The Phoenix Project

A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win 5th Anniversary Edition

De: Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

Narrado por: Chris Ruen

Five years after this sleeper hit took on the world of IT and flipped it on its head, the fifth anniversary edition of The Phoenix Project continues to guide IT in the DevOps revolution. In this newly updated and expanded edition of the best-selling The Phoenix Project, co-author Gene Kim includes a new afterword and a deeper delve into the Three Ways as described in The DevOps Handbook.

Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, has been tasked with taking on a project critical to the future of the business, code named Phoenix Project. But the project is massively over budget and behind schedule. The CEO demands Bill must fix the mess in 90 days, or else Bill’s entire department will be outsourced.

With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of the Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined. With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow, streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited.

In a fast-paced and entertaining style, three luminaries of the DevOps movement deliver a story that anyone who works in IT will recognize. Listeners will not only learn how to improve their own IT organizations, they’ll never view IT the same.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2014 Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford (P)2015 Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

Theory and Practice merged

Any additional comments?

I honestly didn't know a book like this could exist. The format really took me by surprise, but luckily, it was a pleasant one. Essentially it follows a newly promoted IT operations manager as he tries to improve the way the IT department works in his company while struggling with all the bureaucratic challenges that come with higher management positions. The really interesting part though, is that the book goes through a lot of sound theoretical concepts and we see how they're applied practically in the business.

It's still more of a novel in that it has a story and interesting characters that you see grow, which really are the driving force behind this book. The story and setting are relatively basic, but that's actually perfect since it's easier to relate to when there's all the theoretical content to get your head around. It's hard to be too critical of the characters, since again, they're mostly there to make a point and generalize the type of people that you encounter in organizations. That being said, there were some characters and events that were a little too unbelievable, which often broke the sense of realism and made you realize that you're reading a fictional story.

This kind of book would be a great source for students to study from since rarely have I seen theory and practice so closely linked in a book. Usually it's a ton of theory pushed down your throat with a sprinkling of real world examples thrown in. There's definitely some leaps and issues that would have to be addressed, but if anything, that would make it more interesting to disseminate. I'm just a bit worried now that someone reading this thinks they can turn their whole company around in three months.

The most gripping novel I have read in a long time

I have been in the help desk, I have been in IT management, I have been in the upper echelons of management and business ownership.
The ideas put forth in this book are groundbreaking for today's economy and will be the groundwork for the highly agile businesses of the 21st Century.
If you want to make progress in your Enterprise and you are getting blowback from your managers, give them this book.

The best audiobook I purchased

Great audiobook. A must buy for anyone in IT. You can relate to the story and learn valuable lessons from this book. The narrator also deserves an award.

Excellent introduction to the world of DevOps

What better way to tell the story of DevOps than to do exactly that... tell a story with fictional characters that represent the people that make up the typical technology teams that are the backbone of most any organization large or small. As the story unfolds I found my self relating to each of the characters and wondering what I would have done in their situation. I am now on a DevOps journey having just finished "Beyond The Phoenix Project". I am eager to start the DevOps Handbook next.

A Must Perspective on what IT Should be

Working in IT over 20 years I've fumbled for a focus on what it is I'm actually doing. Usually I was stuck just problem solving from one "Unplanned Work" to another not knowing why. Thanks so much for making me see why this is my "Work". :standing ovation:

This book is a game changer

If you're in IT you need to read this book. If you're in management, you need to read this book even more.

A must read for business and IT professionals

This book reenforced and summarized the way and tools to apply Agile and Dev Ops to the organization to drive success. Most memorable moment was John's change...we all need to watch for when we need to change, we all can change. Awesome job by Chris reading this book with his different voices for each character.

Inspiring Book

Certainly a must read for anyone in IT. Like 5 Dsyfunctions of a Team, this book uses a fictional story to introduce and expand upon the core idea (use of Lean principles in IT). In both cases, I found this a very effective technique.

Mind Expanding

Loved this book. Continually stopped to take notes as to how what I was listening to applied to my own career and work.

This made it easy to understand!

This book was a very easy listen. Very engaging. It made it easy for a non IT person to understand Dev Ops