The IT Strategy That Makes Google Work

savio13 writes "InfoWeek published an article on Google's IT Strategy, which can be summarized as: 'Use customized open source where possible, custom build where necessary , and buy if it's not related to something that will give Google a competitive advantage.' The author interviewed several senior IT folks at Google and the article is surprisingly thorough considering how closely Google guards information about their actual IT environment." From the article: "Google managers tend to be reticent on the subject of IT strategy, they're loath to talk about specific vendors or products, and they clam up when asked about their servers and data centers. But a day spent with some of the company's IT leaders reveals there's more to Google's IT operations than a search engine running on a massive server farm. Behind the seeming simplicity is a mash-up of internally developed software, made-to-order hardware, artificial intelligence, obsession with performance, and an unorthodox approach to people management."

Comments

Appliance

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey Google, where's the source for your GNU/Linux-based range of appliances? I'm sure *that's* not the IT strategy that makes Google work... given their public commitment to Free software, funding of the Summer of Code and so on, I'm sure it's just an oversight.

Re:It should have said...

[Pneuma ROCKS]

I would go with something like "Netcraft confirms it: Google is dead".

On a more serious note, I agree with you. I'm sure Microsoft had a very fresh and innovative approach to HR back in the day, and surely there were a few dozen articles discussing just that. Round and round we go...