During business impact analysis interviews, the team needs two inputs that help determine which business services must recover first after an outage. Which two inputs are the most useful? Select two.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Best answer
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
RTO identifies how quickly a service must be restored to avoid unacceptable business disruption.
Distractor review
Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALE)
ALE helps with financial risk analysis, but it does not directly define recovery priority during an outage.
Distractor review
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
MTBF is a reliability measure, not a BIA input for setting recovery urgency.
Best answer
Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
RPO defines how much data loss is acceptable and helps shape backup and recovery planning.
Distractor review
Control self-assessment score
A self-assessment may show control maturity, but it does not directly set business recovery priorities.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A laptop is suspected of being used in a malware incident. It is still powered on and connected to Wi-Fi. What should the responder do before shutting it down?
Question 2
An employee reports a ransomware note on a file server. The server is still powered on, shares are still being accessed, and management wants service restored as quickly as possible. What should the incident response team do first?
Question 3
An employee reports a ransomware note on a finance laptop. The laptop is still powered on, connected to Wi-Fi, and the user says they were just working in a spreadsheet. Management wants the fastest safe response that also preserves evidence. What should the responder do first?
Question 4
You are handed a company laptop suspected in an insider theft case. Legal says the evidence may be needed in court. Which action best preserves admissibility?
Question 5
A developer wants to reduce the risk of SQL injection in a new customer search form. Which two changes are the best mitigations? Select two.
Question 6
A branch office uses a flat LAN, and a compromise on one user workstation could spread quickly to finance systems. Management wants finance workstations isolated from general users, but finance staff still need access to a central finance application and network printer. What is the best design change?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Recovery Time Objective (RTO) — RTO and RPO are the two key BIA recovery inputs. RTO tells the organization how quickly a service must be restored, and RPO tells it how much data loss can be tolerated. These values help prioritize recovery work, set backup frequency, and guide continuity planning. They are more directly useful for outage planning than financial metrics or reliability measurements. Why others are wrong: ALE is useful for quantitative risk analysis, not for defining recovery timing. MTBF describes how often a system fails, but it is not a business impact analysis output. A control self-assessment score measures control posture, not outage priorities. The question is about recovery planning, so RTO and RPO are the correct pair.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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