Question 1

The IT division of an insurance company in the US has following main on-going activities/projects:
Developing a new web-based tool which will help reduce application processing time by 60%.
Providing application maintenance and support services for existing solution
Call center that answers potential sales leads
The operations are disrupted due to fire in the building resulting in substantial loss of assets. Which of the following operations should be resumed earliest?

A)Development of the new web application
B)Call center answering potential sales leads
C)Providing application support for existing solutions
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Providing application support for existing solutions

Accepted Answer

The IT team should focus on providing application support for existing solution. Crisis management should be focused to minimize disruption to existing critical functions.
Key takeaway: Some think that sales lead generation is critical in this case and you have to be there to pick up the phone. It's not true. Focus on supporting existing processes and have your potential customers leave their name and number so you can call them back later.

Question 2

What is a secondary risk?&#10;A)A risk that is not that important&#10;B)A risk that is less important&#10;C)Residual risk&#10;D)Risk that is highly unlikely to occur&#10;E)Risk caused by another risk response strategy

Accepted Answer

Secondary risk is a new risk caused by the response to another risk. For instance, ejecting your warp core to avoid a breach may leave you immobile and unable to escape attack. Or for a more realistic example, shifting employees to cover for sick ones may leave you stretched thin in other divisions.
Key Takeaway: Many firms try to avoid paying for protection against risks by believing they can shift resources in the short term. A thorough analysis of the impact of those actions must be conducted.

Question 3

A business continuity plan calls for employees to gather at a nearby building that is earthquake safe in event of building collapse due to a seismic event. What is this an example of?&#10;A)Shelter-in-place&#10;B)Hot site&#10;C)Cold-site&#10;D)People first&#10;E)RTO

Accepted Answer

Shelter-in-place describes protecting assets in the general vicinity in which a crisis occurs.
Key Takeaway: Shelter-in-place is the process of securing and protecting both people and assets in the general area in which a crisis occurs.

Question 4

A leading US based IT hardware company has a key manufacturing base in Thailand. During the 2004 Tsunami, the warehouses of the company situated along the Thai coast were seriously impacted. All of the company's records for orders are stored here. There was no BCP plan in place for what actions to take first in such a dire and unexpected emergency. What should have been the immediate focus area for operations in Thailand?

A)Focus on RTO
B)Focus on RPO
C)Focus on vital equipment and key installations
D)Focus on preserving vital records
E)Safety of employees

Accepted Answer

The focus should be to ensure the safety of its people.
Key takeaway: While managing a disaster of unprecedented magnitude, the primary focus should be to ensure safety of the people.

Question 5

As per the project schedule, a team of consultants have to travel to Mexico to implement a new warehouse management product at its manufacturing locations. However, the project manager decides to defer the activity considering a recent flu breakout in the region. This is an example of risk _____________:

A)Reward
B)Sharing
C)Transfer
D)Avoidance

Accepted Answer

Avoidance. In this case, avoiding the risk comes with a major cost - a serious project delay might occur as a result. However, these are decisions that a management team must often make.
Key takeaway: A good business continuity plan might have made this decision for the manager. The manager might not want his/her project to get knocked off track, and thus is willing to take the risk that no one will get sick. However, a good business continuity planner may already have implemented a policy that absolutely prevents this.

Deck 5: Emergency Response