Introduction

In our previous articles, we explored what Business Continuity Management (BCM) is, why it matters, and how to build a robust Business Continuity Plan (BCP). We looked at the core components of a BCP—from conducting a Business Impact Analysis and assessing risks, to developing strategies, documenting them clearly, testing regularly, and continually improving over time.

With this foundational understanding, it’s now time to zoom out and consider the frameworks and standards that guide and shape how organizations practice BCM. Just as a well-designed city benefits from robust building codes, traffic regulations, and emergency guidelines, businesses thrive when continuity planning isn’t left to guesswork or ad hoc measures. Instead, recognized standards and frameworks provide structured, proven approaches that help ensure consistency, quality, and effectiveness across industries and regions.

These standards are not about adding bureaucracy for the sake of it. Rather, they exist to bring best practices into sharper focus, build a common language among professionals, and offer measurable criteria against which you can assess and enhance your continuity capabilities. By adopting relevant standards, you’re not just following rules—you’re laying a foundation of trust with customers, regulators, partners, and other stakeholders.

In this article, we’ll break down the most important standards and frameworks that govern Business Continuity Management. We’ll focus on widely recognized international standards like ISO 22301, look at frameworks tailored to information and communications technology continuity (like ISO/IEC 27031), and explore guidance from organizations like the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We’ll also discuss why these standards matter, how to approach them without becoming overwhelmed, and what to consider if you’re thinking about pursuing formal certification.

The Role of Standards in BCM

Before diving into the specifics of each standard, let’s address a fundamental question: Why do standards matter for BCM?

At a high level, standards:

Create a Common Language: Different organizations may use different terms or approaches. Standards establish clear terminology and methodologies so that when someone says “Business Continuity Management System” or “Business Impact Analysis,” everyone knows what it means, regardless of their industry or geographic location.
Ensure Quality and Consistency: Standards are based on collective wisdom drawn from experts, practitioners, and sometimes regulatory bodies. Adhering to a standard means you’re less likely to miss critical steps, overlook important controls, or rely solely on trial-and-error methods.
Build Trust and Credibility: Whether you’re dealing with customers, regulatory agencies, investors, or insurance providers, showing that your continuity efforts are guided by recognized standards conveys seriousness and competence. It reassures stakeholders that you’re not making it up as you go along.
Facilitate Continuous Improvement: Standards often include guidance for monitoring, reviewing, and improving your BCM practices. This ensures that your continuity program remains relevant, evolves with the threat landscape, and matures as your organization grows.
Benchmarking and Certification: Some standards allow for third-party audits and certification. This can be a powerful differentiator, particularly in industries where resilience and compliance are paramount.

With this understanding, let’s look at some of the most influential standards and frameworks that shape the BCM landscape.

ISO 22301: The International Standard for Business Continuity

When it comes to Business Continuity Management, ISO 22301 is arguably the most significant and widely recognized international standard. Published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 22301 provides a comprehensive framework for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).

Key Features of ISO 22301

Holistic Approach: ISO 22301 doesn’t focus solely on technology or specific scenarios. It covers all aspects of business continuity, including people, processes, infrastructure, supply chains, and information systems. It encourages organizations to think broadly about what needs to keep running and why.
Process-Oriented: This standard follows a management system approach, similar to ISO 9001 (Quality Management) or ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management). It promotes the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” (PDCA) cycle, ensuring continual improvement rather than one-off compliance.
Risk-Based Thinking: ISO 22301 encourages organizations to identify and assess the risks to their critical activities, and then select appropriate strategies and controls to mitigate those risks. It’s not prescriptive about which exact controls to use, but it expects you to follow a logical decision-making process based on identified threats and impacts.
Clear Requirements for Documentation and Leadership: To conform to ISO 22301, top management must show leadership and commitment, ensuring business continuity objectives align with the organization’s strategic direction. The standard also requires proper documentation, defined responsibilities, and competence requirements for key roles.
Measurable Objectives and Continuous Improvement: ISO 22301 isn’t about checking a box and filing away a certificate. It mandates measurable objectives for continuity and requires organizations to regularly test their plans, conduct audits, and revise strategies as needed.

Benefits of Adopting ISO 22301

Global Recognition: Being certified to ISO 22301 instantly communicates to stakeholders that your organization adheres to internationally recognized best practices.
Enhanced Credibility and Trust: Customers, partners, and regulatory bodies often view ISO certifications as a mark of quality and responsibility.
Improved Preparedness: The rigorous approach required by ISO 22301 forces organizations to think systematically about continuity and can reveal gaps that ad hoc planning might miss.

