What is the Purpose of ISO 22301?

The primary purpose of ISO 22301 is to ensure the continuity of your business during natural and disruptive incidents such as earthquakes, accidental fire, machinery failure, cyber-attacks, sudden change within the organization, etc. It helps enterprises prevent or minimize the impact of the events. The core purpose of ISO 22301 also involves preparing enterprises to function as usual and keep serving their customers irrespective of external or internal factors.

What is ISO 22301?

ISO 22301 is a set of policies and principles that businesses can follow to protect themselves from financial and reputational damage due to natural and intentional/unintentional disasters. It requires companies to build and implement a robust Business Continuity Management System(BCMS).

The purpose of BCMS is to help businesses understand how to deal with a crisis quickly without giving it even the slightest chance to manifest. It is a disaster prevention and recovery plan that can be executed immediately without requiring any last-minute approvals and modifications.

ISO 22301 is an international standard suitable for small as well as large businesses and non-profit organizations.

What is the purpose of ISO 22301?

Anything and everything can happen during a disaster. Your employees may not be able to reach the office during a hurricane. A landslide or a fire may damage your factory or crucial machinery. A cyber attack may harm your computer/control system. The way you handle these crises can have a significant impact on the survival of your business.

As per FEMA, 40-60% of small businesses do not survive a major disaster such as flood, hurricane, fire, etc. It also states that 20% of companies do not have a proper disaster recovery plan. Most of them leave it to guesswork and last-minute brainstorming.

Here are some of the things businesses may face during a catastrophic incident:

• Disruption in supply chain management
• Loss of communication infrastructure
• Loss of infrastructure, including buildings, factories, offices, roads, etc.
• Loss of machinery
• Loss of workforce
• Loss of business

Restoring the supply chain system/operation is the primary purpose of ISO 22301

A foolproof Business Continuity Management System can help restore your supply chain management systems or your overall operation within hours instead of days. The sooner you recover, the less you suffer financially. When you return to your business quickly, your customers suffer the minimum possible hassles. Your stakeholders will admire you for your promptness and sincerity. Faster recovery will also help you gain more business, especially the company of your competitors, who could still be in a mess.

FEMA states that the longer a business takes to recover, the more risk it faces for permanent closure.

The purpose of ISO 22301 is to help businesses minimize financial loss.

Naturally, larger businesses have some financial cushioning to absorb this loss. Still, the smaller ones may not have enough financial backup. So, it is even more critical for them to get back to their business asap.

ISO 22301 ensures that businesses’ Business Continuity Management System must lay out a detailed plan that can be executed immediately to minimize downtime as much as possible. The less a business suffers financially, its chances of survival and continuation will be higher.

Protecting the trust of customers is another primary purpose of ISO 22301

According to HubSpot, 68% of customers do not mind paying more for a brand that provides better customer service. So, these days businesses survive and grow because of customer satisfaction.

Keeping your customers happy can be challenging when you have experienced a cyber attack, your supply chain is down, or your machinery has failed. But, if handled carefully, these testing times can help you emerge as a strong, reliable, customer-friendly brand.

The BCMS created using ISO 22301 principles can minimize business interruptions so that you can serve your customers flawlessly even during tough times. The less your customers suffer, the more they will trust you, and the more they will choose you over your competitors.

Conclusion

We hope this article helps you understand the purpose of ISO 22301 certification. Like any other ISO standard, it is not mandatory in most countries. Still, getting ISO 22301 certification can help demonstrate your sincerity and commitment toward business continuity and customer satisfaction. It is crucial for small and large businesses. It is even more critical for small and medium-sized businesses because they often lack financial support to cover the losses caused by a disaster.

To get certified, you must create, test, and execute a BCMS. Then you need to get it audited by a third-party certification agency. You need to clear the audit to get your ISO 22301 certification. Once you have the certification, you need to renew it every three years.

Online exam. Self-paced. Self-study course materials included.