A Guide to Business Continuity Planning

viiiContentsthere is little consistency – and many contradictions. In addition, many of theseapproaches, while theoretically sound, have little bearing on the real world.I have also found that the authors of too many books make naïve assumptionsabout the business continuity process. They assume that business continuity startswith all parties in agreement and, somehow, the laws of corporate nature do notapply to business continuity. Often, they treat the business continuity project as if itwere something almost mystical – a process that somehow is exempt from therealities, constraints, processes, psychology and personalities of corporate or organizationallife.Jim Barnes, however, shares with us practical processes and tools that, as obviousas it may sound, treat the business continuity process just like any otherenterprise implementation process. He addresses these processes to the individualor team who are going to have to deal with corporate rules, practices and realities,whether they are external consultants or internal staff.Some books tell the reader to perform tasks and assume that the reader canfigure out how to accomplish those tasks in the all-too-often, mercilessly unforgivingcorporate environment. Instead, Jim Barnes has provided a practical frameworkincluding checklists, specific steps necessary for these tasks to take place atall, even examples of effective correspondence. For example, what is the point inteaching a contingency planner how to conduct a data-gathering interview untilthe interviewee agrees to participate willingly? With this book, Jim Barnes hastaken an important step in removing much of the guesswork and frustration fromthe business continuity implementation project.Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCIPresident, Rothstein Associates Inc., publisher of The Rothstein Catalog on DisasterRecovery, 2001pjr@rothstein.comwww.rothstein.comCopyright ©2001, Rothstein Associates Inc. Used with permission.