Challenges to Consider

Resource Commitment: Achieving and maintaining ISO 22301 certification requires time, effort, and often financial investment, particularly for audits, documentation, and employee training.
Cultural Change: Your organization must embrace the mindset of ongoing improvement. This can mean shifting the company culture so that continuity becomes an integral part of strategic thinking rather than a side project.

ISO/IEC 27031: Focusing on ICT Continuity

While ISO 22301 takes a broad approach, ISO/IEC 27031 zeroes in on the technological backbone that supports your critical activities. Officially titled “Information technology—Security techniques—Guidelines for information and communication technology readiness for business continuity,” ISO/IEC 27031 provides guidance on ensuring that your IT infrastructure and digital services can withstand disruptions.

Why ICT Continuity Matters

In today’s digital age, most critical business functions rely heavily on technology. E-commerce portals, payment systems, customer databases, supply chain management platforms, and communication tools all rest upon a technological foundation. A server outage or a cyber attack can bring your operations to a standstill. ISO/IEC 27031 recognizes this dependency and offers frameworks to ensure your IT environment remains resilient.

Key Principles of ISO/IEC 27031

Integration with BCM: This standard doesn’t replace ISO 22301; it complements it. While ISO 22301 addresses the overall BCMS, ISO/IEC 27031 dives deeper into the technological aspects. It helps you understand how IT systems support business processes and what specific measures you need to protect them.
Readiness and Preparedness: The focus here is on “ICT Readiness.” It encourages organizations to assess their current technical capabilities, identify gaps, and develop improvement plans. This might involve improving backup and recovery procedures, enhancing network redundancy, or adopting stronger cybersecurity measures.
Holistic Coverage of Technology: ISO/IEC 27031 doesn’t just look at servers and data centers. It considers all aspects of ICT, including cloud services, networks, storage solutions, and communication systems, ensuring that continuity planning leaves no digital stone unturned.

Benefits and Considerations

Adopting ISO/IEC 27031 guidelines helps ensure that the technological underpinnings of your continuity plans are sound. This can lead to faster recovery times, lower downtime costs, and improved trust in your digital infrastructure. However, like ISO 22301, implementing these guidelines requires a thorough assessment of your IT landscape, investments in technology and training, and ongoing vigilance to remain current in the face of rapidly evolving threats.

NIST Guidelines: A U.S. Perspective with Global Influence

Outside of the ISO family, one of the most respected bodies providing guidance on continuity and resilience—especially in the context of cybersecurity and technology—is the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Although NIST is a U.S. federal agency, its frameworks and publications have a global following.

NIST Special Publications (SP), such as NIST SP 800-34 (Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems), offer detailed recommendations on preparing for and responding to disruptions in IT systems. While initially aimed at U.S. federal agencies, many private-sector entities also look to NIST for best practices due to the clarity, depth, and technical rigor of its guidance.

Key Aspects of NIST Guidance

Detailed Technical Guidance: NIST documents often go into granular detail about the technical steps needed to secure systems, maintain backups, and execute failover procedures.
Lifecycle Approach: NIST encourages organizations to integrate continuity planning into their overall information security lifecycle. This includes categorizing information systems based on their impact levels, selecting appropriate continuity strategies, and testing these strategies regularly.
Flexibility and Adaptation: While ISO standards focus on management systems and compliance, NIST tends to provide flexible guidelines. Organizations can tailor NIST recommendations to their unique needs without aiming for a formal certification. This makes NIST materials excellent tools for improving internal processes or preparing for audits based on other standards.

Why Consider NIST?

If your organization operates in sectors with a strong cybersecurity focus—finance, healthcare, critical infrastructure—NIST guidelines can prove invaluable. They provide a robust technical foundation, help integrate cybersecurity measures with continuity planning, and are often considered authoritative references in regulatory discussions and litigation.

Other Industry-Specific Frameworks and Regulatory Requirements

In addition to the broad standards like ISO 22301 and the more specialized frameworks like ISO/IEC 27031 and NIST publications, many industries have their own continuity requirements and guidance documents. For example:

Financial Services: Financial regulators in many countries (such as the U.K.’s Prudential Regulation Authority or the U.S. Federal Reserve) have specific mandates for business continuity and disaster recovery. Institutions often must demonstrate compliance with stringent guidelines that sometimes incorporate or align with ISO standards.
Healthcare: Hospitals and healthcare providers often follow guidelines from regulatory bodies like the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires contingency plans for protecting patient data. Additional frameworks from groups like the Joint Commission can provide further structure.
Energy and Utilities: Critical infrastructure sectors, including energy providers, water utilities, and telecommunications companies, may face government mandates that prescribe minimum continuity and resilience measures. These guidelines recognize that disruptions in these sectors can have severe societal impacts.

