New "Glitch" Book Takes a Closer Look at Computer Failures

Well, you know when that back-to-school feeling is in the air.  Traffic delays, school busses and that reflex that tells us it's time to go full throttle at the office.  As the beach reading gets packed away, it's often replaced with more business oriented reading.  There's lot of choices this season including new books from Seth Godin and Tom Peters that are focused on career management and how to excel at the people side of business, respectively.  At the intersection of business and technology -- okay, shameless self promotion coming -- is "Glitch."

As I've talked about before in this blog, for the past year or so I've been working on a business technology book and I'm excited to tell you that it's finally out the door -- printed, bound and ready to go -- thanks to the folks at Pearson Prentice Hall.  "Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software" takes a closer look at those headlines we read everyday that outline the latest consumer or business issue that's sparked by a glitch.

Now it would be easy to create a collection of glitches.  All you have to do is set your Google alerts to 'computer glitch' and you'll get a steady stream of anywhere from 10-15 notifications a day telling you about errant fighter drones, missing unemployment checks, and double charged credit cards.  But "Glitch" is more than that.  It takes a look at the fundamental issues that are driving business today from an IT perspective and explores why we're seeing a steady stream of software glitches that are holding up productivity, negatively impacting consumer satisfaction, and causing an unnecessary strain on IT staff and their budgets.

By interviewing some of the smartest folks I know including Steve Mills from IBM as well as executives from Textron Financial, Bank of America, Kaiser Permanente, the U.S. government and the University of Notre Dame, I got a good look into the IT challenges facing businesses today.  This insight helped formulate the premise for "Glitch."  Essentially, we're going to see an increase in the volume and impact of software glitches due to three converging factors:

1. The sheer ubiquity of technology;
2. The IT skills drought, and
3. IT and business challenges driven by massive mergers and acquisitions

How do I know these glitches are going to take center stage?  Well, just look around at the current news headlines.  Issues such as the Toyota recalls, the cancer patients that have been over-radiated or radiated in the wrong body part due to computer malfunctions, and terrorists that have slipped through borders.

It's a quick read...you can probably go through it on your next flight.  Though after reading it, along with the recommendations and industry calls to action, I suspect you'll feel compelled to take a closer look at the way you develop and govern software and/or evaluate the vendors that write the code. You can learn more at the website: www.glitchthebook.com