Purpose: This Project Provides An Opportunity To Apply The C

Purposethis Project Provides An Opportunity To Apply the Competencies

This project provides an opportunity to apply the competencies gained in the lessons of this course to develop a risk management plan for a fictitious organization to replace its outdated plan.

This project provides an opportunity to apply the competencies gained in the lessons of this course to develop a risk management plan for a fictitious organization to replace its outdated plan.

This project provides an opportunity to apply the competencies gained in the lessons of this course to develop a risk management plan for a fictitious organization to replace its outdated plan.

You will gain an overall understanding of risk management, its importance, and critical processes required when developing a formal risk management plan for an organization.

The following tools and resources that will be needed to complete this project: Course textbook, Internet access for research.

All project submissions should follow this format: Microsoft Word or compatible, Arial, 10-point, double-space, your school’s preferred citation style.

Scenario: You are an IT intern working for Health Network, Inc., a fictitious health services organization headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with over 600 employees and $500 million USD in annual revenue. It has additional locations in Portland, Oregon, and Arlington, Virginia, supporting corporate operations near co-location data centers managed by third-party vendors. The organization’s main products are HNetExchange, HNetPay, and HNetConnect, with HNetExchange being the primary revenue source.

Health Network operates in three production data centers hosting about 1,000 servers, with 650 corporate laptops and mobile devices. Threats identified include data loss from hardware removal, loss of information due to stolen devices, outages affecting customers, internet threats, insider threats, and regulatory changes. Senior management believes the current risk management plan is outdated and is committed to developing a new plan, with a flexible budget to address all material risks identified during the process.

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Effective risk management is crucial for modern organizations, especially in the healthcare sector where data security, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity are vital. Health Network, Inc., recognizing the importance of current and comprehensive risk mitigation strategies, has embarked on developing a new risk management plan. This paper outlines a thorough Business Impact Analysis (BIA) plan that aims to identify critical business functions, resources, and recovery objectives to ensure resilience against emerging threats.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Objectives

The primary objectives of the BIA are to identify:

  • Critical business functions essential for operational continuity
  • Critical resources required to support these functions
  • Mainly Acceptable Outage (MAO) durations and impact levels for each function
  • Recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) that guide restoration priorities

H3>Methodology

The BIA process involves engaging with key stakeholders across departments, analyzing operational dependencies, and assessing potential impacts of disruptions. Interviews and surveys will be conducted with business unit leaders to gather insights about essential processes and tolerable downtime. Document reviews and system audits will complement stakeholder input, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the organization’s critical functions.

Identifying Critical Business Functions and Resources

Health Network’s core functions such as handling electronic medical messages (HNetExchange), processing payments (HNetPay), and maintaining online directories (HNetConnect) are prioritized based on revenue contribution and regulatory importance. Critical resources include data center infrastructure, servers, network equipment, and confidentiality-sensitive information like patient and provider data.

Impact Analysis and Recovery Objectives

Impact levels are classified as operational, financial, legal, or reputational, with detailed assessments assigned to each critical function. For instance, data loss affecting patient records may have legal consequences and damage to reputation. Recovery objectives are set based on the acceptable durations identified during stakeholder consultations, typically aiming for a recovery time within 4-8 hours for mission-critical systems and 24-48 hours for supporting processes.

Implementation Approach

The BIA plan emphasizes collaboration with all stakeholders and continuous review to accommodate evolving threats and organizational changes. It involves creating detailed recovery plans aligned with organizational priorities, implementing regular testing, and updating the plan based on lessons learned and new threat intelligence.

Conclusion

Establishing a robust BIA is fundamental for the new risk management plan at Health Network. By systematically evaluating critical functions, resources, and impacts, the organization can better prepare for disruptions, minimize downtime, and ensure regulatory compliance. The insights from this BIA will inform strategic risk mitigation efforts and enhance the overall resilience of Health Network.

References

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2013). Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Handbook. FEMA.
  • Gordon, L. A., Loeb, M. P., & Tsitas, C. (2020). The Role of Business Impact Analysis in Business Continuity Planning. Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 14(1), 25-36.
  • ISO. (2018). ISO/IEC 27001:2013 — Information Security Management Systems. International Organization for Standardization.
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2018). Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments (Special Publication 800-30). NIST.
  • Wallace, M., & Webber, L. (2017). The Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-Step Plan to Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities, and Assets. AMACOM.
  • Palmer, M., & Vickers, P. (2019). Business Impact Analysis: How to Elicit, Analyze, and Use Critical Information. Business Continuity Journal, 3(2), 45-59.
  • British Standards Institution. (2019). BS 25999-1:2006 – Business Continuity Management. BSI.
  • Williams, P., & Hunter, D. (2021). Strategic Approaches to Risk Management in Healthcare. Healthcare Management Review, 46(3), 184-192.
  • Hiles, A. (2017). The Definitive Business Continuity Plan: The Complete Guide to Planning for Major Disasters. CRC Press.
  • Abbasi, A., & Gavrilova, M. (2020). Cybersecurity and Business Impact Analysis: Protecting Critical Infrastructure. IEEE Security & Privacy, 18(2), 31-39.

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