Author: Clive Longbottom
Publisher: British Computer Society (BCS)
Pages: 172
ISBN: 978-1780173580
Print: 178017358X
Kindle: B075XG81GJ
Audience: Potential cloud users
Rating: 4.5
Reviewer: Kay Ewbank

This book aims to explain cloud computing in terms of how we got to where we are now, what options are available at the moment, and how things are likely to develop in the future.

The book starts with a look back at the origins of cloud computing in context before examining the current state of the cloud and how best to implement it. There's a good discussion of why people should (or shouldn't) choose the cloud, and how to take future needs into account. The current main and alternative cloud platforms are then discussed. There are some interesting facts and figures included in this section, illustrating how the different options relate. For example, by 2016, third party worlkoads on AWS were believed to be providing 56% of all of Amazon's profit. Longbottom's background as an analyst, first at META Group then at Quocirca, shows in the grasp of background facts and figures and how they illustrate the points he's making.

After a good explanation of alternative cloud models such as cloud broker and cloud aggregator, Longbottom moves on to consider the main types of SaaS cloud services, where the best place for a cloud is, and the different ways of paying for cloud services.

The third part of the book considers the near future, and how companies should be implementing their cloud computing. Having introduced the ideas behind building the 'right' cloud, the author moves on to a useful discussion of the issues with cloud computing - a topic often ignored when moving to the cloud. A chapter on Cloud and the 'CDs' - Continuous Development, Delivery and Deployment - is next, followed by a look at how to create a business case for the cloud.

Scaling - out, up and through - is the topic of the next chapter, including a discussion of idempotency, the idea of being able to have a system produce the same outcome from a given set of instructions irrespective of the underlying platform. There's a also a good explanation of converged and hyperconverged systems.  

Data in the cloud is the topic of the next chapter. I felt that while the material was accurate and clear, this was one area that could have received more coverage, particularly the area of data sovereignty, and potential problems such as distance and latency, and how to achieve true high availability.

The chapter on cloud security was down-to-earth and dispelled some common misconceptions, including the thinking tht data in private data centres is somehow secure. Two useful sets of advice in this chapter are a list of 14 principles for cloud security requirements as put together by the UK's National Cyber Security Center; and more generally, the advice to assume that security is breached and find ways to work around that.

Virtualization and shareable resources are the topic of the next chapter, followed by a look at how applications are changing in response to the move to the cloud. This part of the book closes with a chapter on monitoring, measuring and managing the cloud.

The final two chapters of the book look at the cloud might and should develop further into the future.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's not aimed at programmers and developers, more at general IT managers and directors, and for that audience it presents a clear explanation of where we are in cloud computing, how we got here, and where we are (and should) be going. The material is well researched and presented, and is sprinkled throughout with interesting quotes from industry leaders.

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