CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation
An organization is deploying a major system upgrade. The change request has been approved by CAB, but the deployment plan does not include a rollback procedure. As an IS auditor, what should you recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests whether candidates treat CAB approval as sufficient authorization, but the trap is that approval does not equal operational readiness — the missing rollback plan is the real control gap the auditor must flag.
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
✓
Delay the deployment until a rollback plan is created and tested
A rollback plan is a mandatory component of any production change because it provides the mechanism to restore the prior known-good state if the deployment fails or causes outages. Without a tested rollback procedure, the organization has no controlled recovery path, exposing it to extended downtime and data integrity risk. As an IS auditor, the correct recommendation is to delay deployment until a rollback plan is created and tested, regardless of CAB approval.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Perform the deployment during off-peak hours to minimize impact
Why it's wrong here
Off-peak timing reduces user impact but leaves no mechanism to restore the prior state if deployment fails, so recovery remains uncontrolled. It is tempting because timing is a valid deployment control, but it would be correct only when a rollback procedure already exists and impact is the sole concern.
- ✗
Document the decision to skip rollback in the change record
Why it's wrong here
Documenting the omission records the gap rather than closing it; the auditor should recommend creating and testing a rollback procedure before deployment. It is tempting because change records should capture decisions, but documentation would be correct only if rollback were genuinely infeasible and risk formally accepted.
- ✗
Proceed with deployment as CAB approval is sufficient
Why it's wrong here
CAB approval authorises the change but does not substitute for a tested rollback plan; without one, failed deployment cannot be reversed, extending outage and recovery time. It is tempting because approval implies due diligence, but proceeding would be correct only for low-risk, easily reversible changes.
- ✓
Delay the deployment until a rollback plan is created and tested
Why this is correct
Without a tested rollback procedure, a failed upgrade could leave the system unrecoverable, breaching availability and change-management controls. Delaying deployment until rollback is created and tested ensures the approved change can be safely reversed, satisfying the auditor's requirement that changes remain recoverable before implementation proceeds.
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JA
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
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.