ISO 22301:2019
ISO 22301 Standard Implementation
ISO 22301 is the international standard for business continuity management systems (BCMS). It answers a key question: how does an organisation keep operating when a disruption occurs — a system failure, a cyberattack, a fire, a power outage or the loss of a key supplier.
What is ISO 22301:2019?
Business disruptions are no longer a question of 'if' but 'when': ransomware attacks, supply-chain disruptions and natural disasters affect organisations of every size. ISO 22301 provides a proven framework for defining in advance what's critical to the organisation, how long it can afford to be down, and how it recovers within a set timeframe.
At the centre of the standard is a business impact analysis (BIA), which establishes, for each process, the maximum tolerable period of disruption and recovery objectives (RTO/RPO) — the basis on which continuity strategies and plans are built and regularly exercised.
Implementation phases
The real phases we guide every project through — from preparation to the certificate, which comes only at the end:
Audit, Review and Improvement
The steps follow clauses 4–10 of the standard, with the BIA as the key technical step. Not sure whether you already meet these requirements? Check with the short self-assessment at the bottom of this page.
Context and scope of the BCMS
We define which services, locations and processes fall within the system, and which obligations to customers and regulators we must meet even during a disruption.
Leadership and the continuity policy
Management adopts the policy, appoints those responsible, and secures resources for the continuity programme.
Planning and objectives
We set measurable BCMS objectives and plan activities for risks and opportunities.
BIA and risk assessment
A business impact analysis: critical processes, interdependencies, RTO/RPO objectives and the resources needed for recovery, alongside an assessment of disruption risk.
Continuity strategies and solutions
We select solutions: backup locations, IT-system redundancy, alternative suppliers, manual workaround procedures.
Plans and procedures (BCP/DRP)
We draft continuity and recovery plans with clear roles, contacts and activation steps for realistic scenarios.
Exercises and testing
Plans are tested through exercises — from tabletop simulations to a real system failover; findings feed into improvements.
Audit, review and improvement
The internal audit, management review and corrective actions close the PDCA loop.
The path to certification
Certification follows the standard two-stage model.
The prerequisite for everything: the system is implemented and applied in practice — every requirement of the standard met, the internal audit carried out and the management review completed.
Checking the BIA, strategies and continuity plans.
Checking application: evidence of exercises, staff awareness and the functionality of solutions.
A certificate valid for 3 years.
Annual audits and recertification in the third year.
Benefits of Adopting the Standard
Plans defined in advance drastically shorten downtime and losses when an incident occurs.
Banks, telecoms and corporations increasingly require proof of continuity from key suppliers.
Insurers and partners recognise a certified BCMS as reduced risk.
It's clear who does what in a crisis — no improvisation at the worst possible moment.
An illustrative, typical scenario we often hear from clients — it does not represent a specific, named client.
“A system outage a few years ago cost us three working days and several clients. It was only through ISO 22301 that we did a proper business impact analysis (BIA), set the RTO and RPO for our key processes and tested the continuity plan with a simulation for the first time — it turned out that recovery would take us twice as long as we had thought.”
— a common scenario among our clients
Related standards
ISO 27001 requires information-security continuity (controls 5.29 and 5.30), which ISO 22301 deepens into a complete system — that's why they're often implemented together. ISO 22313 provides implementation guidance, and alongside ISO 20000-1 it covers the availability of IT services.
ISO 22301 training — from a basic understanding of the standard to internal auditor training. Delivered at your premises, online or as a combination of both.
FAQ about ISO 22301:2019
What is a BIA?
Business Impact Analysis — an analysis that establishes, for each process, the consequences of disruption and the maximum tolerable downtime, the basis of every continuity plan.
What do RTO and RPO mean?
RTO is the target recovery time for a process or system; RPO is the maximum acceptable data loss expressed in time (e.g. the last hour of data).
How long does implementation take?
Usually 4 to 7 months, depending on the number of critical processes and the complexity of the IT environment. For large systems — over 500 employees, multiple locations or an integrated system of several standards — a project realistically runs beyond a year; we handle those clients too.
Are exercises mandatory?
