ISO 22301, Business Continuity Management Standards

ISO 22301, “Societal security – Business continuity management systems – Requirements” , is a standard for a business continuity management system. The system specifies that the performance of the business continuity plan be measured using defined metrics which assess the ability of the business continuity plan to meet predefined targets. These targets are defined based on specific goals of the organization to protect their prioritized operations and activities, as approved by the top management.

The ISO standard also has requirements for auditing and ongoing monitoring. During the audit and BCP challenge testing, the results collected are not just pass/fail results but specific performance indicators which allow the organization to focus on specific areas of improvement. The goal of the audit is to ensure that the prioritized critical activities are maintained in the event of a disruption in operations or a disaster. This is basically a formal system for managing the business continuity plan, ensuring it works as intended, and implementing ongoing improvements to ensure its continued viability in the future.

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