the Cloud, the 21st century business platform by DAM News Staff

February 5, 2009

Shift happens. The unexpected matters. And 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 indeedtheCloud, the 21st century business platform. Just as it was with that newfangled ”Internet” thing a decade ago, the Cloud and the technologies of Cloud Computing suffer from confusion and hype. And sorry, 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. Remember how the retail book industry was slow to grasp an understanding of the Internet before they 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. Buckle up and get ready for the ride ahead.

Dot.Cloudexplains the main ideas of Cloud Computing in lay terms, and does some old-fashioned reporting to bring together the ideas of the movers and shakers who are actively building the Cloud. But wait, this is not a techie’s 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 aboutunlocking human potential in business,aboutunleashing passion in business.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. We’d like for you to feel the same as the business technology writer who previewed the book, ”It’s been a long time since a business/technology book set my hair on fire with ideas.”