Executive Guide to Preventing Information Technology Disasters [Paperback]

Recent and well-publicised disasters have highlighted the fact that organisations of all kinds - from healthcare to aerospace - are critically dependent on Information Technology systems. The prevention of catastrophic I.T. failure is now an essential part of management.
In this thought-provoking guide for executives and managers Richard Ennals argues that the critical factor is not technology, but people and communication.Recent and well-publicised disasters have highlighted the fact that organisations of all kinds - from healthcare to aerospace - are critically dependent on Information Technology systems. The prevention of catastrophic I.T. failure is now an essential part of management.
In this thought-provoking guide for executives and managers Richard Ennals argues that the critical factor is not technology, but people and communication.1. Introduction.- Disasters: Some Examples.- Disaster Prevention Through Skill.- Fraud: Management in Crisis.- Systems and Decision-Making.- Strategic Functions.- Technical Issues.- Organisational Cultural Issues.- Intelligent Solutions.- How to Cause IT Disasters.- 2. Historical and Technical Perspectives.- Single Technology Solutions.- Tools.- Keeping IT Simple.- The Emperors Old Clothes.- Human-Centred Systems.- Executive Information Systems.- 3. Culture, Competence and Complexity.- The Demands of the Modern Economy.- Challenging Professionals.- Engineering as a Form of Life.- Competence and Professional Education.- Subcontracting the Management of Complexity.- Consequences of Discontinuity.- A Question of Scale.- Working on Infeasible Projects.- The Case for Programming.- 4. Issues of Integration.- Managing IT in the Organisation.- Expert Systems and Mainstream Software.- Management and Information Systems.- Open and Distributed Systems.- Business Health.- Computer Viruses.- 5. Management Dilemmas.- Problems.- Professionals.- Panaceas.- Method.- Automation.- People.- Standards.- Quality.- Profits and Prol“'