IT's hidden face: Everything you always wanted to know about Information Technology. A look behind the scenes (Paperback)

~ Claude Roeltgen (Author), Dr. Andreas Resch (Preface), Mike O'Dell (Preface), Jean-Claude Juncker (Preface)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Why is everything so complicated for us? All this can be done in an easier way'. Phone calls like these from the CEO are no longer to be expected after having read `Eine Million oder ein Jahr' -- CIO Magazine, September 2006

Top European CIO's book translated to English
Favourite read of European CIOs has been translated to provide an insight into IT industry. One of the most popular books amongst European CIOs is now available in English. IT's Hidden Face, written by Claude Roeltgen the CIO of one of Luxembourg's top banks has been a top read amongst CEOs, CIOs and government ministers across the continent. --CIO UK, June 22, 2009

It is definitely a clear and exceedingly practical signpost which should not be missing in IT interested people's library. -- journal, July 2006

Product Description

An experienced Banking-CIO reveals the world of Information Technology in a company. There's a Grand-Canyon-sized gap between the expectations of computer users and what an IT department can effectively do. And this gap creates many victims-on both sides! This book is a one-of-a-kind bridge-builder for computer users to understand IT and to be able to talk to IT experts. It is deliberately written in layman's language and avoids IT-specific technical terms. Why do IT projects fail or always take longer than expected? Why is software so unstable? What do IT experts do all day, and why are there so many? What about IT security? This book is a translation of the second edition of the bestselling German book "Eine Million oder ein Jahr".

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Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (June 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442152311
• ISBN-13: 978-1442152311
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #127,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tolerance for pain, July 5, 2009

By	ciofin "ciofin" (Europe) - See all my reviews

It was surprising and refreshing to read a book about the REAL world of an IT department. You can indeed fill libraries with oeuvres that tell you how IT should be or how it will be, but I always have the feeling that those authors have never rolled up their sleeves or have ever been sitting in an IT crisis meeting. The whole communication to the business is exclusively dominated by theoreticians, and it is so different to have a book now that tells from the practical side of IT. This must be the first time that the real challenges are documented. Knowing the opinions of Nicholas Carr and others, I am pretty sure that what is written here will not be appreciated by them. The author writes about dependencies and about managing them. He states that IT Managers work with a computer industry that is immature, if not even infantile; a statement that he proves at many occasions. Understanding this, how can it be stated that IT is, or at least will become very soon, a commodity? Being IT Manager myself, I came across déjà-vus at plenty of occasions and only an IT Manager will understand how good it feels to read something like this: "Why does someone become a CIO? Could it be that he gets there because he is the better programmer, administrator, or project manager? Nonsense. The decisive difference between the CIO and any other IT expert is the fact that the CIO has a higher tolerance for pain." Nothing to be added to this. Go and try finding any other book about IT that tells you things like these. There is plenty of stuff like this all over the book. Especially CIOs with smaller teams have to dig pretty much into the depth of things and understand IT much better than consultants or CIOs with hundreds of staff. The latter live much more in a Powerpoint world than in the "pit", like the author calls it. I wished there were more books like these telling the story from the other side, away from glossy brochures and consultants. The fact that the book is written in an entertaining style is the other major surprise. Once you start with it, you don't want to lay it aside anymore. I wish to express my thanks to the author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are in business or IT - read this!, January 5, 2010

By	Paul J. Capicik "pcapicik" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a wonderful read - if you are in any size business and exposed to IT in any way whether a CEO, newly hired end-user, or in any phase of the IT world, you need to understand at least parts if not all of this book. Fortunately Claude Roeltgen has captured the essence of the IT world, from its exciting potential to improve our lives and processes to its ugly complex side that can cause friction and discontent. He does all this as others have noted with humor and utter frankness, but always in an easily understandable fashion.

Having had both business-side and IT (CIO) side of experience over 50 years, I believe I could write most of my auto-biography with passages taken from this book. From the first paragraph to the last I found a kindred spirit.

Having hired and mentored numerous IT folks, many directly out of college, I heartily recommend they read this in its entirety. It can help sustain them in the exciting, ever-changing IT career field by better understanding the difficulties they "will" face and why from the business side.

On the business side, several sections should be required reading for business students, and CEOs, to new end-users to help them better live and function in an environment that continually embraces IT equipment, software, and methods to help meet their business goals and objectives.

THANKS CLAUDE!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What You Wish Your Co-Workers Knew About Information Technology, January 4, 2010

By	Andrew S. Baker "Avid Reader" (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Everything you always wanted your business team to know about technology, but were afraid to tell them" is just one of the many great descriptions that this book warrants. The gist of it all is that most people do not understand or recognize the complexity that is the Information Technology department, and as a result, many are disappointed when it performs differently from their expectations.

Claude provides an intruiging and well-articulated view into the hidden face of IT, addressing such diverse topics as software development maturity, complexities of the IT biotope, and information security challenges. This book should be mandatory reading for every business leader in an organization -- especially the senior management team. He especially outlines the roles of auditors, consultants, business users and various IT staff members, presenting observations, solutions and hopes for the future, but not necessarily apologies for the way that things have turned out.

If you get no other message from this book, it should be clear to you that the Information Technology industry is still in its relative infancy, all the while experiencing significant growth of complexity.

Whether you are an IT person who has always wondered if anyone understood your plight, or you are business person who wondered what all the supposed mystery is all about, you can now read "IT's hidden face: Everything you always wanted to know about Information Technology. A look behind the scenes" and get your answer.

Hopefully, as we enter a new decade, we will see more books of this nature which will help to educate people about the challenges of providing successful IT services, and this will also lead to true improvements in methodology without all the hype of vendors and consulting firms.

Don't delay --- get your copy of this book today!