Book details of 'Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters : Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations'

Title	Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters : Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations
Author(s)	Kenneth N. Myers
ISBN	047135838X
Language	English
Published	August 1999
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons

---

Back to shelf Computer security
Amazon.com info for Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters : Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations

Score:

Vote for this book

The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters : Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations':

Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
The preface clearly states that this book promotes a "what if," worst case scenario approach to contingency planning. It presents the development of detailed business continuity procedures as a waste of time, and assumes that minor mishaps can be handled within the limits of the methods meant to deal with the worst case. Although this flies in the face of conventional BCP (Business Continuity Planning) wisdom, in all but the last item Myers makes a convincing case. The emphasis is on avoiding the "how long can you do without" type questions so common in BCP, and more directed towards "what alternatives can we use when we have to do without" answers. Chapter one is an introduction, and this is obviously not your average DRP (Disaster Recovery Planning)/BCP book, since it includes items such as a "disaster life cycle." "Defining The Problem" doesn't really happen in chapter two, although one could say that the problem is clarified to a certain extent. The text is a bit repetitive, reiterating several times that too many companies concentrate on recovering the technology before the business. There is more traditional look at BCP in chapter three, since it concentrates on awareness and education, and provides a good, basic overview of selling the contingency planning idea to management. Chapter four reviews project planning, although primarily from an outsider perspective, like that of a consultant. From this viewpoint, it offers very practical, helpful advice. Business impact analysis is presented in chapter five, although, again, the text retails content already stated elsewhere. The implementation strategy, in chapter six, primarily covers dealing with various layers of management. The Myers process of plan development is presented in a structured form in chapter seven, although most points have been made already. Chapter eight again presents a more traditional, and very short, view, this time of plan maintenance, education, and testing. The guidelines for internal consultants and consulting firms, in chapter nine, form a nice checklist. There are a number of appendices, of which B (with a sample contingency plan and examples of alternative methods is particularly useful. A broader list of alternative methods is suggested in Appendix C. While some may dismiss it as a kind of cost/benefit reductio ad absurdum, Myers' method does raise issues that need to be considered. This contrarian view should be more widely considered by the BCP community. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2002
Add my review for Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters : Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations

Book description:

With the help of an implementation strategy, guidelines for minimizing development costs, and insight into a proven plan development methodology, Manager’s Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters: Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations helps you to:Establish a corporate contingency plan policy and strategy that will ensure timely completion of a plan with minimal disruption to operations.Minimize plan development costsUnderstand the importance of conducting briefings to communicate the proper mindset before the plan development process begins.Save time and money by avoiding the consultant’s traditional approach of extensive information-gathering that contributes little to the development of practical solutionsRemember that you have good people on your management team who don’t need a lot of detailed instruction on how to do things in an emergency situation. Precisely "how" they do anything will depend on the specific nature of the disaster and the extent of the damage. Addressing complex hypothetical disaster combinations does not make good business sense. Just prepare "what if" strategies for a worst case and rely on the judgment of your line managers to cope with less severe incidents.