Identify Critical Business Services
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What is Critical Business Services?
  Critical Business Service is a service provided by an organisation, or by another person on behalf of the organisation, to one or more clients which, if disrupted, could:
- cause intolerable harm to any one or more of the organisation’s clients or
- pose a risk to the soundness, stability or resilience of the industry, such as the financial industry, its system or the orderly operation of the markets.
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This section is the "Implement" phase of the Operational Resilience Planning Methodology. It is the first stage of the Implement phase: Identify Critical Business Services.
Audit Checklist for Identifying Critical Business Services
1. Documentation and Governance
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- Are there documented policies, procedures, and guidelines related to critical business services?
- Is a comprehensive operational resilience program outlining objectives, scope, roles, and responsibilities in place?
- Is there a governance structure, such as oversight committees and reporting mechanisms, to ensure effective operational resilience management?
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- Verify that a comprehensive operational resilience program outlines objectives, scope, roles, and responsibilities.
- Review documentation of policies, procedures, and guidelines related to critical business services.
- Assess the adequacy of governance structures, including oversight committees and reporting mechanisms.
2. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
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- Has a business impact analysis (BIA) been conducted to identify critical business services and their dependencies?
- How is the impact of disruptions on critical services assessed? What methodology is used?
- Are the potential financial, operational, and reputational impacts of disruptions to critical business services assessed?
- Are the BIA documentation and results accurate, up-to-date, and accessible to relevant stakeholders?
- Are each critical business service's recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) defined?
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- Review the BIA process for identifying critical business services and their dependencies.
- Evaluate the methodology used to assess the impact of disruptions on critical services.
- Validate the accuracy and currency of the BIA documentation.
3. Business Continuity (BC) Planning
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- Are there business continuity (BC) plans for critical business services?
- Do the BC Plans align with the objectives of the operational resilience program?
- Do the BC Plans include clear roles, responsibilities, and escalation procedures?
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- Review the existence and completeness of BC Plans for critical business services.
- Are BC Plans in place for each critical business service?
- Assess the alignment of BC Plans with the objectives of the operational resilience program.
- Validate that BC Plans include clear roles, responsibilities, and escalation procedures.
- Have the BC Plans been tested and validated?
- Are the BC Plans documented and easily accessible to relevant personnel?
- Are there clearly defined procedures for invoking and executing the BC Plans?
4. Incident Response and Management
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- Is there an incident management framework tailored explicitly for critical business services?
- Are there documented incident response procedures for critical business services?
- Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined for managing incidents related to critical business services?
- Is there a process to track and report incidents related to critical business services?
- Is there an incident response and management framework for critical business services?
- Are incident response plans in place, and do they align with the operational resilience program?
- Are incident response plans regularly tested, updated, and communicated to relevant stakeholders?
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Checklist
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- Evaluate the incident response and management framework for critical business services.
- Assess the effectiveness of incident response plans and their alignment with the operational resilience program.
- Verify that incident response plans are regularly tested, updated, and communicated to relevant stakeholders.
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5. Communication and Stakeholder Management (During Disruption)
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- Is there a communication plan to keep stakeholders informed during disruptions to critical business services?
- Are there established communication channels to reach internal and external stakeholders?
- Is there a process to prioritise and communicate with stakeholders based on the severity and impact of the disruption?
- Are there effective communication channels and protocols during disruptions to critical business services?
- Are communication plans in place and regularly updated?
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Checklist
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- Assess the effectiveness of communication channels and protocols during disruptions.
- Review the training and awareness programs related to operational resilience for employees.
- Verify that communication plans are in place and regularly updated.
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- Is there a process for assessing and monitoring the resilience of critical third-party vendors?
- Are contracts and service level agreements (SLAs) with vendors inclusive of appropriate resilience requirements?
- Are vendor management processes aligned with the operational resilience program?
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- Evaluate the process for assessing and monitoring the resilience of critical third-party vendors.
- Review contracts and service level agreements to ensure they include appropriate resilience requirements.
- Verify that vendor management processes are aligned with the operational resilience program.
- Is there a change management process for critical business services?
- Are change requests, approvals, and testing procedures adequately documented?
- Does the change management process consider the potential impact on operational resilience?
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Checklist
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- Assess the change management process for critical business services.
- Review documentation of change requests, approvals, and testing procedures.
- Verify that change management procedures consider the potential impact on operational resilience.
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- Is there a reporting framework for operational resilience, including key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics?
- How frequently are reports provided to management and relevant stakeholders?
- Are the metrics aligned with the objectives of the operational resilience program?
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- Evaluate the reporting framework for operational resilience, including key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics.
- Assess the frequency and content of reports provided to management and relevant stakeholders.
- Verify that metrics are aligned with the objectives of the operational resilience program.
9. Testing and Exercising
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- Are the dependencies and interconnections of critical business services identified?
- Has the organisation mapped the dependencies between critical business services and supporting functions, systems, and vendors?
- Are business continuity or crisis management plans in place to address disruptions in independent services?
- Are regular testing and exercising of critical business services conducted?
- Are the testing and exercising scenarios designed to simulate realistic disruptions?
- Are the lessons learned from testing and exercises used to improve the operational resilience of critical business services?
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Checklist
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- Review the testing and exercise program for critical business services.
- Assess the frequency and comprehensiveness of testing, including scenario-based simulations.
- Validate that lessons learned from testing and exercises are documented and incorporated into the operational resilience program.
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Some steps may overlap with the other "Implement" phase stages.
More Information About Blended Learning Operational Resilience Audit (ORA) Courses
BCM Institute offers two levels of OR auditing courses: ORA-3 Blended Learning ORA-300 Operational Resilience Audit Specialist and the ORA-5 Blended Learning ORA-5000 Operational Resilience Audit Expert.
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