Supplemental study materials for new Sybex CISSP study guide

Supplemental study materials for new Sybex CISSP study guide

I recently discovered you co-authored a Sybex CISSP study book due to come out in March. I've always liked the Sybex books. The only irritation is the fact that I usually can't print out the sample and bonus tests on the CDs. After being on a computer all day, paper is refreshing on the eyes. How would you compare the new book to the ever popular, "All in One CISSP Certification Exam Guide," by Shon Harris? Are there any other supplemental materials you would recommend? I found a CISSP CBT at www.certifiedtechtrainers.com/cbt. Any thoughts on this one? I would prefer live instruction but funds may not permit.


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I can honestly say that we designed our book with one eye on the CISSP requirements and CBK descriptions and the other eye closely on Shon Harris' book (as the best of its kind currently available on the market). While it's immodest for me to say we have done a better job on our material than she did on hers, it's not inaccurate to say that our material is newer, fresher and calculated to compare to her material as positively as possible. That said, I think it's wise for me to let the market be the judge as to how our book really compares once it hits the streets next month.

I'll pass on your feedback about the sample and bonus tests on the CD: I agree that some kind of print mechanism might be helpful and will see what kind of reaction this gets from their production staff. I'd never heard of Certified Tech Trainers before you asked about them -- but then, it's a big world, and while I know a fair amount about this kind of thing, nobody knows it all or has seen it all, either. My initial impression of their description and sneak peek materials, and the additional features -- discussion forum, glossary, interface controls and so forth -- is that this stuff compares favorably with other similar products out there. But then again, at nearly $2,000 per copy, it's as expensive as a lot of classroom materials might be. My attitude is that access to a real, live instructor is what makes spending big bucks worthwhile. I wouldn't fork over $2,000 for any CBT unless I got feedback from multiple, enthusiastic buyers of same who compared it favorably with ILT. For about $1,200 more (including travel, hotel, meals and so forth) you can take just about any CISSP boot camp around. You may be able to find ILT courses in your local area for the same cost (perhaps even less, depending on the venue). Their prices are NOT cheap.

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This was first published in February 2003