CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience
An organization outsources its help desk to a third-party vendor. The contract includes a service level agreement (SLA) with response times. The auditor wants to ensure that the organization can monitor vendor performance. Which clause is most important?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the misconception that SLAs alone ensure performance monitoring, when the right-to-audit clause is what legally enables verification of vendor compliance.
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
✓
Right-to-audit clause
A right-to-audit clause contractually grants the organization the authority to audit the vendor's processes, controls, and records. Without it, the organization cannot independently verify SLA compliance or vendor performance, making it the most critical clause for monitoring. It provides the legal basis for the auditor to examine vendor operations and evidence.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Exit strategy clause
Why it's wrong here
An exit strategy clause addresses transition, data return and termination support when the outsourcing relationship ends; it cannot evidence whether response times are being met. It is tempting because it is a standard vendor-management control, and would be correct when auditing continuity or termination risk rather than ongoing performance monitoring.
- ✓
Right-to-audit clause
Why this is correct
A right-to-audit clause contractually grants the organisation and its auditors access to the vendor's records, controls and facilities, enabling independent verification of SLA response times. Without it, performance monitoring relies solely on vendor self-reporting, which cannot substantiate compliance claims during audit.
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Indemnification clause
Why it's wrong here
Indemnification allocates liability for third-party claims and financial loss; it provides no mechanism for measuring response times against the SLA. It is tempting because it protects the organisation contractually, and would be the right clause when assessing risk transfer for vendor negligence or data breaches, not performance monitoring.
- ✗
Confidentiality clause
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality governs how the vendor protects and restricts disclosure of the organisation's data; it says nothing about tracking response times. It is tempting because help desks handle sensitive information, and would be correct when the audit objective concerned data protection obligations rather than SLA performance measurement.
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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
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