As you know, I am not only a technology enthusiast but also very into the business side of DevOps. And as a fan of The Phoenix Project, I really could not refrain from purchasing it 😊
Also, the focus is on High Performing Technology Organisations (HPTO from now on), which is a very broad subject intertwining technology, management, strategy. Enough to keep me interested.
I read it twice before writing this review. Yes, twice. And the conclusion is very simple: it carries a huge horizontal value. This book is not the typical technical or business book, its approach is more scientific, almost academic.
A real HPTO is a well-oiled machine that requires lots of work all across the board. And that is where it shines for business value: despite this approach, the result is that each chapter can be picked by any company as a project on its own to improve itself and go towards the required maturity to ‘be’ an HPTO.
Technical best practices? Chapter four. Infosec and the shift left on security? Chapter six. Employee empowerment through management? Chapter nine. Each chapter has enough stuff to keep you, your teams and your companies busy for months, if you actually start a project on it. And given that I do not think every reader of this book works in a HPTO, you definitely should start some projects 😊
Summarising it in a single sentence, the issue at heart is that software is the actual business engine. That is what the book underlines as well - without a good software factory you simply cannot deliver value to your users, and if you don’t deliver value…