Creating competitive advantage

Every problem can be transformed into an opportunity. The problem of having to invest valuable resources in planning for events that may never occur can be put to some good use in improving the business.

In capitalist economies, most organizations must compete for business. Two of the ways that they compete are by offering better services, and by telling their customers (and potential customers) that their services are superior to those of their competitors.

One of the ways that organizations can leverage their investment in BCP and DRP is to tell their customers that this makes their products and services better. Organizations would create marketing messages that describe characteristics that are a byproduct of BCP and DRP planning, primarily improvements in customer service that is free of interruptions caused by disasters.

Organizations that provide Internet-based services can use this competitive advantage to boast a higher level of availability than would be possible from a single-location entity. Customers that require continuous availability may be likelier to select an organization with an effective DRP and BCP program than one that does not.

Prep Test

1 The longest period of time that a business can survive without a critical function is called

A Downtime Tolerability Period

B Greatest Tolerable Downtime

C Maximum Survivable Downtime

D Maximum Tolerable Downtime

2 Which of the following is not a natural disaster?

A Avalanche

B Stock market crash

C Fire

D Water supply storage drought

3 The impact of a disaster on business operations is contained in

A Local newspapers and online media

B The Business Impact Assessment

C The Operations Impact Assessment

D The Vulnerability Assessment

4 The decision whether to purchase an emergency generator is based on

A Wholesale electric rates

B Retail electric rates

C The duration of a typical outage

D The income rate of affected systems

5 The purpose of a UPS is

A To provide instantaneous power cutover when utility power fails

B A lower cost for overnight shipping following a disaster

C The need to steer an unresponsive vehicle after it’s moving again

D To restore electric power within 24 hours

6 The Business Impact Assessment

A Describes the impact of disaster recovery planning on the budget

B Describes the impact of a disaster on business operations

C Is a prerequisite to the Vulnerability Assessment

D Is the first official statement produced after a disaster

7 To maximize the safety of backup media, it should be stored

A At a specialized off-site media storage facility

B At the residences of various senior managers

C In the operations center in a locked cabinet

D Between 50°F and 60°F

8 An alternate information-processing facility with all systems, patches, and data mirrored from live production systems is known as a

A Warm site

B Hot site

C Recovery site

D Mutual Aid Center

9 The greatest advantage of a cold site is

A It can be built nearly anywhere

B Its high responsiveness

C Its low cost

D Its close proximity to airports

10 The most extensive test for a Disaster Recovery Plan

A Has dual failover

B Is a waste of paper

C Is known as a parallel test

D Is known as an interruption test

Answers

1 D. Maximum Tolerable Downtime. This is the term that describes the maximum period of time that a business function can suspend operations and the company can still survive. Review “Conducting the Business Impact Assessment.”

2 B. Stock market crash. A stock market crash is a man-made (non-natural) disaster. Review “Defining Disastrous Events.”

3 B. Business Impact Assessment. The BIA describes the impact that a disaster will have on business operations. Review “Conducting the Business Impact Assessment.”

4 C. The duration of a typical outage. The average and worst-case duration of electrical power outages help to determine whether a business should purchase an emergency generator. Review “BCP Recovery Plan Development.”

5 A. To provide instantaneous power cutover when utility power fails. A UPS provides continuous electric power to all equipment connected to it. Review “Identifying the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan.”

6 B. Describes the impact of a disaster on business operations. A Business Impact Assessment (BIA) contains quantitative and qualitative estimates of the impact of a disaster. Review “Conducting the Business Impact Assessment.”

7 A. At a specialized off-site media storage facility. Such a specialized facility is designed to withstand most disastrous events. Review “Identifying the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan.”

8 B. Hot site. Although a hot site is the most expensive to build and maintain, it provides the greatest possible performance. Review “Identifying the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan.”

9 C. Its low cost. Cold sites are inexpensive, but they’re the slowest to set up and get running. Review “Identifying the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan.”

10 D. Is known as an interruption test. The interruption test performs an actual failover of applications to the servers. Review “Testing the Disaster Recovery Plan.”