Exam CISA Topic 6 Question 996 Discussion

Section: Protection of Information Assets
Explanation:
Both downtime costs and recovery costs need to be evaluated in determining the acceptable time period before the resumption of critical business processes. The outcome of the business impact analysis (BIA) should be a recovery strategy that represents the optimal balance. Downtime costs cannot be looked at in isolation. The quicker information assets can be restored and business processing resumed, the smaller the downtime costs. However, the expenditure needed to have the redundant capability required to recover information resources might be prohibitive for nonessential business processes. Recovery operations do not determine the acceptable time period for the resumption of critical business processes, and indirect downtime costs should be considered in addition to the direct cash outflows incurred due to business disruption. The indirect costs of a serious disruption to normal business activity, e.g., loss of customer and supplier goodwill and loss of market share, may actually be more significant than direct costs over time, thus reaching the point where business viability is threatened.