The book
AI and IT: IT administrator's handbook
A working reference for the IT administrator inside the modern AI environment.
Two volumes. Foundations through governance. Written for the practitioner doing the actual work — not the vendor deck, not the analyst summary.
Format
Two volumes
Author
Johann darby
Publisher
Localis
Ebook ISBN
979-8-9922266-3-8
Scope
41 chapters / 2 volumes
What the book is
A working reference, not a primer
The IT administrator’s handbook is written for the practitioner who already knows the fundamentals and needs to operate intelligently inside an environment that now includes AI at every layer. It is a reference — something you return to, not something you read once and shelve.
The handbook does not explain what cloud computing is. It explains how to evaluate a hyperscaler’s AI readiness, how to measure compliance burden across regulatory authorities, and how to build a governance framework that survives the pace of AI-driven change.
Volume 1
Foundations and infrastructure
The AI environment, the modern stack, hyperscaler architecture, networking, compute, and storage for AI workloads.
Volume 2
Platform, operations, and governance
AI platforms, MLOps, observability, identity and access in the AI era, GRC, and organizational readiness.
Who it is for
Written for the practitioner doing the actual work
The handbook is not a survey for executives or a vendor certification guide. It is a working reference for people who carry operational responsibility.
IT administrators
Operating infrastructure inside an AI-augmented environment
Systems engineers
Designing and maintaining compute stacks that now include AI workloads
IT managers
Making infrastructure and platform decisions for small and mid-size organizations
Cloud architects
Evaluating hyperscaler fit, lock-in risk, and AI readiness
GRC practitioners
Mapping compliance obligations across a changing regulatory landscape
Technical leaders
SMB and mid-market IT leaders who need to make compute decisions without a large team
Chapter overview
Table of contents
Expanded chapter detail available in the downloadable TOC.
Volume 1
Foundations and infrastructure
01
What is artificial intelligence
Foundations
02
Python for the IT administrator — AI-era scripting
Foundations
03
AI hyperscalers
foundations
04
Classic to emerging IT
foundations
05
Build vs buy vs rent — AI consumption strategies
foundations
06
AI OSI model
foundations
07
AI datacenter
infrastructure
08
Supply chain
infrastructure
09
IT infrastructure
infrastructure
10
Networking for AI
infrastructure
11
Storage for AI
infrastructure
12
Kubernetes and cluster operations for AI
infrastructure
13
IT service desk
Operations
14
New tech and process uptake — function gain, return, loss, and rigging
Operations
15
IT cycles
Operations
16
MLOps
Operations
17
AI stewards
Operations
18
Incident response and forensics for AI
Operations
19
Project management
Operations
20
Executive dashboards
Governance
21
Failure modes
Operations
22
GRC
Governance
Volume 2
Platform, operations, and governance
01
Remote access
Security
02
Data architecture
Platform
03
Data governance and data quality for AI
Governance
04
Business intelligence
Platform
05
AI platform readiness — capability ladder and readiness scorecard
Platform
06
AI platform engineering — internal AI PaaS
Platform
07
Knowledge systems for AI — RAG, vector stores, grounding, provenance
Platform
08
AgentOps and AI agents — tools, control plane, policy, lifecycle, guardrails
Platform
09
Observability and reliability for AI services — ITOM, NOC, SRE, SLOs
Operations
10
Capacity planning, performance engineering, and AI FinOps
Operations
11
Release engineering for AI — model, prompt, retrieval, policy, evaluation, red teaming
Operations
12
Operating reviews, governance cadence, and control gates
Operations
13
Identity, access, and machine trust for AI
Operations
14
AI security — LLM threats, attack paths, defenses, secure design
Operations
15
Compliance evidence factory — controls to artifacts, continuous audit readiness
Operations
16
Model risk management and AI assurance
Operations
17
Vendor management and AI contracts — SLAs, data rights, audit rights, exit planning
Operations
18
Resilience, BCDR, and fallback patterns for AI platforms
Operations
19
Operating model and RACI for the AI ecosystem
Operations
Buy the book
Get the handbook
Available in eBook and print formats. Print ISBNs are confirmed upon release — check back or subscribe to the Localis update list.
Ebook
Digital — both volumes
ePub and PDF. Optimized for reading on screen with internal navigation and linked references.
Paperback
Print — Volume 1
Perfect-bound paperback. ISBN confirmed on release. Available through IngramSpark and major retailers.
Paperback
Print — Volume 2
Perfect-bound paperback. ISBN confirmed on release. Available through IngramSpark and major retailers.
The author
Johann darby
IT administrator · technical writer · author
Johann Darby is an IT administrator and technical writer based in Snohomish, WA. He founded Localis as the publishing and advisory home for the handbook and the instruments that extend it — a practice built around making the compute part of small and mid-size businesses work well.
Localis was built for the IT administrator working inside the modern AI environment — the person responsible for compute decisions that the rest of the business depends on. The handbook is the core. The tools extend it. The advisory applies it.
thevagabondlife.com
Author & founder
Johann darby