[OR] [P3-S5] [2-2] Conduct IQR: Testing And Evaluation

[2-2] Testing and Evaluation in IQR

Testing and evaluation are essential components of the IQR process, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of your operational resilience program.

Conducting various tests and evaluations can help you identify areas for improvement, assess your organization's preparedness for disruptions, and validate your incident response capabilities.

Key considerations for testing and evaluation include aligning activities with review criteria, conducting scenario testing and tabletop exercises, utilizing data analysis techniques, benchmarking against industry standards, and gathering stakeholder feedback.

These activities will help you identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement, ensuring that your OR program remains effective and aligned with your organization's goals.

Purpose

Testing and evaluation are essential components of the IQR process.

They provide an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of your operational resilience program and identify areas for improvement.

Key Considerations

Alignment with Review Criteria: Ensure that the testing and evaluation activities align with the review criteria established in the planning phase.
Scenario Testing: Conduct scenario testing to simulate various disruption scenarios and assess your organization's ability to respond and recover effectively.
Tabletop Exercises: Conduct tabletop exercises to evaluate your incident response plans and coordination capabilities.
Data Analysis: Analyze the data collected during the IQR process to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
Benchmarking: Compare your organization's performance against industry benchmarks or best practices.
Feedback Mechanisms: Establish mechanisms for gathering feedback from stakeholders involved in the IQR process.

Testing and Evaluation Techniques

Scenario Testing: Develop and simulate various disruption scenarios, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or supply chain disruptions.
Tabletop Exercises: Conduct tabletop exercises to practice incident response procedures and coordination among different teams.
Data Analysis: Use data analysis techniques to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement in your organization's operational resilience.
Benchmarking: Compare your organization's performance against industry benchmarks or best practices to identify areas for improvement.
Surveys and Interviews: Conduct surveys or interviews with stakeholders to gather their perspectives on the effectiveness of your OR program.

Additional Tips

Involve Key Stakeholders: Ensure that key stakeholders are involved in the testing and evaluation process to provide valuable insights and ensure that the results are relevant to your organization's specific needs.
Document Findings: Document the findings from testing and evaluation activities to support your IQR report.
Continuous Improvement: Use the results of the testing and evaluation to identify areas for improvement and inform your ongoing OR efforts.

By conducting thorough testing and evaluation, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your operational resilience program and identify opportunities for enhancement.

This will help ensure that your organization remains resilient and prepared to withstand future disruptions.

Additional Explanatory Note

Definition	Explanation	Definition
Self-Assessment	is to capture and document the steps taken towards operational resilience. is to provide a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the organisation's strategy and ability to respond to disruptions.
Self-Assessment Document	is to demonstrate the organisation’s resilience journey and how they have achieved compliance with the regulations.
Important 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 financial system or the orderly operation of the financial markets.
Critical Business Service	is a business service that, if disrupted, is likely to significantly impact the FSI’s safety and soundness, its customers or other FSI that depend on the business service.
Critical Operations	is defined as a business output that, if interrupted during the operational period, will cause financial loss, damage, or interruption to the delivery of goods or services essential to the organization’s continued operation or success.

"Sustain" Phase of the OR Roadmap

Introduce Culture Change	Develop Communication Strategy	Implement Training and Awareness	Provide Self-assessment	Conduct Independent Quality Review

More Information About Operational Resilience OR-5000 [BL-OR-5] or OR-300 [BL-OR-3] Course

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the OR-3 Blended Learning OR-300 Operational Resilience Implementer course and the OR-5 Blended Learning OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course.