Get ISO 22301 Compliant
ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management) is as much an evidence problem as it is a policy problem. Teams fail when controls exist, but proof is scattered, outdated, or inconsistent.
Neutral Partners helps you scope what matters, implement practical controls, and build an evidence package reviewers, customers, and internal stakeholders can trust.
At a Glance
- Best for: Organizations that must prove service resilience and recoverability
- Works with: SOC 2 and ISO 27001 programs that need continuity proof
- Outcome: A BCMS with tested plans, owned runbooks, and audit-ready records
- Focus: BIA, RTO/RPO, exercises, and corrective action management
- Common failure point: Plans that look good on paper but haven’t been exercised under realistic stress
If you want a plan you can execute, start with a short working session.
Book a Discovery SessionWhat Is ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management)
ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management) defines expectations for how organizations manage privacy and related controls. Compliance becomes durable when you treat it as an operating model: defined responsibilities, repeatable workflows, and evidence that stays current.
Neutral Partners focuses on making the requirements actionable—so the program works in production, not just on paper.
Continuity vs. disaster recovery
Clarity on the variant and scope prevents rework and helps you build the right evidence the first time.
- Business continuity: Processes, people, communications, and priorities to keep critical services running.
- Disaster recovery: Technology restoration plans (RTO/RPO) that support continuity objectives.
Who Needs ISO 22301
ISO 22301 typically matters when you collect, use, share, or host personal data in a way that customers, regulators, or partners will scrutinize.
- SaaS and critical services: Customers require evidence of tested continuity and recovery.
- Regulated businesses: Need formal governance for resilience and audit-ready proof.
- Enterprises with complex operations: Multiple teams and vendors require coordinated recovery plans.
What ISO 22301 Covers
Most efforts fail when organizations try to “document” their way into compliance without aligning systems, vendors, and day-to-day operations. A practical program ties requirements to the workflows that generate proof.
- Governance & scope: BCMS scope, roles, policy, and management review cadence.
- BIA & risk assessment: Critical processes, dependencies, RTO/RPO, and risk treatment decisions.
- Plans & procedures: Response, communications, recovery playbooks, and escalation.
- Testing & improvement: Exercises, lessons learned, corrective actions, and metrics.
Evidence Auditors Expect
Audits and customer reviews move faster when evidence is organized, traceable, and repeatable. Common evidence categories include:
- Governance: policies, roles, training, and management review records
- Operational: request workflows, tickets, reviews, and decision logs
- Technical: configurations, logs, encryption settings, and monitoring outputs
- Third-party: vendor assessments, contracts, and oversight evidence
Rule of thumb: if you can’t prove it with current evidence, you can’t rely on it.
ISO 22301 Roadmap
Move faster by running the work like a program: clear scope, owned controls, and a living evidence library.
Define scope and objectives
Clarify the management system scope, stakeholders, and outcomes. Identify what is in/out and the dependencies.
Assess gaps and risks
Evaluate current processes, controls, and performance. Identify risks, owners, and prioritized remediation actions.
Implement processes and controls
Build lightweight, owned processes that teams can execute. Add training, tooling, and approvals where needed.
Collect and standardize evidence
Create records that prove execution: metrics, reviews, approvals, tests, corrective actions, and management decisions.
Audit readiness and improvement
Run an internal audit, close findings, and set a repeatable cadence for continual improvement.
Make ISO 22301 a Growth Lever
Compliance becomes a revenue enabler when customers can trust your controls—and you can prove them quickly.
Schedule a Discovery SessionCommon ISO 22301 Gaps
- BIA is outdated: RTO/RPO and dependencies drift as systems and teams change.
- Plans aren’t testable: Runbooks are generic; ownership and step-by-step actions are unclear.
- Vendor dependencies are missing: Continuity plans ignore critical third parties and cloud services.
- Exercises don’t produce actions: Tests happen, but corrective actions and follow-through aren’t tracked.
How Neutral Partners Helps
We help you scope the work, implement what matters, and build evidence that holds up to review—without derailing product velocity.
What We Deliver
- Scope & operating model: Define the management system, owners, and a roadmap teams can execute.
- Process design: Documented, lightweight processes that fit how your teams actually work.
- Evidence & metrics: Records, KPIs, and review artifacts that prove execution and improvement.
- Internal audit readiness: Pre-audit checks, finding remediation, and corrective action tracking.
- Sustainment: A repeatable cadence for reviews, updates, and continual improvement.
Proof matters. Since 2017, we have maintained a 100% audit success rate across more than 700 successful audits and assessments.
ISO 22301 FAQs
How often should we test?
At least annually for critical scenarios, plus after major changes. The goal is repeatability and measurable improvement.
What’s the biggest certification driver?
Evidence: BIAs, exercises, decision logs, corrective actions, and management review records.
Do we need DR in multiple regions?
Not always, but your DR strategy must meet your RTO/RPO and be proven through testing and monitoring.
Can ISO 22301 align with SOC 2/ISO 27001?
Yes. Many controls overlap (risk, change management, incident response), so you can share evidence across programs.