Full Guide: Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)

Importance:
One of the most critical aspects of business continuity and disaster recovery planning is the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). It ensures that an organization's essential functions continue operating despite an emergency, disaster, or system disruption. This is crucial for minimizing downtime and ensuring business resilience.

What is COOP:
COOP is a federal initiative, in the US, to encourage government entities and divisions to develop plans to ensure their critical operations can continue during times of emergency. COOP identifies essential business functions and processes and provides a strategy for the continuation of these processes in case of a catastrophic event.

How it works:
A COOP prepares for three kinds of business interruptions: minor interruptions, a disaster, and a severe disaster. Measures include maintaining duplicate data sets and backups, the ability to work remotely, and processes to quickly recover and restore normal operations after an incident.

Exam Tips - Answering Questions on COOP:
Understanding the basics of COOP is a critical part of the CISSP exam. Here are some tips to help you answer COOP-related questions:
- Remember that COOP is primarily focused on maintaining essential business operations during a disruption.
- Understand the types of events a COOP prepares for. Examples are minor interruptions, disasters, and severe disasters.
- Know the steps for implementing a COOP, such as identifying critical business processes, developing an implementation plan, and planning for recovery and restoration of operations.
- Refer to case studies and real-life examples to better understand how COOP works in practice.
- Practice answering exam-style questions on this topic to make sure you understand how to apply the principles of COOP in a test scenario.

Remember, the goal of COOP is not just to survive a disaster, but to continue operating as normally as possible.