Lessons in Grid Computing: The System Is a Mirror

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 384 pages
• Published by: Wiley July 21, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471790109
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471790105
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Weighs: 1.5 pounds

Book Description
"You should not overlook the potential genius in this concept."
--Geoffrey Moore, consultant and author, Dealing with Darwin

"Since he first identified 'information systems as mirrors of the people who build them' for me, I have seen it operate in many ways. It is a fascinating idea, and a completely new way of thinking about technology."
--Sean Moriarty, Chief Operating Officer, Ticketmaster

"This book makes for compelling reading--it's easy to become immersed in the stories, and the insights gradually grow in the reader's mind as they take root in the character's minds. This is quite a useful work. The ideas presented here could be quickly put to practical use in any organization."
--Mohamed Muhsin, VP and CIO, The World Bank

A breakthrough exploration of information systems as mirrors of the people who build them.

Packed with truer-than-life stories, stimulating characters, and unique IT analysis, Lessons in Grid Computing finally declares:
* Our systems will not "talk to each other" if our people are not talking to each other
* We must transform ourselves to the same degree that we want to transform our systems
* To correct problems in our information systems, we must first address the problems between the people that build and support them

Discover how to adjust your management style to enable the next generation of technologies with the help of Lessons in Grid Computing.

From the Inside Flap
Blending a compelling narrative, engaging short stories, and razor sharp observations, Lessons in Grid Computing: The System Is a Mirror draws on author Stuart Robbins's gift for storytelling and IT analysis to provide a groundbreaking approach to grid management theory. This breakthrough and inventive guide capably reveals his belief that IT systems are mirrors, reflecting the dynamics and dysfunction of the people who design, build, and manage our technology ecosystems.

The greatest handicap observed in any technical organization, large or small, is the nearly universal inability of technologists to adequately explain themselves-to their executives, to their customers, even to their spouses. Emphasizing the management of not only the systems but the relationships between the people who build and support them, Lessons in Grid Computing bridges this communication gap by following believable protagonists on fictional, yet real-world, struggles to overcome the many technical and management challenges faced in business today.

By addressing how computer and social systems are conceptually intertwined, Robbins identifies the primary elements of grid computing in an accessible manner that allows readers to easily understand them and apply them within their own organizations and projects.

Each provocative IT theme-including layoffs, insubordination, virtualization, organizational architecture, complexity/simplicity, venture financing, identity, intellectual property, orchestration, innovation and more-is vividly embedded in a story that makes IT management come to life. Written for chief information officers, C-level executives, and IT professionals at every level of the industry, Lessons in Grid Computing demonstrates how we must change our management behavior when we adopt new technologies. Written for a wider audience, these stories provide an insider's glimpse of the daily lives of characters who happen to populate the world of IT, characters with frailties and insights, successes and tragedies, good days and days when they would rather have stayed in bed.

Reader Reviews
When I ordered this book, I expected it to be a compilation or a series of chapters on the promise of grid computing. What I got was something far different, and much more interesting... Lessons in Grid Computing: The System Is a Mirror by Stuart Robbins. Definitely worth reading and pondering (yes, I do ponder once in awhile)... Contents: 1. The Prime Theorem - Information Systems Mirror the People that Build Them 2. Interfaces - How The Work and What Happens When They Are Broken 3. Relationship Management - We Can No Longer Manage the System as Single Nodes 4. Virtualization - A Natural Stage in the Maturity Cycle of Technologies 5. Orchestration - Finding a Sensible Order Amid Too Many Complications to Count 6. Complexity - Databases, Passwords, Collaboration, Funding, Smashed Atoms, and a Professor 7. Distributed Resources - Two Types of Diffusion - Compute Resources and Human Capital 8. Flash Teams - Analysis of New Organizational Groups from Several Perspectives 9. Network as Narrative Form - Basic Building Blocks Connected to Create Various Structures 10. Identity - Finding the Needle in the Haystack and Giving It a Name 11. Organizational Architecture - How we Organize Ourselves Is as Important as What We Say and Do 12. (Theory of) Resonant Usability - Everything Is Moving to the Presentation Layer, Where Humans Interact 13. Turbulence - Creating Stability in the Face of Chaotic Disruption 14. Libraries - Two Lives, Two Windows, and the Search for Information 15. Abstraction - Lift Yourself Above the Conflicting Details and Look for Similarity 16. Insubordination as an Asset - Why You Must Allow Employees to Disagree with Your Decisions 17. The Consortium - The Multisourced IT Organization and a Software Commons - Our Future 18. The Everysphere - An Example of Synchronous Events between "Unrelated" Objects 19. Q Narratives - Understand the Story and You Will Understand the Business Process 20. Leaving Flatland - To Adjust Somehow after Learning That Your World Has Another Dimension 21. We Are The Platform - Some Final Observations about the System and the Mirror Index Normally I wouldn't go into that level of detail on the table of contents, but I felt the single word chapter headings didn't give a flavor for what was going on. Robbins' premise is our information systems are mirrors of the people and groups that build them, and that management styles must change in order to build and facilitate the next level and generation of computing technology. In other words, "the systems won't talk to each other if the people are not talking to each other." All well and good, and you could easily spend 300 pages in a technical or philosophical discussion on that. But Robbins has effectively written a loosely coupled novel that takes these subjects and explores them in the lives, relationships, and companies of a series of individuals. At first, each chapter seems to be a short story on its own. But soon, characters from previous chapters start showing up in the lives of people in later chapters. And in fact, the last two chapters loop around and shed a whole new light on earlier interactions. And not all chapters are even in the same style. There's one chapter (Libraries) that maintains a story on the top half of each page, and a running monologue of the writer critiquing the story on the lower half. Very different, but strangely effective. The overall theme explored in all the chapters is that a grid system of technology requires a grid system of management and interaction with others. Without that in place, the power of grid computing will not be fully realized. For instance, The Consortium explores a concept where a group of companies arrange to share technology and fill gaps for each other. Company A might have plenty of disk space but not much excess computing power, where company B needs more offsite backup capacity but has CPU cycles to spare. Might they form a grid and become more effective at no additional cost to either party? Simple example, but a powerful concept that can be extended to human resources. My expert DBA can work with your company on adhoc projects in his free cycles while I have access to your security specialist to help me figure out my sticky problems. Neither of us has to hire contractors that take weeks to get hired and up to speed, and we each benefit from the combined expertise. The book does wander into some (in my opinion) overly philosophical issues at times, but the overall effect of the book with its story format is very compelling. The author does say that "pondering" the chapters is recommended, and I agree. It's a book that will definitely cause to you think about how technology will be structured in the next decade and beyond... Comment | | (Report this)