Information management tools for implementing an effective enterprise business continuity strategy

Abstract

The current work aims to the development of the Business Continuity Testing Points method which can help both IT as well as business managers define an efficient business continuity strategy. The BCTP method stems from the UML Use Case Points theory which is a practically tested and accepted approach to SW complexity estimation. The Use Case Points methodology was selected as the theory behind the construction of the BCTP model, due to the fact that firstly, both theories share the requirement analysis task and secondly because complexity of information systems is strongly related to their recovery in cases of their unexpected failovers. In the Use Case Points theory IT analysts perform software requirement analysis by executing various business scenarios. The BCTP theory, on the other hand, is constructed to support the analysis of IT system recovery requirements, by executing multiple efficient recovery scenarios. The method is a new approach to the objective determination of the Recovery Time Effort of a business function in comparison to the Rational Time Objective and the Maximum Acceptable Outage, which are defined with regard to the Impact Value Level of the function. The most critical functions of the enterprise should be included in the Minimum Business Continuity Objective (MBCO) concept. MBCO refers to vital business functions without which the enterprise is not able to perform its basic operations. The Recovery Time Effort of a given business function is affected by multiple Technical, Environmental and Unexpected factors with precise weights and assessment values. Recovery exercises should be based on scenarios which include the unexpected factors that may delay the recovery process. The derived exercise results are proposed as drivers for the reassessment of the criticality of a business function.