ISO 22301 protects continuity of any business activity through disruption. ISO 27001 protects the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. They overlap in availability — 27001’s A.5.30 (ICT readiness for business continuity) is the bridge.
Organisations whose disruption would harm customers, revenue, or reputation — finance, healthcare, utilities, government.
Any organisation managing sensitive information — SaaS, finance, healthcare, government, professional services.
All ten dimensions head-to-head:
| Aspect | ISO 22301 | ISO 27001 |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Continuity of any activity | Confidentiality, integrity, availability of information |
| Driver | Disruption (any cause) | Information security threats |
| Key analysis | BIA + risk assessment + threat scenarios | Information risk assessment + 93 Annex A controls |
| Recovery metrics | RTO, RPO, MTPD | Confidentiality/integrity/availability targets |
| Plans | Business continuity plans (BCP) | Incident response + ICT continuity (A.5.30) |
| Testing | Mandatory exercises | Recommended testing |
| Overlap | ~30% with 27001 | ~30% with 22301 |
| Cost (SME) | £8k–£18k | £15k–£40k |
| Time to implement | 6–12 months | 6–12 months |
| Surveillance | Annual | Annual |
Choose ISO 22301 if you operate critical services; your customers/regulators require BCM; you have a measurable cost of downtime.
Choose ISO 27001 if you handle sensitive data; you tender for B2B contracts; you want a recognised information-security certificate.
Many regulated sectors hold both. ISO 27001’s 2022 revision strengthened ICT continuity (A.5.30), making integration smoother.
Only the ICT continuity portion (Annex A control 5.30). For full enterprise BCM you need ISO 22301.
Recovery Time Objective (how quickly an activity must resume) and Recovery Point Objective (how much data can be lost). They’re central to ISO 22301 planning.
Yes — both follow Annex SL so the management-system clauses (4–10) are aligned. Risk register, audit programme, management review can be merged.
Both standards have free interactive gap-analysis tools — no sign-up, no install.