Risk Assessments

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Risk assessment is a business issue, not a technical one. This is the second step in bringing your critical incident plan to fruition. Risk assessment is the process by which the organization's management understands the impacts associated with potential threats and calculates maximum downtime before the organization ceases to be profitable. Risk assessment requires widespread interaction with relevant business units and sometimes places team leaders in the middle of having to soothe tempers and calm bruised egos. Like planning, there are many different approaches to successful risk assessment. Some are very complicated and require an incredible degree of abstract understanding, while others are simple and effective.

Experience Note 

Occam's razor: "All things being equal, the simplest solution is usually the best."

Risk assessment comes to a conclusion when an organization's executives make formal decisions relative to their fault tolerance. Fault tolerance is the level of functionality required by an organization to continue profitably.

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