Book excerpt: Massive, disruptive change is coming to IT as software as a service (SaaS), SOA, mashups, Web 2.0, and cloud computing truly come of age. Now, one of the world’s leading IT innovators explains what it all means—coherently, thoroughly, and authoritatively. Writing for IT executives, architects, and developers alike, world-renowned expert David S. Linthicum explains why the days of managing IT organizations as private fortresses will rapidly disappear as IT inevitably becomes a global community. He demonstrates how to run IT when critical elements of customer, product, and business data and processes extend far beyond the firewall—and how to use all that information to deliver real-time answers about everything from an individual customer’s credit to the location of a specific cargo container. Cloud Computing and SOA Convergence in Your Enterprise offers a clear-eyed assessment of the challenges associated with this new world—and offers a step-by-step program for getting there with maximum return on investment and minimum risk. Using multiple examples, Linthicum Reviews the powerful cost, value, and risk-related drivers behind the move to cloud computing—and explains why the shift will accelerate Explains the technical underpinnings, supporting technologies, and best-practice methods you’ll need to make the transition Helps you objectively assess the promise of cloud computing and SOA for your organization, quantify value, and make the business case Walks you through evaluating your existing IT infrastructure and finding your most cost-effective, safest path to the “cloud” Shows how to choose the right candidate data, services, and processes for your cloud computing initiatives Guides you through building disruptive infrastructure and next-generation process platforms Helps you bring effective, high-value governance to the clouds If you’re ready to begin driving real competitive advantage from cloud computing, this book is the start-to-finish roadmap you need to make it happen.