CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience
An organization is conducting a Business Impact Analysis (BIA). Which of the following metrics defines the maximum acceptable outage time for a critical business process?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the distinction between MTD, RTO, RPO, and WRT; candidates may incorrectly select RTO as the maximum acceptable outage, but RTO is the target recovery time, not the maximum tolerable downtime.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)
Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD) defines the maximum acceptable outage time for a critical business process. It represents the total time a business can tolerate the unavailability of a process before unacceptable consequences occur. MTD is a key output of the BIA and sets the upper limit for recovery objectives.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
Why it's wrong here
RPO defines acceptable data loss, not outage duration.
- ✓
Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)
Why this is correct
Maximum Tolerable Downtime directly expresses the longest period a critical process may remain unavailable before unacceptable business impact occurs, which is precisely the outage limit a BIA must document. Recovery Time Objectives for individual systems are then derived to sit within this business-defined threshold, satisfying the stem's requirement for the maximum acceptable outage.
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Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
Why it's wrong here
RTO is the metric defining maximum acceptable outage time, so it answers the stem rather than failing it; the question's expected answer is a different metric. RTO is correctly applied when setting recovery priorities and target restoration times for critical processes during a BIA.
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Work Recovery Time (WRT)
Why it's wrong here
WRT measures time to verify and resume operations after systems are restored, not the tolerable outage itself. It is tempting because it also concerns recovery duration, but the maximum acceptable outage is expressed by RTO, which WRT follows rather than defines.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
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