Most Important Factors for Verifying High Availability in Critical Business Applications

C.

When reviewing a critical business application that requires high availability, the most important thing for an IS auditor to verify is that there is no single point of failure. This means that the application is designed and implemented in a way that ensures that if any component fails, the application can still function without disruption.

A single point of failure is any component of a system that, if it fails, can cause the entire system to fail. This can be a hardware or software component, a network connection, or any other critical element that is necessary for the system to function.

Verifying that there is no single point of failure is important because it ensures that the application can continue to function even if there is a failure or outage of one or more components. This is especially critical for applications that are vital to the organization's operations and require high availability, as any disruption or downtime can have significant business impact.

While the other options listed (reviewing algorithms, participation in offsite business continuity testing, and monitoring SLAs) are also important, they are not as critical as ensuring that there is no single point of failure. Reviewing algorithms can help to identify process inefficiencies and improve application performance, but it is not directly related to high availability. Offsite business continuity testing is important for ensuring that the organization can recover from a disaster or outage, but it does not address the issue of single points of failure. Monitoring SLAs is important for ensuring that service providers are meeting their commitments, but it does not address the underlying issue of single points of failure in the application itself.