What should the CIO recommend to minimize financial loss due to a critical business function's downtime?

To minimize financial loss due to a critical business function's downtime, transferring the risk is a strategic approach often recommended by CIOs. This method involves shifting the responsibility or financial burden associated with the potential risks to another party, which can be achieved through various means, such as purchasing insurance or outsourcing certain functions to a third-party provider. By transferring the risk, the organization can protect its financial standing and ensure that essential business operations can continue without incurring significant losses during a downtime event.

In contrast, implementing a full system hardware replacement could be costly and may not be a feasible immediate fix to minimize downtime. It is a reactive measure rather than a proactive way to manage risk. On the other hand, purchasing additional compensating controls, while possibly helpful, might still leave the organization exposed to some risk and may not entirely mitigate the financial implications of downtime. Ignoring the risk altogether is not a viable recommendation, as it leaves the organization unprotected and vulnerable to financial loss in the event of unexpected downtime. Thus, transferring the risk helps in proactively managing the potential impacts of downtime.