Customer Reviews

Byte Wars: The Impact of September 11 on Information Technology

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Many people, Ed Yourdon and I included, thought that January 1, 2000 represented a unique "point of discontinuity" that might start a chain of events that could cause major tremors in our modern electronic world. We were wrong, but much of the work that was done to prevent a Y2k catastrophe turned out to have help us survive a real point of discontinuity- September 11, 2000. One financial company after another has explained the reason that the U.S. financial market was able to recover so quickly was the work they had done dealing with Y2k.

On of the ironies thinking about the Y2k is that people like Ed were right for the wrong reasons-enormous man-made structures can topple, just like the World Trade Center Towers, but with the right planning and testing the underlying information/communication infrastructures can survive and/or recover quickly. Throughout his career, Ed has been thinking about the big issues involved in IT. From his earliest publications on structured design to offshore programming, Ed has been ahead of his time.

Now, Ed Yourdon has written a book analyzing the impact of 9/11 on IT. Once again, Ed has taken the intellectual high ground to force us, once again, to think about the unthinkable. How do we develop systems or environments that can handle truly unexpected events? How do we make our systems failsafe and robust? How do we get management to give a damn?

In Byte Wars, Ed is once again thinking about big issues. In the glow of ground zero he is suggesting that executives and policy makers start working to make our technology, and consequently our society itself, more "survivable". Like his other books, I found this book full of uncommon common sense. I particularly like what Ed had to say about emergent and resilient systems. Massive unexpected failures require the ability to adapt on the fly. That in turn requires environments that promote rapid, collaborative problem solving.

This is fine book that executives and professionals inside and outside IT should be reading.

Ken Orr
Topeka, Kansas

Provides the big picture as concerns IT post-September 11th. Implications and advice for policy makers, execs, IT workers, and interested citizens. There are certainly things in here you haven't thought about yet, as well as a provocative section on reassessing your own personal priorities and philosophies in light of the enormity of recent world events. Highly readable (not at all a techie tome). I heartily recommend this book.

If you are a manager in a computer-dependent business, you need to read this book to find out how to minimize your computer-related risks. September 11th was just one event, albeit a very big one, but thousands of computer risks surface every day in much more mundane ways. If you aren't planning how to prevent and/or deal with such risks, you are putting your business at risk.

Should others buy this book? It's easy enough to read that everyone could learn something from it. But if you didn't worry about Y2k, you probably won't worry about computer risks in general, and this book might not convince you otherwise.

Ed Yourdon's most well-known recent work is probably TimeBomb 2000, a book that inspired so much unwarranted fear that one terrified couple on his Internet forum attempted to give away their newborn grandchild to complete strangers in hopes that it would survive the terrible Y2K rollover. Indeed, Yourdon himself was quoted as saying that the likelihood that the various Y2K "trigger dates" would pass without incident was equal to that of pigs learning to fly.

Thankfully, Byte Wars avoids such ridiculous predictions and hysteria, but instead offers the reader no new insights into information technology and little to nothing relating to 9/11. Yourdon is a true Master of the Obvious in this book, which apparently capitalizes on the 9/11 tragedy without actually addressing it. If you're looking for real insight into the effects of 9/11 on the IT industry, I would wait a few more months for a more relevant work. This one just doesn't cut it.

Our front-line defense against terror is to seal the borders, to keep the rascals out (reasonably possible because THEY look different). But attacks on our information infrastructure -- the new heart and soul of our economy -- can be conducted by rascals from the security of their homes and caves or from any old internet cafe in downtown Rowalpindi. Ed Yourdon's thoughtful assessment of our new Achilles Heel is must reading.

How refreshing to read a book re the IT industry that encompasses the new realities of the world that MUST be integrated into the future for the survival of IT and its professionals. Without this knowledge, all IT professionals are at risk, as is the entire industry.

9/11 has had a profound effect on all of us, from emotions to commerce, including the world of IT. Like it or not, our world will never be the same. Ed Yourdon lays it out, separates truth from fiction, and gives us a map to protect ourselves and our companies from IT terrorists. Without a doubt, crises are on the horizan and the IT professional who has thought the unthinkable, and done his homework, is going to be much further ahead. Thank you Mr Yourdon for your interesting, challenging, and sometimes, very frightening book. It should be on every professional IT's desk, and every CEO's bookcase.

J.A. Richardson, MD

Ed Yourdon has a distinguished reputation in the IT field. Many of his books have been required reading for IT professionals. In this latest work, Mr. Yourdon details what direction the IT industry will need to take in the "new world paradigm" of international terrorism. I consider this work an important part of the ever-evolving task of keeping your company's information systems and data secure.

I paid ... for this worthless beatup. There is little new
thought in it, and almost no depth. The main thread running
through it is that September 11th changed all of the rules and
a secondary thread is that Ed had finally twigged to the fact
that many other races and nationalities don't like the style
business practices and methods of the US of A.

Well Ed, September 11th didn't alter ANY rules of computer
security, it just moved security to a brighter location
in the CEO's firmanent and most third worlders have loathed
the USA for as long as I've been on the planet. They've just
got a lot more effective in expressing that feeling lately.

I can honestly say I expected a book with some technical
appreciation of the problem and some working methods for
bypassing and sidelining mid-level managers whose major
worry is the number of fly-buys they've racked up for
the month.

If you're looking for answers or technical tips on Infowar
don't spend your money on this ... book, its a yaaaawwwwnnn!

Regards,

Sherro.

The 9-11 disasters gave us several object lessons. Dr. Yourdon had an important role in minimizing the impact of the disasters. While major data centers were lost at the World Trade Center and (possibly, there are rumors) the Pentagon, the impact to IT was reduced because of precautions that the data centers took for Y2K, inspired in part by Dr. Yourdon's sound advice to prepare for the worse while hoping for the best.

A few years back, Ed was so hard up for cash that he wrote a book called "Time Bomb 2000!" in which he predicted the end of civilization. This silly prophecy only served to expose Yourdon for the fly-by-night, fast-talking, hourly-rate, con artist that he is. In other words, Ed completely undermined his reputation with every CIO in the industry.

My guess is that, on 1/1/2000, Ed was hunkering down in his survival retreat, drinking his bottled water, and wondering where in god's name his credibility went.

Given that his career as an oracle was cut short, Ed decided that he'd stop predicting the future and start cashing out on the 9/11 mania. Just like any talk show host or stand up comedian, Ed found ample material to make a few bucks off of the hysteria. He demonstrated the kind of initiative that would make Jeraldo Rivera proud.

The goal of this book is to keep Ed's name in circulation, so that he can charge a few more dollars for his worthless consulting services. Perhaps he'll use the royalties to refinish his deck or replace the transmission in his aging sports car. Ed's not going to tell you anything you don't already know, he's just going to make you think he will (which is the trick he uses to get you to buy it).

This leads me to think that I need to write Ed a letter...

Dear Ed,

Hello there little trooper. Isn't time for someone to pack it up and call it a career? Wouldn't the whole industry benefit if you took your fat, wrinkled, mug out of the public eye.

You pretty much admitted, in DeathMarch, that structured analysis was a crock. Face it, old man, you're over the hill. You've got no good ideas left. You're so desperate for ideas that you're reprinting Deathmarch. What are you going to do next time, reprint Time Bomb 2000!

I think you've fooled enough people out of their money. You've had your fun, Ed, now retire to Boca Raton and give us all a well deserved rest.

Please, Ed, pretty please.

Your Pal,
LLNL Engineer