‘Thinking of… Building a Microsoft Cloud Operating Model: Ask the Smart Questions’, is a new book aimed at those who want to affect a change in the way IT services and specifically cloud services are consumed and delivered across a business. It is written by Dan Scarfe, founder of New Signature, a leading Microsoft partner for over 15 years – widely renowned for its innovation around Azure and the Microsoft cloud, which helps organisations globally to digitally differentiate themselves. In the UK, New Signature works with The Metropolitan Police, TalkTalk, The Met Office, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Redwood Bank, among others. For this book – his second for publisher Smart Questions – Dan has collaborated with IT experts, Sean Morris, Ray Bricknell and Frank Bennett FRSA.
Dan Scarfe, says: “Technology has bounced up the agenda in every business. With the rate of technological innovation and the pervasive use of cloud computing, it is a juggling act to ‘not get left behind’ never mind ‘get ahead’. This book describes a model for how a business will combine technology (the legacy IT with the innovation of cloud computing), with the complexity of the ever-increasing reliance on technology.”
Unlike other business titles, this book is aimed at different levels within an organisation with two distinct sections. Volume one is aimed at business leaders and those concerned with shaping an organisation and is written in a non-technical form. The second volume is aimed at technology managers and their teams, responsible for solving and specifying how technology is implemented throughout a business. This volume is written for those with technical knowledge and asks specific questions that will help to direct future thinking. At the end of each chapter, there is a series of questions that can be used in internal operation meetings to inform debate. The questions can also be used externally to shape discussions with IT Vendors and partners.
Dan adds: “This book is about how businesses can make a Cloud Operating Model the backbone of their IT infrastructure. To really succeed, there needs to be more communication and collaboration across the whole enterprise, so we wanted to create a guide that can be used by all and can stimulate discussion, as future technology decisions are made. We are hoping that non-technical and technical audiences read the whole book so that when they come together, there is a mutual understanding of what is on the mind of the other.
“A measure of a successful company is how it is harnessing technology and how that is both an offensive and defensive strategy in a world that has a long list of established businesses going from glory to bust. We guarantee this book will be a useful tool to encourage better communication and collaboration for staff at all levels of an organisation, from top down to bottom up, to ensure that future technology decisions are made and implemented wisely for continued business success.”
