Behind The Cloud

How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change. Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dotcom implosion of 2001, but went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a $46-billion dollar industry, Benioff's story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand out, innovate better, and grow faster in any economic climate. In Behind the Cloud, Benioff shares the strategies that have inspired employees, turned customers into evangelists, leveraged an ecosystem of partners, and allowed innovation to flourish.

How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change. Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dotcom implosion of 2001, but went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a $46-billion dollar industry, Benioff's story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand out, innovate better, and grow faster in any economic climate. In Behind the Cloud, Benioff shares the strategies that have inspired employees, turned customers into evangelists, leveraged an ecosystem of partners, and allowed innovation to flourish.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The founder and co-CEO of Salesforce delivers an inspiring vision for successful companies of the future—in which changing the world is everyone’s business. “The gold standard on how to use business as a platform for change at this urgent time.”—Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates and author of Principles: Life and Work What’s the secret to business growth and innovation and a purpose-driven career in a world that is becoming vastly more complicated by the day? According to Marc Benioff, the answer is embracing a culture in which your values permeate everything you do. In Trailblazer, Benioff gives readers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of one of the world’s most admired companies. He reveals how Salesforce’s core values—trust, customer success, innovation, and equality—and commitment to giving back have become the company’s greatest competitive advantage and the most powerful engine of its success. Because no matter what business you’re in, Benioff says, values are the bedrock of a resilient company culture that inspires all employees, at every level, to do the best work of their lives. Along the way, he shares insights and best practices for anyone who wants to cultivate a company culture positioned to thrive in the face of the inevitable disruption ahead. None of us in the business world can afford to sit on the sidelines and ignore what’s going on outside the walls of our workplaces. In the future, profits and progress will no longer be sustainable unless they serve the greater good. Whether you run a company, lead a small team, or have just draped an ID badge around your neck for the first time, Trailblazer reveals how anyone can become an agent of change. Praise for Trailblazer “A guide for what every business and organization must do to thrive in this period of profound political and economic change.”—Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase “In Trailblazer, Benioff explores how companies can nurture a values-based culture to become powerful platforms for change.”—Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

What is the cloud? Discover the secrets of the cloud through simple explanations that use lots of pictures and lots of examples. Why learn about the cloud? It’s the future. The cloud is the future of software, the future of computing, and the future of business. If you’re not up on the cloud the future will move on without you. Don’t miss out. Not a geek? Don’t worry. I wrote this book for you! After reading Explain Cloud Like I'm 10, you will understand the cloud. That’s a promise. How do I deliver on that promise? I’ll let you in on a little secret: the cloud is not that hard to understand. It’s just that nobody has taken the time to explain it properly. take the time. I go slow. You’ll learn step-by-step; one idea at a time. You’ll learn something new no matter if you’re a beginner, someone who knows a little and wants to know more, or someone thinking about a career change. In Explain Cloud Like I'm 10, you’ll discover: •  How the cloud got its name. A more interesting story than you might think.An intuitive picture based definition of the cloud. •  What it means when someone says a service is in the cloud.If stormy weather affects cloud computing. •  How the internet really works. Most people don’t know. You will.The real genius of cloud computing. Hint: it’s not the technology. •  The good, the bad, and the ugly of cloud computing. •  How cloud computing changed how software is made—forever. •  Why Amazon AWS became so popular. Hint: it’s not the technology. •  What happens when you press play on Netflix. •  Why Kindle is the perfect example of a cloud service. •  The radically different approaches Apple and Google take to the cloud. •  How Google Maps and Facebook Messenger excel as cloud applications. •  Cloud providers are engaging in a winner-take-all war to addict you to their ecosystems. •  Key ideas like: VM, serverless, container, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, virtualization, caching, ISP, OpEx, CapEx, network, AMI, EC2, S3, CDN, elastic computing, datacenter, and cloud-native.And so much more. Sound like gobbledygook? Don’t worry! It will all make sense. I’ve been a programmer and a writer for over 30 years. I’ve been in cloud computing since the beginning, and I’m here to help you on your journey to understand the cloud. Consider me your guide. I’ll be with you every step of the way. Sound fun? Buy Explain Cloud Like I'm 10 and let’s get started learning about the cloud today!

#1 bestselling author Karen Kingsbury tells the heartwrenching story of Cody Gunner, a widower fighting for stability, and the woman who wants to help him trust again -- even when trust is the most terrifying thing of all. Still aching over his wife's death, Cody Gunner can't bear the thought of also letting go of his Down's Syndrome brother, Carl Joseph. Cody wants his brother home, where he will be safe and cared for, not out on his own in a world that Cody knows all too well can be heartless and insecure. So when Carl Joseph's teacher, Elle, begins championing his independence, she finds herself at odds with Cody. But even as these two battle it out, they can't deny the instinctive connection they share, and Cody faces a crisis of the heart. What if Elle is the one woman who can teach Cody that love is still possible? If Cody can let go of his lingering anger, he might just see that sometimes the brightest hope of all lies just beyond the clouds.

The militarized legacy of the digital cloud: how the cloud grew out of older network technologies and politics. We may imagine the digital cloud as placeless, mute, ethereal, and unmediated. Yet the reality of the cloud is embodied in thousands of massive data centers, any one of which can use as much electricity as a midsized town. Even all these data centers are only one small part of the cloud. Behind that cloud-shaped icon on our screens is a whole universe of technologies and cultural norms, all working to keep us from noticing their existence. In this book, Tung-Hui Hu examines the gap between the real and the virtual in our understanding of the cloud. Hu shows that the cloud grew out of such older networks as railroad tracks, sewer lines, and television circuits. He describes key moments in the prehistory of the cloud, from the game “Spacewar” as exemplar of time-sharing computers to Cold War bunkers that were later reused as data centers. Countering the popular perception of a new “cloudlike” political power that is dispersed and immaterial, Hu argues that the cloud grafts digital technologies onto older ways of exerting power over a population. But because we invest the cloud with cultural fantasies about security and participation, we fail to recognize its militarized origins and ideology. Moving between the materiality of the technology itself and its cultural rhetoric, Hu's account offers a set of new tools for rethinking the contemporary digital environment.

When Dee Tremaine joins the lonely young officers at Totum Air Base in Alaska, she discovers she must overcome the long-standing animosity between two men who become rivals for her attention.

The Sun Behind The Cloud delineates the microscopic history of the colonial encounter between Bhaskararao Bhave of Peshwa dynasty of Naragund kingdom in South India and the authorities of the East India Company around 1857. Exasperated by the Political Agent for South India, Mr. Manson's refusal of permission to adopt a legal heir to his kingdom, he attacks the latter and kills him arousing the anger of the East India Company. He prepares himself to wage a war against the enemy by rallying the like-minded neighbouring kings. But he is betrayed by his own officers and Bhaskararao Bhave is defeated by the army of the East India Company led by Colonel Malcolm. He is caught, imprisoned, tried and sentenced to death by the East India Company. Again to the strange quirk of his fate he escapes from the prison as his cook impersonates him and volunteers to be hanged to death out of his loyalty to the master. Bhaskararao, who is taken to be dead, lives and wanders in disguise. He goes to Nepal and meets Nanasaheb Peshwa, who compliments him for kindling the spark of freedom in India. The novel recreates an important chunk of Indian history of the colonial period and rehabilitates a forgotten hero, who sowed the seeds of freedom and nationalism in the 19th century itself.