The Good Practices Guidelines (GPG) addendum for ISO 22301:2019 is now available from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). This addendum shows the changes to recently revised 22301, which are relevant to the GPG and will preserve the alignment with the ISO standard.

While these two documents serve different purposes, they both deal with Business Continuity Management (BCM) and the fundamental concepts and actions that are aligned. Although there are some differences in the language used, many of the definitions used stem from the ISO standard.

The ISO standard (22301:2019) specifies the requirements for organizations and their Business Continuity Management System (BCMS). An organization may have their BCMS certified against this standard. The GPG complements the standard by detailing what BCM professionals need to know about BCM and implementing a BCM program.

As is customary at ISO, the standard was revised after five years. The revision of the ISO standard did not result in any new requirements but focused on improving the structure and readability. Apart from a better distinction between the requirements of the BCMS itself and the business continuity requirements, the requirements are now clearer, and many terms were updated. It is then no surprise that most changes documented in the addendum relate to these updated terms.

The addendum was developed in two stages. Initially a group of experienced BCM professionals identified the changes and made recommendations for inclusion in the addendum. These were reviewed by a second group, many of whom were part of the ISO revision team. The results were then detailed and reviewed.

As the BCM profession develops so too do the best practices. The GPG is also being reviewed for 2022.

Learn more and download the GPG here.