- A
The service desk was not notified of the change.
Why wrong: Notification is important but not the primary concern.
- B
The CAB did not adequately assess the potential impact of the change.
The outage suggests the CAB failed to identify risks.
- C
The change should have been classified as emergency.
Why wrong: There is no indication it was an emergency; the concern is about the CAB's review.
- D
The change was not tested in a pre-production environment.
Why wrong: While testing is important, the primary concern is the CAB's approval process.
Question 888 of 984
CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience
This CISA practice question tests your understanding of information systems operations and business resilience. 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.
During a change management process review, an IS auditor finds that the change advisory board (CAB) approved a change that subsequently caused a major service outage. The change was classified as 'normal' with no emergency. What is the auditor's primary concern?
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 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
✓
The CAB did not adequately assess the potential impact of the change.
The primary concern is that the CAB approved a 'normal' change without adequately assessing its potential impact, leading to a major service outage. In ITIL-based change management, the CAB is responsible for evaluating the risk, impact, and resource requirements of a change before approval. A failure in this assessment indicates a breakdown in the change management process, which is the core issue an IS auditor must address.
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.
- ✗
The service desk was not notified of the change.
Why it's wrong here
Notification is important but not the primary concern.
- ✓
The CAB did not adequately assess the potential impact of the change.
Why this is correct
The outage suggests the CAB failed to identify risks.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
The change should have been classified as emergency.
Why it's wrong here
There is no indication it was an emergency; the concern is about the CAB's review.
- ✗
The change was not tested in a pre-production environment.
Why it's wrong here
While testing is important, the primary concern is the CAB's approval process.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may focus on operational details (like testing or classification) rather than the governance failure of the CAB's impact assessment, which is the core audit concern in change management.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under ITIL v3/4, a 'normal' change follows a standard, risk-assessed path through the CAB, which must evaluate the change's potential impact on service availability, capacity, and security. In this scenario, the CAB's approval without proper impact analysis suggests a gap in the risk assessment process, possibly due to incomplete change documentation or lack of technical expertise. A real-world example is a network change that inadvertently disabled a critical routing protocol (e.g., BGP) because the CAB did not assess the change's effect on adjacent systems, leading to a cascading outage.
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.
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Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CISA question test?
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: The CAB did not adequately assess the potential impact of the change. — The primary concern is that the CAB approved a 'normal' change without adequately assessing its potential impact, leading to a major service outage. In ITIL-based change management, the CAB is responsible for evaluating the risk, impact, and resource requirements of a change before approval. A failure in this assessment indicates a breakdown in the change management process, which is the core issue an IS auditor must address.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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