Research Interests & Publications

 

My research sits at the intersection of systems thinking and disaster recovery practice. The central question driving my work is why organisations with documented disaster recovery plans still fail to recover effectively, and whether the analytical frameworks currently applied to DR planning are adequate to the complexity of modern IT infrastructures.

This is not, primarily, an academic question. It emerges from twenty years of consulting work across sectors and geographies, from repeated observation of the same patterns of failure, and from a growing conviction that the gap between DR theory and DR outcomes is structural rather than incidental. My research aims to rigorously address that gap.

 

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Research

A Layered Framework for System Dependency Mapping in Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Jon Pertwee & Dr T. Lu  ·  Submitted for peer review, currently under review

This paper formalises the dependency mapping methodology developed through extensive consulting practice into a structured academic framework. It addresses a significant gap in the DR literature: while considerable research exists on recovery objectives and testing methodologies, the theoretical basis for understanding how failures propagate through interdependent IT systems remains underdeveloped.

The paper proposes a layered model for mapping system dependencies, distinguishing between technical, operational, and organisational dependency layers, and demonstrates how this model can be applied to identify failure pathways that traditional single-layer analyses consistently miss. The framework is grounded in empirical observations from over thirty real-world DR implementations.

 

Book

An IT Manager’s Guide to Disaster Recovery

Jon Pertwee  ·  Published

This practitioner-focused text represents the first systematic articulation of the layered dependency framework. Written for IT managers and security professionals, the book translates the core methodology into accessible guidance for organisations developing or stress-testing their DR capabilities. It serves as both a stand-alone reference and a practical companion to the academic framework formalised in the peer-reviewed paper.

Securing the Cyber Realm

Jon Pertwee  ·  2023  ·  Revision in progress

This earlier work addresses disaster recovery within a broader treatment of organisational cyber security. The DR chapter reflects the available practices and recommendations at the time of writing, grounded in established guidance but predating the layered dependency framework subsequently developed and formalised. The book is currently being revised to align its DR content with the methodology described in the 2025 text, and a new edition will be published in due course.

 

 

Research Direction

The framework developed over the course of my consulting practice has a theoretical character that became apparent only after it was substantially complete. The dependency mapping methodology, with its emphasis on layered interdependencies, failure propagation pathways, and the distinction between visible and hidden coupling, exhibits the properties of a complexity theory application, even though it was not derived from complexity theory.

This observation has become the foundation of my current research direction. If a practitioner-derived framework for DR planning independently converges on complexity theory concepts, this raises important questions: Do existing complexity theory frameworks: non-linear dynamics, network theory, self-organisation, emergence, adaptive systems, provide the most productive theoretical lens for DR planning? Which frameworks offer the most actionable insights? And how can theoretical insights from complexity science be operationalised in a form that practising professionals can apply?

 

Central Research Question

Which complexity theory frameworks provide the most actionable insights for designing effective disaster recovery strategies, and how can these frameworks be operationalised for practical implementation in modern, highly interconnected IT environments?

 

Theoretical Frameworks Under Investigation

Rather than committing prematurely to a single theoretical lens, my research will systematically evaluate the explanatory and predictive power of five complexity theory frameworks as applied to DR planning:

 

Non-linear Dynamics and Cascading Failures

How do minor failures amplify through interdependent systems to produce disproportionate outcomes? What conditions create tipping points beyond which recovery becomes infeasible, and how can organisations identify and interrupt cascade pathways before they become unrecoverable?

Network Theory

How does infrastructure topology — hub-and-spoke versus mesh, centralised versus distributed — affect the speed and scope of failure propagation? What network structures exhibit inherent resilience, and how should recovery sequencing account for network position rather than treating systems as independent entities?

Self-Organisation Theory

How do sociotechnical systems — teams and technical infrastructure considered together — reorganise during disruptions? Can DR plans be designed to leverage beneficial self-organisation rather than attempting to prescribe responses to every possible failure scenario?

Emergence

What system-level behaviours arise from component interactions that are not predictable from analysing components in isolation? How do recovery actions themselves create new emergent system states, and how can practitioners anticipate rather than be surprised by emergent properties during recovery?

Adaptive Complex Systems

How do organisations adapt their resilience strategies over time, and what distinguishes adaptive DR programmes from merely robust ones? This framework addresses the question of whether DR planning can be designed to be antifragile — improving in response to disruption rather than simply withstanding it.

 

Research Hypothesis

My working hypothesis, grounded in practical observation rather than prior theoretical commitment, is that no single complexity theory framework provides a complete account of failure and recovery in modern IT environments. Effective DR planning requires multiple theoretical lenses, applied contextually according to infrastructure type, organisational characteristics, and failure mode. The research will test, refine, or challenge this hypothesis through systematic empirical investigation.

 

Academic Background

MSc Information Technology Security Management  ·  Arden University, UK  ·  2024

Awarded with Distinction  ·  Postgraduate Highest Achiever Award 2024

Whilst the MSc programme focused principally on security management rather than disaster recovery, the research skills, theoretical frameworks, and analytical rigour developed during the programme have directly informed the academic formalisation of the dependency mapping methodology. The MSc dissertation provided the disciplinary foundation from which the peer-reviewed paper subsequently developed, in collaboration with thesis supervisor Dr T. Lu.

 

Doctoral Research Plans

I am in the process of planning doctoral research to investigate the research question above formally and systematically. The intention is to pursue a programme that will enable the rigorous empirical testing of complexity theory frameworks against real-world DR planning scenarios, building on the practitioner-derived framework already formalised in the peer-reviewed paper.

I am currently identifying potential supervisors and institutional homes for this research. Given the applied nature of the work and its location at the boundary of computer science, organisational resilience, and complexity theory, I am particularly interested in programmes with interdisciplinary supervisory capacity.

Updates on doctoral research progress will be posted here as they develop.