Google Revealed: The IT Strategy That Makes It Work

InfoWeek published an [1]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."