Yes — the standard explicitly requires regular exercising and testing of plans, and auditors ask for records from exercises.
How much does ISO 22301 implementation cost?
There is no fixed price that applies to everyone — the cost depends on the organisation's field of activity, its size and number of employees, the chosen standard and the current state of the system. Send us a short description of your organisation and we will prepare a free, tailored estimate.
Standards that fit together like a honeycomb
Each standard keeps its own shape, but together they form a single solid, integrated management system (IMS) — with no gaps or overlaps. Click a hexagon to open that standard.
More about the integrated management system
An integrated management system (IMS) combines two or more ISO standards — for example ISO 22301 with ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 — into one shared framework of documentation, objectives and internal reviews, instead of each standard living in its own parallel procedure.
A single structure (the High-Level Structure — HLS) shared by every modern ISO standard. Thanks to it, the quality policy, risk management, internal audits and management review can be common to several standards at once.
Each standard on its own addresses one part of the business — quality, environment, safety, information. When an organisation introduces several of them, separate systems quickly duplicate the same documentation and the same auditors.
Less duplicated procedure work, simpler management, stronger process oversight, more efficient use of resources and easier preparation for a combined certification audit.
ISO 22301 can be implemented on its own or as part of an integrated system — the decision depends on how many standards you're targeting and whether you're introducing them at once or gradually.
Check your organization's readiness
Answer a few questions and receive an indicative assessment of your organization's current level of readiness for ISO 22301.
This self-assessment provides an indicative readiness result only. It does not constitute certification, an official audit, or formal confirmation of compliance.
The EU, the US and other markets
ISO 22301 is the same standard wherever you certify it — what differs is the designation, the accreditation behind the certificate and what your customers ask for.
In the European Union the standard is adopted with an EN prefix, and what your buyer in the Netherlands, Germany or France looks at is not the prefix but the accreditation behind the certificate: a body accredited by a signatory of the international recognition arrangement (Global Accreditation Cooperation, formerly IAF) is recognised in other markets too. What EU partners and EU regulation expect is on the page about the EU market.
For companies with customers in the United States — supplier audits, security questionnaires and how ISO sits alongside SOC 2 — see the page about the US market.
Wherever your customer is, we run the project remotely in English — over Teams, WhatsApp or Viber, with documentation and records in English — and on site when that is easier.
Montenegro and the region: MEST EN ISO 22301:2020
When people ask about a MEST EN ISO 22301:2020 certificate (or a ISO 22301:2019 certificate), they mean the confirmation issued by an independent accredited certification body to an organisation whose system complies with every requirement of this standard. Montenegro's national edition of the standard carries identical content to the international edition — the same requirements, the same clauses, just under a national designation — which is why both designations turn up in tenders for the same standard.
Why do the designations differ if it's the same standard?
Every member country of the European and international standardisation system adopts the same standard into its own national catalogue and adds a national prefix — in Montenegro, that's MEST. The content, structure, clauses and every requirement an auditor checks during certification remain completely identical regardless of which designation appears on the document. That's why a certificate issued under one designation fully covers the other — it isn't two standards, but one and the same, simply under two names.
Our core activity is standards implementation and rollout: we prepare your organisation so the certification audit goes without surprises, and we explain terms like "ISO 22301:2019 certification" and "MEST EN ISO 22301 certificate" because that's exactly how clients search for them. What certification, accreditation, IAF and surveillance audits involve — read the Certification / ISO Certificate page, and about tender designations on the ISO Standards in Tenders page.
Montenegro is where we work from: our consultants are based in Podgorica, Budva and Bijelo Polje, documentation and training come in Montenegrin or in English, and the certificate itself is issued by an independent accredited certification body — not by us. We work on site in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo as well — more about what we do in Montenegro.
Some of our references
More than 400 organisations in Montenegro and the region have gone through implementation with us — from banks and public bodies to manufacturing, IT, laboratories and hospitality.
These are only some of our clients. More about us →
Request a free consultation
We will assess the scope of work and propose a realistic plan and budget for your organisation. Call us or send an inquiry — we reply within 24 hours.