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

by Claude Roeltgen, Jean-Claude Juncker (Preface), Andreas Resch (Preface)

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".

286 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Deniss Ojastu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A (former) Chief Information Officer of a bank in Luxembourg provides an interesting view on the role of information technology nowadays. He states (quite correctly) that information technology is still very immature compared to, say, automobile industry. In particular, aspects of reliability and security are way behind what one can find in the other industries. I found author's comparisons to automobile world quite thought-provoking: one quote from the book is that "If the automotive had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside”.

It was also intriguing to read the author's sarcastic thoughts on software development by external vendors (an author is someone who has been ordering it from outsourced companies): for example different sales tricks that software developments contractors consistently use ("This is just a plug-and-play system!").

On the other hand, the author's sarcastic jokes, anecdotes from the past and off-topic chapters tend sometimes to override the serious messages of the book. The English translation of it (the original is in German) is perhaps not the best one either, as it does not always read that fluently.

Overall, an interesting read if one is trying to understand the scope of work of corporate CIOs.

[Astragen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Day-job: "IT's Hidden Face - Everything you always wanted to know about Information Technology. A look behind the scenes" by Claude Roeltgen


Published 2006 (German Edition: “Eine Million oder ein Jahr: Hinter den Kulissen der IT - ein Insider berichtetâ€)

Published 2009 (English version; the one I’ve read and commented on)

“Plug it in, switch it on, and then it has to work!â€

With this ominous statement Jean-Claude Juncker opens his foreword. This quote give us the proper perspective of our run-of-the-mill PC user. If they only knew what happens behind the scenes…

Roeltgen tackled the usual IT conundrum: how can we state the so-called IT “problem†without being facile? He was able to do it in a very thorough manner, stating the case for the most urgent and important problems we are still facing today.

I’ve been working in IT since leaving college 22 years ago. My professional career has been in several IT areas: teaching, programming, networking, digital commutation systems, System Administration, ITIL, SOX, Cobit, Auditing, Project Management, Service Management, etc. I’ve experienced first-hand everything Roeltgen talks about in his book. I quite agree with him that from an Application Development point-of-view the so-called interfaces between applications are our worst nightmare…Our lives IT-wise would be much simpler if the software producers were to agree on a common platform to communicate between applications. SOA may be the answer to prayers, but the Nirvana isn’t here yet. In German, computer interfaces have a very interesting name: “Schnittstellenâ€, which roughly means “cut surfacesâ€. It reminds me of a sticking-plaster… It’s strange that a word to describe something so fundamental in IT has such a colourful name. It reveals that we are barely able to satisfy the user’s wish for more flexibility and compatibility.

You can read the rest of this review elsewhere.

[Becca Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was required reading for my MBA class, so it’s not a book that I normally would pick up. That being said, the author did a great job explaining IT in a simple and effective way. It also was interesting since my daily job is purchasing IT hardware and software with a focus in IT Security - I especially enjoyed that chapter.

Did I read every single word? No. Would I recommend this to someone outside of my class’s curriculum? Probably not. Is this better reading than most of my graduate texts? Absolutely.

[يوسف عبداللطيف · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliantly structured analysis offering a fresh perspective, 'IT's hidden face: Everything you always wanted to know about Information Technology. A look behind the scenes' by Claude Roeltgen, combining eloquent phrasing with a deeply grounded analytical framework, making it an indispensable addition for any critical thinker.