SA-7.5: Contingency Plan — Applications and Data Criticality Analysis
Contingency planning isn't one-size-fits-all. SA-7.5 requires you to evaluate which applications and data are most critical to your operations so you can prioritize recovery efforts where they matter most. This control ensures your disaster recovery strategy aligns with actual business impact, not guesswork.
What this means
SA-7.5 mandates a structured assessment of application and data criticality to inform contingency plan design. You must identify which systems, applications, and datasets are essential to business operations and patient care delivery. This criticality analysis becomes the foundation for recovery time objectives (RTO), recovery point objectives (RPO), and resource allocation decisions. Organizations must document the rationale for criticality classifications and use this analysis to prioritize backup, testing, and recovery procedures across the contingency plan framework.
How to comply
- 1.Inventory all applications and data repositories used in your organization
- 2.Define criticality assessment criteria (patient safety impact, operational dependence, data sensitivity, regulatory requirements)
- 3.Classify each application and dataset as critical, important, or non-critical based on your criteria
- 4.Document recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for each critical system
- 5.Link criticality assessments to backup frequency, testing schedules, and recovery procedures
- 6.Review and update criticality analysis at least annually or when significant system changes occur
- 7.Maintain evidence of assessment methodology and classification decisions
Evidence auditors look for
- Criticality matrix showing applications, data types, classification levels, and business justification
- RTO and RPO definitions tied to criticality ratings
- Backup and recovery procedures cross-referenced to criticality levels
- Annual review documentation showing assessment updates and rationale for classification changes
- Business impact analysis (BIA) supporting criticality determinations
- Contingency plan sections that reference and prioritize critical systems
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
GRCWatch automates criticality assessments by mapping your applications and data to HIPAA impact categories, generating RTO/RPO recommendations, and linking criticality ratings directly to backup and recovery procedures—eliminating manual spreadsheet management and ensuring contingency plans reflect actual dependencies.
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