Here's a brief overview of the standard:
In an era where digital disruption is the norm, organizations face a critical challenge: ensuring that their information and communication technology (ICT) systems can recover quickly enough to support business operations during a crisis. While generic business continuity management (BCM) addresses overall organizational survival, it often lacks the granular technical specificity required for modern ICT environments. Enter , an international standard that provides the essential guidelines for integrating ICT readiness into the business continuity lifecycle. This essay explores the official scope, core principles, and practical value of ISO/IEC 27031 as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), demonstrating how it serves as a critical bridge between technical disaster recovery and strategic business continuity.
The standard clearly distinguishes between a disruptive event (e.g., a power surge or ransomware alert) and a business continuity incident (when the event exceeds the organization's tolerance for interruption). This distinction allows ICT teams to trigger predefined recovery procedures before the business officially declares a disaster. Here's a brief overview of the standard: In
ISO/IEC 27031 introduces several distinctive concepts that set it apart from generic BCM or disaster recovery standards:
According to the official ISO website, ISO/IEC 27031 is a standard that provides guidelines for organizations to implement information and communication technology (ICT) readiness for business continuity. The standard is part of the ISO/IEC 27000 series of standards for information security management. This essay explores the official scope, core principles,
Unlike a general IT disaster recovery plan, ISO/IEC 27031 focuses on the continuity of business operations as enabled by ICT services. Its key objective is to ensure that an organization’s ICT systems can resume critical business activities within agreed timeframes, such as the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). The standard is explicitly designed to be used alongside (Business Continuity Management Systems) and ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management), integrating seamlessly into the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.
This standard provides guidance on how to: and non-governmental entities.
The most recent version is , which was officially published in 2025 to address modern challenges such as cloud-driven environments and cyberattacks. It succeeds the original ISO/IEC 27031:2011 version. Key Components and Framework Go to product viewer dialog for this item. ISO/IEC 27031:2011
The standard establishes a framework for identifying, specifying, and improving the methods and processes necessary for an organization's ICT to be ready to support business continuity. It is applicable to organizations of all types and sizes, including private, governmental, and non-governmental entities.