What is a business impact analysis (BIA) and why is it critical in continuity planning?

• A. A process to identify chronic IT issues
• B. It identifies critical processes, recovery time objectives, and impacts
• C. It measures customer satisfaction
• D. It forecasts annual budget

Answer: (C)

A business impact analysis identifies which business processes are critical, the potential impacts of disruption, and the recovery timelines required to resume operations. This is central to continuity planning because it provides the data you need to set recovery time objectives, prioritize resources, and design effective recovery strategies. By mapping dependencies across people, systems, and facilities, a BIA helps quantify what could be lost and how quickly those losses must be contained to protect the business. The best description of a BIA is that it identifies critical processes, recovery time objectives, and impacts. Other options describe activities outside this focus, such as customer satisfaction, budgeting, or chasing chronic IT issues.