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Tony Collins
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Crash: Learning from the World's Worst Computer Disasters Paperback – January 1, 1999

by Tony Collins (Author), David Bicknell (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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An examination of the case histories of many of the worst computer crashes and software failures which reveals the lessons to be learned from each. The same ten factors recur in most, if not all disasters, and advice is provided on how to avoid a crash.
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  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Intl
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0684868350
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0684868356
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Intl (January 1, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684868350
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684868356
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

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Tony Collins

Tony Collins

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
6 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

"ejgilmour"
5.0 out of 5 stars Avoiding the Crash
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2000
In this book, Tony Collins spells out the finer points of project failures. He deals with the nitty gritty of some of the most expensive computer blunders made, both in the public and private sectors, in language that is easily understood and not full of techno jargon. This book is a must for anyone, customer or developer, thinking on embarking on a computer project. Tony lists what he calls the 10 deadly sins, and explains how each sin has contributed to a particular disaster. He reveals inside information on projects like the Wessex Health Authority catastrophe which cost the taxpayer over £60m, and how the government went on to reward those responsible. Like Fred Brooks' Mythical Man Month, this book should be compulsory reading in every college and university that teaches any computer related subjects. As a third year Compute Science student at Durham University, it certainly opened my eyes.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Could benefit from a reduced page count and more stucture
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2004
I must admit that being in "the industry" is the main reason why I bought this book. I was also pleased to see that someone had finally put down on paper some of the issues which seem to plague the IT business. That said however it did take me two attempts to successfully complete the journey from cover to cover. There are numerous reasons for this.
While the authors break the chapters up, seemingly, according to topic they never seem to actually focus on the intended topic (and in a few cases, spread the "topic" over three or more chapters e.g. the "Lawyers" chapters). In my experience this resulted in a lack of closure on the completion of each chapter (i.e. I found it difficult to answer the question "what have I learned here"). The authors also tend to diverge quite a bit from the points they try to make by going into seemingly extensive discussions regarding the projects reviewed without actually adding any detail (the realtively short bibliography at the back of the book is further testament to this). This is most evident in one of the last chapters which covers 5 steps to follow in order to avoid the common pitfalls - I'm still not sure what the five steps are. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the points they were trying to make were in bold, I might have missed them all together.
Being a technical person I also found the format too literary and lacking in detail (i.e. what hardware was used, what software was used - something which the authors themselves acknowledge as being important). I suspect that this may have something to do with the fact that the authors are trade journalists and do not necessarily have first hand experience of what goes into a software development project. I believe this conclusion is further supported by the authors obvious bias towards "business" (as opposed to "the supplier").
Most of the projects focused on were also of the "massive" variety (i.e. costing in the tens of millions of pounds and taking years to complete) which, I believe, made the analysis afforded them, a bit simplistic (in fairness they were mostly public sector projects which were probably easier to source documentation on).
From what I have said you might think that this book is not worth reading but this is not the case. It does indeed offer valuable insights into the industry if you are prepared to sift through a lot of fluff and pompous words (the first or second chapter is called "Pusillanimity"). I think the book could however be packaged into a more easily consumable format through the shedding of 200 pages and the distilling of its essence into standardised reviews/post mortems with a bulleted list of things to learn/avoid/watch out for
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. Martin P. Alexander
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book if you want your project to work
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book is still essential reading for anyone interested in where all the money gets wasted in big IT projects. Governments are the best at wasting money this way but I am sure the private sector is happily shoveling cash down the toilet also.

What you learn from this book is this. Don't be over ambitious in project scope. Don't get 'lost in showbiz' and let pride conceal truth, and be very suspicious of proud people who wont listen. Presume nothing, there is no such thing as a stupid question. Suspect anyone who can not provide simple answers to simple questions. Be brave enough to speak out and promote those who are equally as brave. Suspect the worse when the project becomes more like a religion than a good idea. Take nothing said at face value, if it sounds like BS it is BS. Don't use consultants unless you have specific and limited things for them to do and NEVER rely on them to have sole responsibility to deliver the majority of the project. They have no interest in the future of your business. Decide what you want early and stick to it. Limit yourself to what the system can do, don't tailor the requirements excessively to your needs, change your working practices and not the system where at all possible, and have rigid change control. Hide nothing and be open and transparent about everything. Have clear lines of responsibility throughout the project and make sure management is consistent throughout the project. Accept some defeats and don't sack the manager too quickly. And above all else, DON'T INVOLVE LAWYERS. EVER. FOR ANYTHING.

Now if you find a project which has three or more of the above qualities, it is a dead duck. Kill it before it kills your business. You have been warned.
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ray h
5.0 out of 5 stars even in 2014 this book is well worth reading.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
As someone who worked on computer systems from graduation in 1964 until retirement in 2004, I loved this book from the time it was published. My 30 year old son is now involved, as an "involved user" in his first computer project and it is a biggy; so I was pleased that I could source him a 2nd-hand copy via Amazon. It is still highly relevant.
Tony Collins is still an incisive writer here:[...]
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Toby Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars Still hightlights ways to make bad software relevant today
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
Still a classic. Still hightlights ways to make bad software relevant today.
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