The answer is ensuring critical business functions continue during a disruption and maintaining legal and regulatory obligations. These are primary objectives of a business continuity plan because a BCP is fundamentally designed to minimize operational downtime and protect the organization from legal, financial, and reputational harm when normal operations are impaired. On the CISA exam, this concept tests your understanding that a BCP is not just about IT recovery but about preserving the entire organization’s ability to meet compliance mandates like GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX. A common trap is confusing a BCP’s primary objectives with secondary goals like data backup speed or cost reduction; remember, the core focus is continuity of critical functions and regulatory adherence. Memory tip: think “CR” for Continuity and Regulatory—the two pillars that keep a business alive during a crisis.
CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience
This CISA practice question tests your understanding of information systems operations and business resilience. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Which TWO of the following are primary objectives of a business continuity plan (BCP)?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Maintain regulatory compliance during disruptions
Option D is correct because a primary objective of a BCP is to ensure that the organization can continue to meet legal and regulatory obligations during a disruption. This includes maintaining required data protection, reporting, and operational standards as mandated by regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX, even when normal operations are impaired.
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.
✗
Replace the disaster recovery plan
Why it's wrong here
BCP and DRP are separate but complementary; BCP does not replace DRP.
✗
Minimize financial loss
Why it's wrong here
Minimizing financial loss is a benefit, but not a primary objective.
✗
Guarantee 100% system uptime
Why it's wrong here
100% uptime is impossible in a disruption; BCP aims for recovery within acceptable parameters.
✓
Maintain regulatory compliance during disruptions
Why this is correct
Compliance with regulations is a primary objective of BCP.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Ensure critical business functions continue during a disruption
Why this is correct
This is a primary objective of BCP.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the BCP's primary objectives with secondary benefits like cost savings or uptime guarantees, or mistakenly think the BCP replaces the DRP, when in fact the BCP is a broader plan that includes the DRP as a component.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A BCP is built around a business impact analysis (BIA) that identifies critical processes, their maximum tolerable downtime (MTD), and the resources needed for continuity. The plan typically includes predefined procedures for failover to alternate sites, manual workarounds, and communication protocols, all tested through tabletop exercises and simulations. In a real-world scenario, a BCP might specify that a financial institution must maintain transaction processing within 4 hours (RTO) to avoid regulatory penalties, using a hot site with synchronized data replication.
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 Operations and Business Resilience — This question tests Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Maintain regulatory compliance during disruptions — Option D is correct because a primary objective of a BCP is to ensure that the organization can continue to meet legal and regulatory obligations during a disruption. This includes maintaining required data protection, reporting, and operational standards as mandated by regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX, even when normal operations are impaired.
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: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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