Although covering a leading edge area of the IT industry this book is not a technical guide, nor was it ever intended to be.  It is aimed squarely at those who need to understand where the Windows Azure™ Platform (Azure) fits within the world of technology and how it can be used to deliver value to businesses.

This book is intended to be a catalyst for action, aimed at a range of people inside your organization. Here are just a few, and why it is relevant to them.
 

Chief Operations Officer
As with any technology, Azure is simply a tool that can be used to address business requirements.  As the COO you will want to understand what the operational impacts of developing solutions using this new offering from Microsoft will be.

Will this be a natural evolution from your current processes, or will you need to consider a radical change to how the business operates?

 

Chief Information Officer/Chief Technical Officer
You have taken time and effort to create a consistent strategy for the use of IT within the business.  Now everyone is talking about the Cloud and how it will open up great new opportunities for delivering solutions.
This book will help you understand whether Azure will compliment this strategy or force a rethink.

 

Solutions Architect
People look to you to bridge the gap between the business needs and the technical reality.  Azure offers potentially significant benefits and opportunities; however it also has some constraints.  How much of this is simply a “black box” that you have to accept as-is and how much can you control or influence

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Understanding more about both the business and technical aspects of Azure will enable you to continue to offer the appropriate guidance for the programs of work you are responsible for.

 

Head of Technology/Product Manager
You have a development team with established skills, who are used to working with certain development environments.  There is a development lifecycle that people are used to.

How will Azure impact this?  Will you need to retrain or recruit new skills, will you need to reconsider the way that customer requests can be built into the product, or how frequently you can offer a new release?