In such cases, organizations must navigate a patchwork of standards, regulations, and best practices. They might choose ISO 22301 as a foundation and then layer on industry-specific controls. Or they might rely on NIST guidance to inform their approach to cybersecurity while ensuring their solutions also meet sector-specific regulations. Striking the right balance can be complex but is essential for comprehensive resilience.

Should You Pursue Certification?

Not all standards are certifiable. ISO 22301, however, is one that allows organizations to seek formal certification through accredited third-party auditors. Achieving ISO 22301 certification proves that your BCMS meets internationally recognized criteria. This can be a powerful selling point, especially when dealing with clients or regulators who value verified compliance.

However, pursuing certification is not always necessary or even desirable. Certification entails audits, paperwork, and ongoing surveillance to maintain your credentials. Organizations that are small or operate in less regulated environments might find that adopting the principles of these standards without seeking certification is sufficient. Instead of certification, they might rely on self-assessment tools, internal audits, or external consultants who can validate their practices without formal certification.

The decision often comes down to cost-benefit analysis. If certification will enhance customer trust, open new markets, or meet a regulatory requirement, it may be well worth the investment. If not, simply following the guidance might give you the resilience you need without the administrative overhead.

Integrating Standards with Your Existing BCM Efforts

If you’ve already begun implementing BCM measures—conducting a BIA, writing your BCP, running tests, and improving as you go—the idea of adopting a formal standard or framework might feel daunting. Will it require you to start from scratch?

In most cases, no. Many organizations find that their existing BCM activities already align, at least partially, with recognized standards. The process of adopting a standard like ISO 22301 often involves conducting a gap analysis: comparing your current practices to the standard’s requirements and identifying where you need to bolster your efforts.

For example, you might already have a solid backup strategy and well-tested recovery procedures, but lack a formal policy statement or top management endorsement, which ISO 22301 requires. Filling this gap could be as simple as drafting a clear policy document and having it approved by your leadership team. Or you might realize you need to introduce a more structured approach to performance measurement, ensuring you track key metrics over time.

The goal is not to abandon what you’re doing, but to refine and systematize it. Standards can serve as a roadmap, helping you move from informal practices to a mature, documented, and continuously improving program.

Making Sense of the Landscape

With so many standards, frameworks, and guidelines out there, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. How do you choose the right one(s) for your organization?

Start with Your Needs: Consider what your primary drivers are. Are you in a highly regulated industry that mandates adherence to a specific standard? Are you seeking a competitive edge by demonstrating internationally recognized compliance? Or do you simply want a solid internal framework for guiding improvement?
Consider Your Resources and Maturity: If you’re new to BCM, it might make sense to start with a more flexible guideline, like a NIST publication, to strengthen your technical controls and internal processes before pursuing a formal ISO certification. If you’re already experienced and want the credibility of a certificate, ISO 22301 might be your target.
Seek Expert Guidance: Sometimes it’s worth consulting with a BCM expert or a certified auditor who can help you understand the implications of each standard. They can help you chart a path that aligns with your strategic goals, budget, and timeline.
Iterate and Evolve: Remember that adopting a standard or framework is not a one-time decision. You might start with basic compliance and gradually aim for certification later. As your organization grows and matures, you can take on more demanding standards or incorporate additional frameworks to address new risks.

The Road to a Resilient Future

The beauty of standards and frameworks is that they turn abstract concepts like “resilience” and “readiness” into concrete steps you can follow. Instead of wondering whether your continuity efforts are on the right track, these guidelines give you a benchmark. They tell you what a “good” continuity program looks like and how to achieve it.

Equipped with ISO 22301 for a holistic approach, ISO/IEC 27031 for ICT continuity, and the depth of NIST guidance for technical resilience and cybersecurity integration, you have a toolkit that can be adapted and scaled to your organization’s unique circumstances.

Ultimately, choosing to align with standards and frameworks is about more than achieving compliance or earning a certificate to hang on the wall. It’s about fostering a culture that values preparedness, champions continuous improvement, and aspires to meet recognized best practices. It’s about forging trust, both inside and outside the organization, and standing confidently in the face of uncertainty, knowing you have a well-tested, globally acknowledged blueprint for weathering the storms that come your way.

In the next installments of this series, we’ll explore how to scale BCM for organizations of different sizes, discuss tools and technologies that support continuity, and continue building the knowledge that empowers you to keep your business running smoothly no matter what challenges arise.