The answer is to delay the release by one week to complete the proper fix. This is the best action because it resolves the root cause of the performance issue, ensuring the system can handle peak loads reliably before the legacy ERP is retired. Applying a temporary workaround, such as reducing concurrent transactions, only masks the symptom and introduces unacceptable risk of transaction failures and data corruption during the critical transition period. On the CISA exam, this scenario tests your understanding of project trade-offs between delay and workaround for performance issues, emphasizing that a permanent fix is mandatory when a legacy system is being decommissioned. A common trap is choosing the workaround to meet the deadline, but auditors prioritize long-term stability over short-term schedule adherence. Memory tip: “Fix the root, don’t patch the shoot”—when a legacy system is about to be retired, a proper fix now prevents catastrophic failure later.
CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation
This CISA practice question tests your understanding of information systems acquisition, development and implementation. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company has been developing a custom inventory management system using Scrum. In the current sprint, the team discovered that the integration module with the legacy ERP system has severe performance issues: under peak load, transactions time out and fail. The product owner is concerned because the release is scheduled in two weeks. The development team estimates that a proper fix will take three weeks. A similar issue occurred in a previous sprint and was temporarily resolved by reducing the number of concurrent transactions, which lowered performance but kept the system operational. The stakeholders are anxious about the deadline because the legacy ERP will be retired shortly after the planned go-live. What is the BEST action for the team to take?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Delay the release by one week to complete the proper fix (three weeks total)
Option B is correct because delaying the release by one week allows the team to implement a proper, permanent fix for the ERP integration module's performance issue, which is critical given that the legacy ERP will be retired shortly after go-live. A temporary workaround would risk system instability and transaction failures under peak load, potentially causing data loss or corruption during the transition. The three-week estimate for a proper fix addresses the root cause, ensuring the system can handle peak loads reliably before the legacy system is decommissioned.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Reduce the scope of the release to exclude the ERP integration feature entirely
Why it's wrong here
Excluding ERP integration would make the system incomplete and not meet business needs.
✓
Delay the release by one week to complete the proper fix (three weeks total)
Why this is correct
A one-week delay allows a proper fix, ensuring system reliability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add two additional developers to the team to complete the fix within the original two-week timeline
Why it's wrong here
Adding developers may not speed up the fix and could introduce coordination challenges.
✗
Apply the same workaround for the go-live and plan a permanent fix in a later release
Why it's wrong here
The workaround reduces performance and may not handle peak loads.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may choose Option D (workaround) because it seems pragmatic and avoids delaying the release, but they fail to recognize that the legacy ERP's imminent retirement makes a later permanent fix impossible, leaving the system with a critical, unresolved performance flaw.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The performance issue likely stems from inefficient database queries, connection pool exhaustion, or synchronous blocking calls between the custom system and the legacy ERP's API. Reducing concurrent transactions is a throttling mechanism that masks the underlying problem but does not address the root cause, such as missing indexes, suboptimal query plans, or lack of connection pooling tuning. In real-world scenarios, legacy ERP systems often have hard limits on concurrent sessions or transaction throughput, and a proper fix might involve implementing asynchronous message queues (e.g., RabbitMQ or Kafka) to decouple the systems and buffer peak loads.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the CISA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation — This question tests Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Delay the release by one week to complete the proper fix (three weeks total) — Option B is correct because delaying the release by one week allows the team to implement a proper, permanent fix for the ERP integration module's performance issue, which is critical given that the legacy ERP will be retired shortly after go-live. A temporary workaround would risk system instability and transaction failures under peak load, potentially causing data loss or corruption during the transition. The three-week estimate for a proper fix addresses the root cause, ensuring the system can handle peak loads reliably before the legacy system is decommissioned.
What should I do if I get this CISA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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