Single Point of Failure
This page explains Single Point of Failure and its relevance to business operations.
D02 - Key Person Redundancy
Definition
A function, relationship, or system in which one person, vendor, or component holds such critical operational knowledge, relationships, or functional authority that its unavailability would cause immediate, significant operational disruption with no viable alternative available.
Single points of failure are natural in growing organizations. They emerge as functions that are built by the people who build them.
The problem is their invisibility. A function nobody has ever mapped as a single point of failure is a function nobody is managing the risk on.
Indicators
- You can name at least one person whose departure would create immediate, customer-visible operational failure.
- A vendor relationship or technology system exists with no alternative identified or contractually available.
- No inventory of your operation's single points of failure has ever been produced.
Quick Win
- Name one person whose departure tomorrow would cause immediate, visible operational failure.
- That's your highest-priority backup coverage gap.
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