IT Production Services


Book Description

"...describes in practical terms one of the most important functions of an IT infrastructure: that of deploying a well-designed development system into a well-running production system." --Kenneth Moskowitz, CIO, Thomson Financial "The Production Acceptance assessment worksheets are extremely valuable in evaluating the quality of an IT infrastructure..." --Brian Shield, EVP, CIO, The Weather Channel "The Ten Commandments for establishing an ideal IT environment. Should be followed religiously." -- Joe Feiu, VP, NeoDimensions "...presents the critical technical aspects of world-class infrastructure in a very business-like manner." -- Mark Egan, CIO, Symantec Corporation "Hundreds of books describe how to design and develop world-class applications, but few ever describe how to successfully deploy these systems. Until now." -- Rachel Pong, COO, Exonomy Limited, A subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank "...clearly addresses how to effectively deploy and support world-class applications." --Bill Parker, CIO, Agway The best enterprise IT organizations have discovered the secret to high-performance infrastructure management: build a true Production Services function and realistic Production Acceptance processes. By doing so, they've achieved outstanding reliability, availability, and serviceability... transforming themselves from overpriced support centers into world-class service providers. IT Production Services shows you how to do it, too. Drawing on data compiled from 200+ enterprise IT assessments, it's your start-to-finish guide for effective IT infrastructure management in business-critical environments. Presents "Ten Commandments" for designing cost-effective, efficient IT organizations Covers all three key ingredients: people, processes, and technology Shows why transitioning systems straight from development to operations is a recipe for failure Includes case studies from the authors’ experience consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies Answers today's most frequently asked questions about managing IT infrastructure Shows how to infuse accountability throughout your IT organization Endorsed by CIOs and senior executives at Symantec, Thomson Financial, The Weather Channel, Agway, and many other leading firms Whether you're a CxO, IT director, manager, or architect, IT Production Services will help you optimize your IT organization -- hands-on.




Site Reliability Engineering


Book Description

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use




The Taco Stand


Book Description

A story of hard work and the love of family, Tim Vasquez's colorful tale, The Taco Stand, gives young readers a closer look at what matters most. The story explores what happens when Isabel, known throughout Phoenix for her sensational, crave-able tacos, gets an offer to take those tacos mainstream and open a franchise-but the offer comes at the expense of time with family. As Isabel mulls her options and debates exactly just how much family time is truly worth, young readers will develop a better understanding of the fact that there are some things in life you simply can't put a price on.




The Deaf Way


Book Description

Selected papers from the conference held in Washington DC, July 9-14, 1989.







The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers


Book Description

This New Edition Features: --







Covid-19's Economic Impact And Countermeasures In China


Book Description

The book studies the impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy and the country's response to policies. It examines various aspects of national macroeconomic operations, industrial shocks, changes in financial markets, regional economic order, public governance challenges. It also analyzes changes in the world economy while integrating economic, financial, industrial, and environmental disciplines.At the macro level, the book emphasizes counter-cyclical responses, with an emphasis on comprehensive measures and precise efforts. It highlights differentiated development strategies for industries and promotes structural adjustment and supply-side reform. At the micro-level, the book emphasizes enterprises' resumption of work and production and supply chain management. The book promotes the concept of integration, stressing that China's economy was and is sufficiently resilient and the importance of maintaining and improving public confidence. At the same time, it attaches importance to prescribing the correct remedies for shortcomings, strengthening weaknesses, confronting the obstacles and difficulties in economic development, and restoring social order. The studies are not restricted to the facts but also focus on transforming and upgrading a modernized socialist economy and governance in the long term.




Freedom and Happiness in Economic Thought and Philosophy


Book Description

Starting from a distinction made by the American philosopher, John Rawls, in 2000 between two kinds of liberalism, "liberalism of freedom" and "liberalism of happiness", this book presents a range of articles by economists and philosophers debating the most fundamental aspects of the subject. These include the exact significance of Rawls’ distinction and how it can be related to European political philosophy on the one hand and to utilitarianism on the other hand; the various definitions of happiness and freedom and their implications and the informational basis of individual preferences. The objectives of the book are twofold: first, it is devoted to a thorough analysis of the founding texts of both liberalisms. It aims to determine the logic of selection of the concepts which these traditions consider as relevant. The Kantian pair "Reasonable"/"Rational" can be seen as the basis on which these concepts are defined, our final concern being to reveal the profound relations of complementarity between them: we call it reconciliation. Secondly, we consider a fundamental issue of welfare economics – how to appraise individual preferences – in light of the Rawlsian distinction. It is emphasized that neither a criterion based on liberalism of freedom by itself, nor an evaluation in terms of liberalism of happiness by itself exhausts the question of utility. One must combine both aspects in order to cope with that issue. To do so, it is claimed that one can resort to the concept of metaranking of preferences. All the contributions included in this book are the outcomes of a collective research project of three years. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds and yet are unified in developing a specific position about freedom and happiness. This book should be of interest to those focusing on the history of economic thought as well as moral, political and economic philosophy.