Moving to the Cloud Corporation: How to Face the Challenges and Harness the Potential of Cloud Computing

Cloud technology is being adopted by corporations around the world. Its introduction brings not only challenges but also huge opportunities and potential.

Moving to the Cloud Corporation outlines everything that a manager needs to know in order to make strategic decisions about cloud technology. This sharp and easy-to-read book explores the future potential of cloud over the next ten years, including the profound implications that it can have for businesses and their employees if it is managed correctly, alongside the fundamentals of cloud technology, from its introduction through to implementation and management.

Based upon a wealth of research and data from a survey of over 1,000 business and IT executives, this book also features over 45 interviews with key international cloud providers, integrators and users, which provides a deep insight into the progress of the cloud so far and supports the need for a new operating model. This is the essential guide for managers who want to understand the impact and implications that cloud technology can have on a business over the next ten years.

About the Author

Leslie Willcocks is Professor of Technology, Work and Globalization at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Head of the Information Systems and Innovation Group, and Director of The Outsourcing Unit. He is joint series editor of the Palgrave book series Technology Work and Globalization and in February 2001 was awarded the PriceWaterhouseCoopers/Michael Corbett Associates World Outsourcing Achievement Award. Leslie regularly contributes articles to professional and business journals and publishes a blog called Admissable Evidence for Professional Outsourcing Magazine. He holds visiting chairs at Erasmus, Melbourne and Sydney universities and is an Associate Fellow at Green-Templeton, University of Oxford. He has extensive consulting experience in the UK, US and Australia. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology for the last 20 years, has published over 220 refereed papers in journals. See his podcasts, papers and press on www.outsourcingunit.org.

Will Venters is a Lecturer in Information Systems within the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He speaks regularly at practitioner conferences on Cloud and has briefed on Cloud to European government policy makers and various company executives. He co-authored a series of reports with Accenture on Cloud computing, and has undertaken consultancy in IT strategy and development. He has a first class degree in computer science (Manchester) and a PhD in information systems (Salford). His work has been published in major refereed journals including Journal of Information Technology, the Journal of Management Studies, and the Information Systems Journal. He is the author of an influential blog on cloud computing, and an associate editor of Information Technology and People.

Edgar Whitley is a Reader in Information Systems in the Information Systems and Innovation Group at the London School of Economics (LSE). He has a BSc (Econ) and a PhD in Information Systems, both from the LSE. Edgar is the co-editor of the journal Information Technology & People and is an expert on data privacy and security in the context of the internet. Edgar is a frequent media commentator on technology and policy issues and regularly presents on this subject to practitioner audiences. He has also given written and oral evidence to a number of UK government inquiries into technology led policy.