ELI5: What are Dependencies?
You can’t eat cereal without milk, and you can’t pour milk without opening the fridge. Dependencies are the things that rely on each other — if one breaks, the others can’t work either.
Definition
In the context of business impact analysis and continuity planning, dependencies are the upstream and downstream systems, people, processes, and third parties that a critical business function relies upon to operate. Upstream dependencies provide inputs (e.g., a database that feeds an application); downstream dependencies consume outputs (e.g., customers or partners that rely on the service). Understanding dependencies is essential for accurate RTO/RPO planning and identifying single points of failure.
Key Details
- IT dependencies: servers, databases, network infrastructure, storage, cloud services
- Human dependencies: key personnel, on-call staff, vendors with specialized knowledge
- Third-party dependencies: cloud providers, SaaS vendors, payment processors, utilities
- Dependency mapping reveals hidden single points of failure not obvious from a system inventory alone
- Exam tip: a BIA without dependency mapping will underestimate recovery complexity and time
Connections
- Parent: business-impact-analysis — dependency mapping is a core BIA activity
- See also: single-point-of-failure-spof
- See also: critical-business-functions