According to certification organisation QSS, there has been a marked increase in enquiries for ISO 22301 – the Standard for Business Continuity Planning – since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reason, it seems, is more corporate accounts are asking for it on RFPs.
It seems the unforeseen disruption caused by the pandemic has resulted in movers increasingly being asked during the RFP and tendering process to provide structured evidence of how they are covering business interruption contingencies and business continuity planning. Although many will already have BCP policies and procedures in place informally, it is likely that ISO 22301 will become a minimum requirement in the future.
Consequently, QSS says it is currently developing processes to audit the Standard from May 2021.
David Woodhouse, General Manager at QSS said, “I’ve recently had conversations with two clients who say that holding the Standard would work well for them as they have, during the pandemic, sourced tender work where BCP planning and contingencies was a formal part of the contract. They both openly admitted to struggling to provide what they felt was adequate evidence of their own businesses meeting that requirement and, depending on when the contracts are put up for re-tender, feel they will need to have ISO 22301 in place ...”
Photo: David Woodhouse.
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