Introduction

In an increasingly volatile and unpredictable global environment, the capacity of organizations to maintain critical operations through disruption has become a paramount concern for regulators, boards, and stakeholders. Operational resilience auditing and rigorous stress testing are not merely compliance exercises, but indispensable disciplines that empower organizations to proactively identify vulnerabilities, strengthen their ability to withstand severe shocks, and ensure continuous delivery of essential services. This essential training course focuses on Operational Resilience Auditing and Stress Testing, equipping participants with the specialized knowledge and practical methodologies to critically assess an organization's resilience framework, simulate severe but plausible scenarios, and provide robust assurance on its ability to recover from diverse threats, from cyberattacks and technology failures to natural disasters and pandemics.

This intensive training course delves into the nuanced art of evaluating an organization's entire operational landscape, including people, processes, technology, data, and third-party dependencies, against defined impact tolerances. We will explore various auditing techniques specific to operational resilience, the design and execution of stress testing scenarios, and the crucial role of audit in challenging assumptions and validating recovery capabilities. Participants will gain hands-on experience in assessing critical business services, mapping their underlying resources, and interpreting the results of stress tests to inform strategic improvements. By the end of this training course, you will possess the expertise to confidently lead and contribute to initiatives that significantly enhance an organization's operational resilience, ensuring business continuity and safeguarding stakeholder trust.

Target Audience

• Internal Auditors
• Operational Risk Managers
• Business Continuity & Resilience Specialists
• Compliance Officers
• IT Auditors & Cybersecurity Professionals
• Senior Executives (COO, CIO, CRO)
• Regulatory Affairs Professionals
• Consultants in Risk & Resilience

Course Objectives

• Understand the fundamental concepts of operational resilience and its importance in modern business.
• Learn the regulatory expectations and industry best practices for operational resilience.
• Master methodologies for identifying and mapping critical business services and their dependencies.
• Develop skills in setting and auditing impact tolerances for critical operations.
• Understand the principles and types of stress testing for operational resilience.
• Learn about designing and executing severe but plausible stress test scenarios.
• Explore best practices for evaluating the effectiveness of an operational resilience framework.
• Master techniques for performing operational resilience audits across various organizational functions.
• Understand the role of audit in validating recovery capabilities and response plans.
• Learn about reporting audit findings and providing actionable recommendations for resilience improvement.
• Apply practical operational resilience auditing and stress testing strategies to real-world case studies.

Duration

5 Days

Course Content

Module 1: Foundations of Operational Resilience

• Defining operational resilience and its distinction from business continuity and disaster recovery.
• Exploring the drivers of operational resilience (e.g., regulatory pressure, reputational risk, systemic risk).
• Understanding the key components of an operational resilience framework.
• Overview of critical business services, impact tolerances, and mapping.
• The imperative for holistic organizational resilience.

Module 2: Regulatory Landscape & Best Practices

• Learning about key regulatory expectations for operational resilience (e.g., DORA, OCC, FCA, PRA).
• Understanding industry best practices and standards (e.g., ISO 22301, NIST) in relation to operational resilience.
• Navigating cross-sector and cross-border operational resilience requirements.
• The role of governance and accountability in operational resilience.
• Aligning internal frameworks with external demands.

Module 3: Identifying & Mapping Critical Services

• Methodologies for identifying an organization's critical business services.
• Techniques for mapping processes, people, technology, data, and third-party dependencies supporting critical services.
• Understanding interconnections and single points of failure.
• Establishing clear service definitions and boundaries.
• Tools for visualizing and documenting operational landscapes.

Module 4: Impact Tolerances & Resilience Objectives

• Developing skills in setting appropriate impact tolerances for critical business services.
• Understanding different types of impacts (e.g., financial, reputational, customer harm).
• Establishing clear resilience objectives and recovery time objectives (RTOs) for your module.
• Auditing the rationale and justification behind set impact tolerances.
• Communicating impact tolerances to stakeholders.

Module 5: Operational Resilience Stress Testing Design

• Understanding the principles and purpose of stress testing for operational resilience.
• Learning about different types of stress tests (e.g., scenario-based, historical, hypothetical).
• Strategies for designing severe but plausible stress test scenarios.
• Considering internal and external threat actors and their potential impacts.
• Developing realistic test parameters and success criteria.

Module 6: Executing & Auditing Stress Tests

• Mastering techniques for executing operational resilience stress tests.
• Conducting tabletop exercises, simulations, and live tests.
• Auditing the methodology, scope, and results of stress tests.
• Validating recovery capabilities, communication protocols, and decision-making processes.
• Identifying control weaknesses and resilience gaps through testing.

Module 7: Reporting, Remediation & Continuous Improvement

• Strategies for effectively reporting operational resilience audit findings and stress test results.
• Providing actionable recommendations for enhancing resilience.
• Tracking remediation efforts and verifying the implementation of improvements.
• Embedding operational resilience into the organization's risk management and governance.
• Fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement in operational resilience.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Training Venue

The training will be held at our Skills for Africa Training Institute Training Centre. We also offer training for a group at requested location all over the world. The course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, and buffet lunch.

Visa application, travel expenses, airport transfers, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Skills for Africa Training Institute certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Terms of Payment: Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 10 working days before commencement of the training.