Why does BCM need to assess application dependencies?

The Business Owner of an IT Application, in consultation with the Information Technology team (typically during the Systems Development Lifecycle), establishes an acceptable RTO/RPO for Business Application(s) prior to production release. Application data, over time, integrate into business operations forming new, and sometimes complex, dependency relationships. BCM tracks this expansion/contraction of use and assesses gaps (Business “need” vs IT recovery “capability”) that may require further business risk mitigation/continuity planning effort.