance and Management

Security

Summary

Endnotes

8  Cloud Governance, Risk, and Compliance

Risk Management

Governance

Compliance

Cohesive GRC

Cloud GRC Model

    Cloud Service Portfolio Governance

  &nbs

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