Ask HN: What should colleagues read who think batch files are normal?

I have a number of colleagues that need to be brought up to speed in terms of the evolution the last years in terms of cloud platforms and webservices. some people are still assuming that its normal to setup physical hardware and batch services. Could you advice and what blog/book would be able to explain in light technical wording what exists in the current age and how it changed development/ops. topics like : - All the different IT services Amazon are offering - Cloud application platforms like Heroku & Google Appengine - Openstack for private clouds - Publishing webservices / plugins / - single sign-on /identity management services