"Web Services, Service-Oriented Architectures, and Cloud Computing" is a jargon-free, highly illustrated explanation of how to leverage the rapidly multiplying services available on the Internet. The future of business will depend on software agents, mobile devices, public and private clouds, big data, and other highly connected technology. IT professionals will need to evaluate and combine online services into service-oriented architectures (SOA), often depending on Web services and cloud computing. This can mean a fundamental shift away from custom software and towards a more nimble use of semantic vocabularies, middle-tier systems, adapters and other standardizing aspects.

This book is a guide for the savvy manager who wants to capitalize on this technological revolution. It begins with a high-level example of how an average person might interact with a service-oriented architecture, and progresses to more detail, discussing technical forces driving adoption and how to manage technology, culture and personnel issues that can arise during adoption. An extensive reference section provides quick access to commonly used terms and concepts.
Broad, non-technical explanation of a technical topic for managers at all levelsOnly web services book to cover data management and software engineering perspectives; excellent resource for all members of IT teamsProvides a set of leadership principles and suggested applications for using this technology

Standing at the intersection of history, business, and anthropology, this is the definitive guidebook for succeeding and prospering in any retail enterprise. As a senior retail executive for some of the best-known and most successful retail brands in the U.S. and abroad, author George Troy understands today's volatile retail landscape. In this time of tremendous challenge and realignment within the retail industry, retail executives and countless others are searching for answers and direction. Troy defines the underlying principles that have, for millennia, governed everything we retail-not just clothing and books, but also politics, religion, art, and other "products" and services. He explains how retailing really works and the rules for long-term success. For anyone wanting to be at the top of the retail food chain, The Five Laws of Retail brings together To Sell Is Human with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to give you the tools for success in today's fast-changing world. After all, we are all selling something.

This isn't a book about the Object Data Standard; it's the complete,
fully authoritative version of the standard itself, presented by the
researchers who developed it. This book provides all the details
comprising ODMG 3.0, making the latest version of the specification
the most mature and most flexible yet.

When it comes to storing objects in databases, ODMG 3.0 is a
standard with which you need to be familiar-whether you design,
develop, or implement object database products, object-to-relational
database mapping products, or applications based on these products.
* Presents authoritative, completely up-to-date information not available anywhere else.
* Documents all the changes found in version 3.0, including enhancements to the Java language binding, greater semantic precision, and various improvements and corrections throughout the standard.
* Pays special attention to the broadening of the standard to support recent developments in object-to-database mappings (ODMs) that allow objects to be stored in relational databases.
* Provides a way to write Java, C++, or Smalltalk code that works with the entire spectrum of database products, while taking full advantage of your organization's preferred platform.
* Continues to cover everything retained from version 2.0, including key details relating to C++, Smalltalk, and Object Query Language.
* Establishes a level of stability for this increasingly important specification.