{"id":195027,"date":"2026-07-10T18:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factorialhr.com\/blog\/?p=195027"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:19:05","slug":"iso-27001-vs-iso-22301","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factorialhr.com\/blog\/iso-27001-vs-iso-22301\/","title":{"rendered":"ISO 27001 vs ISO 22301: What Are the Differences?"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 are two international standards that often get mentioned in the same breath and are easy to mix up. Both help your organization manage risk and build resilience, but they protect different things. ISO 27001<\/strong> protects your company’s information, while ISO 22301<\/strong> protects your ability to keep the business running when something goes wrong. They aren’t rivals, they work hand in hand.<\/p>\n

In this article, you’ll see what each standard covers<\/strong>, how they differ, what they have in common, and how to figure out which one your company needs, or whether it makes sense to implement both.<\/p>\n

What is ISO 27001?<\/h2>\n

ISO\/IEC 27001<\/a> is the international standard that helps companies protect their information in a structured way<\/strong>. It lays out how to build an information security management system, known as an ISMS, that lets your organization identify its risks and decide which measures to put in place to reduce them.<\/p>\n

The point of the standard is to keep any important data from being exposed, altered without permission, or unavailable the moment you need it. Each company starts from its own risks and picks the security controls that fit best<\/strong>, using the standard’s Annex A as a reference.<\/p>\n

ISO 27001 can be certified by any organization, no matter its size. That said, it carries particular weight in sectors where handling data securely is part of everyday business, such as tech, finance, healthcare, and legal services.<\/p>\n

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What is ISO 22301?<\/h2>\n

ISO 22301 is the international standard that governs business continuity management systems (BCMS)<\/strong>. Its goal is to give your company the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from<\/strong> incidents that disrupt its critical operations, whether that’s a natural disaster, a supply outage, a technical failure, or a cyberattack.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the standard is the business impact analysis (BIA)<\/strong>, which helps you pin down which processes are truly critical and how long they can stay down before they cause serious damage. From there, you define your recovery plans along with the time and data objectives your organization commits to meeting.<\/p>\n

The current version is ISO 22301:2019, and it applies to organizations of any size and sector<\/strong>, though it’s especially relevant wherever service availability is critical, such as banking, healthcare, IT services, or manufacturing. Certification is voluntary and issued by an accredited body, just like ISO 27001.<\/p>\n

ISO 27001 vs ISO 22301: The Key Differences<\/h2>\n

Even though they share the same structure and philosophy, the two standards pursue different goals<\/strong> and are applied in different ways. The table below sums up the key points.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Aspect<\/strong><\/th>\nISO 27001<\/th>\nISO 22301<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Goal<\/strong><\/td>\nProtect information<\/td>\nKeep the business running<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Management system<\/strong><\/td>\nISMS (information security)<\/td>\nBCMS (business continuity)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Current version<\/strong><\/td>\nISO\/IEC 27001:2022<\/td>\nISO 22301:2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Risk approach<\/strong><\/td>\nThreats to confidentiality, integrity, and availability<\/td>\nDisruptions that halt critical operations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Core tool<\/strong><\/td>\nRisk assessment and Annex A with 93 controls<\/td>\nBusiness impact analysis (BIA)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Question it answers<\/strong><\/td>\nHow do I protect my data from threats?<\/td>\nHow do I keep operating if something fails?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Example risks<\/strong><\/td>\nCyberattacks, data breaches, unauthorized access<\/td>\nNatural disasters, supply outages, supply chain failures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Area involved<\/strong><\/td>\nIT and security<\/td>\nContinuity, operations, and leadership<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The core difference comes down to one idea. ISO 27001<\/strong> protects the data your business runs on, while ISO 22301<\/strong> protects that business’s ability to keep going. The first answers the question of how to keep your information from being compromised, the second answers how to keep the service up and running when a disruption hits.<\/p>\n

Everything else follows from that. ISO 27001 leans on technical and organizational controls<\/strong> to protect information, while ISO 22301 focuses on recovery plans, response times, and business priorities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Can You Integrate ISO 27001 and ISO 22301?<\/h2>\n

Yes, and it’s actually the most common approach when a company wants to cover both the security of its data and the continuity of its operations at the same time. The two standards have far more in common than you might think<\/strong>, because they follow the same ISO framework.<\/p>\n

Both are built on the High-Level Structure<\/strong> (Annex SL), a shared framework across ISO management system standards. As a result, the clauses covering context, leadership, planning, support, evaluation, and improvement are nearly identical from one standard to the other, which makes rolling them out together much easier.<\/p>\n

They also share the PDCA continuous improvement cycle<\/strong> (Plan, Do, Check, Act) along with several management elements, such as document control, internal audits, management review, and a risk-based approach. ISO 27001 already touches on continuity in part through its controls, but it doesn’t go into the level of detail of ISO 22301, a standard devoted entirely to that goal.<\/p>\n

The main benefits of an integrated management system are the following.<\/p>\n