Business Continuity: Best Practices (Ring-bound)

~ Andrew Hiles (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Any audit organization that plans on reviewing business continuity plans should consider this guide for their professional library..." -- AuditNet Book Review, October 2000

"...The knowledge contained in this book will support the individual's development and the successful implementation of BCM into organiations." -- John Sharp, FIMgt, MCIM, Chief Executive Officer, The Business Continuity Institute

"...can be used...by those new to BC management or referred to by more seasoned professionals for ideas and updates..." -- Information Security Magazine, August, 2000

"...walks you through the process from beginning to end; many examples and practical advice for the business continuity professional." -- AUDITNET BOOK REVIEW OCTOBER 2000

"It offers a step-by-step guide to ensuring business survival following a disaster or other severe event that interrupts daily operations." -- NATURAL HAZARDS OBSERVER, September, 2000.

"this new and comprehensive contribution to Business Continuity Management...will provide an invaluable reference work for those new to the profession..." -- Paul R. Thomas, Jr. and Benny D. Taylor, Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Board, Disaster Recovery Institute International

About the Author

ANDREW HILES is founder and Chairman of Survive, the international user group for business continuity planning and was a founding Director of the Business Continuity Institute, the international body for certification of business continuity professionals. He is a founder Director of Kingswell, international consultants. Having commenced his management career with the Royal Air Force, he pioneered IT systems before leaving to take up a position within the Finance Department of London Transport. Subsequently in their Central Productivity Unit he was a Senior Projects Manager and later became responsible for the business re-engineering function, implementing new services and major technical projects.

He left to take up a position with the UK Post Office as their first Business Systems Consultant responsible for major projects. Andrew then joined the UK Atomic Energy Authority at the Harwell Laboratories where he managed the supercomputing, mainframe and other bureau and facilities management services. Andrew is a pragmatic consultant and trainer in the areas of Business Continuity Planning and Service Management Andrew is an international speaker on business continuity and contingency planning and has featured on conference programs in the USA, Southern Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. He has presented workshops and seminars on these topics for Frost & Sullivan (Europe), IIR/ IFF (Europe), AIC (South Africa), CEL (Hong Kong), UPOM (Middle East) and other companies having also lectured at Ashridge, Cranfield, GEC Dunchurch and Henley Management Colleges in the UK. He has broadcast on radio and TV. He has over 300 published articles on business continuity and edited The IBM GUIDE UK Disaster Recovery Manual. He co-edited and was the major contributor to The Definitive Guide to Business Continuity Management (published by Wiley, 1999) and contributed to the Confederation of British Industry business guide, Business Continuity Management. Andrew is a Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute, a Member of the British Computer Society and a Freeman of the City of London.

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Product Details

• Ring-bound: 303 pages
• Publisher: Rothstein Associates; 2000 edition (June 10, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0964164833
• ISBN-13: 978-0964164833
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 10.3 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,829,037 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business Continuity: Best Practices, March 25, 2003

By A Customer

If, like me, you are in the process of converting to Continuity from another profession, let me recommend this book to you as part of your transition and induction. If you are a novice you will be welcomed at the breakfast table with words of comfort from the author, ...the only way to eat the BC elephant, is one bite at a time.

This book is a practical syllabus. It is presented as such: an orderly, systematic, detailed, comprehensive account of what we need to know and do. In the discipline of Computing, from which I am in transit, Andrew's advice equally applies: start at the beginning. But unlike Computing it does not say ...go on to the end, then stop.. This new adventure wants to take us beyond stopping, so the syllabus accompanies us along the way with practical advice of how to sew the seeds of Continuity around us as we go, at every step.

They say of computer programmers you are as good as the number of tricks you know. It appears similar here. Almost every page reveals insights into the tricks of the BC trade; a cumulation of simple things we instinctively see as being good ideas: like learning to take a look around the neighbourhood before focusing inside. Like having emergency telephone numbers printed at the foot of pay slips taken home. Like taking photographs of physical assets before they disappear.
Like knowing it is still OK to use imagination and creativity to address real problems amid the oceans of prescription and regulation.

There is heavy emphasis throughout on standards. Not least those of DRII and BCI competencies which are disassembled and laid out for us to focus on their components in fine detail. In Project Initiation, the first chapter, the case is clearly made to get everyone on board before we start, especially important to gain support from those at the top. Good advice, yet tempered with realism that of itself this assent is no guarantee of a smooth road ahead. I know this to be well observed, it is true also from where I have just travelled. The interwoven mysteries of Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis are separated out for us and exemplified. Then on to planning and straightaway we see a sample plan to make the theories clear. I can only imagine at this stage that rehearsing the plan will be scary when we know others are enacting what we have helped design. But that's in store. We should certainly aim to steer the business towards rehearsal if we can: one of the many pointers to best practice this book hands out to us, this one helpful to pull all else along.

As a newcomer to BC I'm delighted to have come across this book. I feel somewhat experienced already even from the armchair. I cannot imagine not having this same syllabus to hand for continued reference much further down the line.

Paul Humphreys is Director of Oxford Continuity

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Another Professional, May 17, 2005

By	Douglas M. Henderson (Port Saint Lucie, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Business Continuity: Best Practices
by Andrew Hiles

The Business Continuity: Best Practices book addresses all the professional areas of competencies recommended by the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) and the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). The DRII and BCI are the largest professional groups establishing industry standards and membership educational requirements on a worldwide basis in the continuity and disaster recovery field.

Business Continuity: Best Practices is designed for use by professionals as well as by interested non-professionals. In fact the book directs the user at a `Practitioner Level' and at a `Foundation Level'. Most business continuity concepts are more practical than technical and the conscientious nonprofessional can utilize this book. The book makes very liberal use of Appendices in every section, thus allowing the serious user to selectively examine specific topics in detail. The casual reader can skip any technical Appendix without losing important concepts.

For the serious reader / plan developer there are numerous tables and checklists that are useful in gathering information and developing the actual Business Continuity Plan. The checklists and tables are very detailed allowing the user to develop a comprehensive plan that does not miss any major points. The book is easy to read and even a non-professional can develop a good plan, especially if a good planning template or actual Business Continuity Plan from a similar business is available as a guide.

In addition to developing a Business Continuity Plan document, Business Continuity: Best Practices addresses ongoing communication, plan implementation, plan activation and all the important aspects of plan development and execution. There is also an excellent section on emergency response and plan operations that provides important guidance during an actual emergency situation. Most importantly, Business Continuity: Best Practices addresses ongoing maintenance and exercise issues so the plan can be properly maintained.

Business Continuity: Best Practices deserves a solid 5-star rating.

Douglas M. Henderson, FSA, CBCP
Disaster Management, Inc.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good News - Business Continuity Best Practices, November 12, 2002

By	Paul Kirvan (Tinton Falls, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Considering how there is so much interest these days in "best practices" for just about anything in information technology, we're glad to see an excellent compilation of business continuity best practices. Mr. Hiles has used his years of experience in business and consulting to prepare a highly usable product. Must reading for all BC professionals!