Natural disasters, supply chain issues or cyber-attacks are just some of the many unexpected threats that can disrupt any business. It is important for executives to maintain essential business functions during and after a disaster. That is why having an effective business continuity plan in place is key to restoring operations if anything goes awry.

Business Continuity planning that is effective for your organization

ISO 22301, Security and resilience – Business continuity management systems – Requirements, is the world’s first International Standard for implementing and maintaining an effective business continuity plan. It enables an organization to have a more effective response and a quicker recovery.  Effective continuity planning can help reduce any impact on people, products and the organization’s bottom line.

The global market requires that business continuity remains current and relevant to protect against possible threats and disruption. With the new standard for the management system it allows any business to be ready for when a disaster strikes. James Crask, Convenor of the ISO group of experts, said it brings together some of the world’s best practices. He believes that successful practices can further help organizations of any kind respond to, and recover from, disruptions effectively.

“A resilient organization is one that is able to adapt to change.  It’s about being aware of where its vulnerabilities lie and has plans in place to respond should things go wrong,”.

“Recovering quickly from a business disruption requires a deep understanding of what is important to an organization. With the help of easy-to-follow response plans, all levels of an organization will know their role in an incident.”

“The new ISO 22301 standard helps clients, suppliers, regulators and other stakeholders feel reassured that they can battle a disruption.”

Key improvements to the latest version include clearer structure and terminology to foster a better understanding of what is required. These updated requirements remain in line with all other ISO management system standards.

ISO 22301 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 292, Security and resilience, the secretariat of which is held by SIS, ISO’s member for Sweden. Learn more about the committee on its dedicated Website.