Assess Business-Critical Functions 

Course Structure

PREVIEW OF COURSE 4: ASSESS BUSINESS CRITICAL-FUNCTIONS

How Course 4 Works

Course 4 is a structured, step-by-step functional assessment designed to support internal planning and decision-making.

You will work through seven assessment steps using guided lessons and a downloadable Planning Workbook to document:

•  Systems and capabilities
• Phase goals and business impacts
• Sub-system requirements and constraints
• Restoration priorities and Operational Decision Points (ODPs)
• Information and data dependencies
• Risks, gaps, and follow-up items

Partial completion is expected. Even draft outputs provide meaningful visibility during disruption planning and response.

An optional Team/Trainer consolidation tool is included for organizations that choose to aggregate functional inputs internally; consolidation itself remains outside the scope of the course.

How Access and Tools Are Used (Team/Trainer)

In the Team / Trainer Edition, access and tools are intentionally scoped to support coordinated internal assessment without over-distribution.

Designated facilitators access Course 4 content for orientation and context. Assessment Leads receive the Planning Guide. Working Capture Tools may be distributed internally to authorized Functional Leads and sub-group owners. Optional Input Questions may be shared internally for input-gathering purposes only.

This structure supports broad input while maintaining clear ownership, license compliance, and internal governance.

Prerequisites
Course 4 assumes that leadership alignment, business-critical function identification, and communication roles have already been addressed. Organizations are expected to complete Courses 1–3 before beginning Course 4 to ensure assessment inputs are based on agreed priorities and roles.

What This Course Addresses

Course 4 addresses the operational feasibility gap that appears after priorities are defined but before contingency plans can be built.

Specifically, this course examines:

• Whether business-critical functions can actually operate when systems, data, or access are constrained

• How dependencies across systems, people, facilities, and processes affect feasibility

• Where operational pressure points emerge earlier than expected

• What information, capabilities, or conditions must exist for workarounds to function

• Which assumptions break down under real disruption conditions

Course 4 does not define how the business should operate during disruption.
It surfaces what is and is not feasible, based on current dependencies and constraints.

That clarity is required before operational contingency frameworks can be built.

Time Commitment & Viewing Options

Assessment work is iterative by design. Actual timing and structure vary by organization and are not intended as one-time events.

Solo Edition — Typical Time Range

Most individuals complete the core Course 4 assessment work in approximately 3–5 hours, depending on organizational complexity and the level of refinement applied to draft inputs.

Additional time may be spent revisiting sections as assumptions are validated or conditions change.

Team / Trainer Edition — Typical Time Range

Time commitment varies based on organizational size, number of functions and systems assessed, and how assessment work is coordinated internally.

Most organizations complete Course 4 through a series of focused working sessions conducted by individual functions, followed by internal review and follow-up activities — rather than a single, centralized workshop.

This work often spans multiple weeks — and in larger or more complex organizations, may extend over several months — depending on the number of functions, systems, and dependencies involved.

This does not mean weeks or months of continuous effort. Assessment work is typically distributed across functions and completed in short, focused sessions over time.

For many organizations, this is the first time functional leaders document system, data, and restoration needs in a structured way. As with budgeting or forecasting, the first pass takes the longest. Once a baseline exists, future reviews are significantly faster.

Where This Course Fits in the Program

Course 4 builds on prioritization and coordination established in Courses 2 and 3 by assessing the feasibility of business-critical functions and surfacing constraints, dependencies, and pressure points before operational contingency frameworks are defined.