Definition
Resilience Testing is the process of verifying the ability of systems and organisations to sustain or rapidly restore required functionality following disruption.
Human Explanation
An organisation deliberately exercises its plans, procedures, people and technical solutions to determine whether they work under realistic adverse conditions.
Why it Matters
Untested assumptions and plans often fail only when a real crisis occurs, when correction is slowest and most expensive.
Conceptual Boundary
Resilience Testing is not limited to IT failover. It may examine organisational processes, decisions, communication, suppliers, workarounds and cooperation between teams.
Practical Perspective
Exercises create value when objectives and evidence are defined in advance, weaknesses are recorded and corrective actions are completed and retested.