Nick's publisher was kind enough to send me an advance copy of his new book a couple of months ago, and I ran through it in a couple of days. Nick's an easy read, and I recommend getting a copy now that it is generally available.
It's really two books in one. The first is about the move to utility computing and historical analogies to how electric utilities and grids were birthed. The second is a series of essays on the social and moral and policy implications of our digital world. I enjoyed the second part far more than the first - it is the reason I read his blog on a regular basis.
When it comes to utility computing, I love the concept. But reality bites me with every transaction I help with in the field. The big software and outsourcing vendors just are not ready to support it as I have written before:
"EDS has over 100,000 employees. The average Fortune 500 CIO has 500 IT employees. Infosys has delivered over 18,000 projects using its GDM. The average CIO has done fewer than 10. Microsoft spent $ 6 billion in R&D last year. The average Fortune 500 CIO's total IT budget (not just on software) is less than $ 50 m. Yet vendors cannot price their products or deliver performance on a utility scale model? How much more scale do they need?"
More recently, SAP announces its SaaS concept, BBD, but less than 5% of tis incumbent customer base will likely qualify as I wrote here.
In his enthusiasm for the concept, Nick chooses to gloss over that minor point in the book. Without that caveat, his enthusiasm makes it sound as if it is just around the corner - it would be the equivalent of homeowners giving up their generators, only to be horrified to find the electric grid is not really efficient. And in this utility game, there are no regulators to control economics.
The "second" book, I found thought provoking as he explores privacy, security and "market of one" opportunities and risks. He does not have many answers - but I found that the enjoyable part. Rather than a technologist's precision his social commentary leaves the big questions hanging - and haunting.
Twofer...can't go wrong...enjoy.
