How to Test Operational Resiliency Maturity and Preparedness Across Leadership Functions

Operational resiliency is no longer an isolated IT or compliance topic. In today’s risk environment, it’s a unified effort across governance, risk, compliance (GRC), information technology, and cybersecurity. Whether facing ransomware, a cloud outage, or a third-party breach, coordinated resilience reduces recovery time and limits financial, reputational, and regulatory impact.

Step 1: Establish a Shared Resiliency Framework

Adopt a common maturity model — such as the FFIEC Business Continuity Maturity Model or NIST Cybersecurity Framework — that integrates both business process and technical recovery capabilities. This ensures that CIO, CTO, CISO, and GRC leaders evaluate readiness through the same lens.

Step 2: Map Business-Critical Dependencies

Conduct dependency mapping across applications, networks, vendors, and data flows. This step identifies high-impact areas such as single points of authentication, legacy systems without redundancy, or vendors lacking robust recovery SLAs.

Step 3: Scenario-Based Testing

Run coordinated crisis simulations that involve every relevant function. Examples include:

• GRC: Testing compliance reporting deadlines during a system outage.

• CIO/CTO: Restoring key applications after a cloud region failure.

• CISO: Containing and recovering from a ransomware attack without paying a ransom.

Step 4: Measure and Benchmark Maturity

Assess performance using quantitative KPIs such as mean time to detect (MTTD), mean time to recover (MTTR), and percentage of critical processes covered by tested recovery plans. Benchmark results against industry peers through consortium data or vendor reports.

Step 5: Continuous Improvement Loop

Post-simulation reviews should feed directly into a continuous improvement plan. Updates may include revising runbooks, enhancing monitoring tools, or negotiating stronger recovery SLAs with vendors.

Expert Perspective

According to Gartner, organizations that conduct integrated resilience exercises involving all core leadership roles reduce downtime by an average of 40% compared to those with siloed testing. A shared maturity model and frequent validation exercises are key drivers of that success.

Final Takeaway

True operational resiliency is achieved when every leadership function shares ownership, testing is realistic and repeatable, and lessons learned are actively implemented. In an era of constant disruption, preparedness is a collective responsibility.