| I wrote this book in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that took place on September
11, 2001. Until then, I was planning to write this book at a much later time. But
the events of that day compelled me to immediately begin this work. As we have
seen, those events have had far-reaching repercussions in the information technology
(IT) industry. Now more than ever, private and public organizations are assessing
their vulnerability to unexpected adverse events. I felt that this was the right time
to develop a work that would serve as a reference for them to utilize in their efforts.
This book represents wisdom distilled from over 25 years of industry experience,
the bulk of which was realized during my years at AT&T. I also researched
many books and countless articles that were directly or peripherally related to this
subject. I conducted conversations with colleagues and experts on the many topics
within to obtain their viewpoints. I discovered that there wasn’t any one book that
embodied the many facets of IT continuity. I thus saw the need for a work that
assembled and consolidated much of this conventional wisdom into an organized
knowledge base for continuity practitioners.
This book is intended for IT managers, service providers, business continuity
planners, educators, and consultants representing corporations, public agencies, or
nonprofit organizations. It is assumed that the reader has some basic familiarity
with data or voice networking. Even those seasoned continuity professionals, I
hope, will find this book a valuable resource with a different perspective. All along, I
stress the understanding of basic concepts and principles to maximize retention. The
book is quite comprehensive. Many topics are covered at a level that will most likely
require follow up by the reader—this is intentional. Under each topic, I have tried to
flag those issues of importance and relevance to continuity. |
