IT contingency planning: management roles

This paper presents an analysis of selected participants in a survey of Australian organisations’ approaches to business and information technology (IT) contingency planning. In particular, it examines the role of management in planning and setting priorities for contingency planning, especially in those organisations that have specified that IT is critical to the business operations. The survey was undertaken because there was a perception that coping with disaster is a much‐neglected aspect of management in Australia, and this analysis examines the underlying attitudes. The findings reveal that most organisations are inadequately prepared and fail to take the issue seriously. Business continuity is not rated as a high priority. Managers in the IT area are also expected to take the responsibility for contingency planning for the whole business.