ISO/IEC 27031:2011

Overview - ISO/IEC 27031:2011 and ICT readiness for business continuity

ISO/IEC 27031:2011 provides guidelines for information and communication technology (ICT) readiness for business continuity (IRBC). It defines concepts, principles and a practical framework to identify, specify and improve ICT services and infrastructures so they can support critical business functions during disruptions. The standard applies to any organization - private, governmental or non‑governmental, regardless of size - that needs its ICT to be ready to respond to incidents, including security-related events.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 27031:2011, ICT readiness, IRBC, business continuity, ICT disaster recovery, resilience.

Key topics and technical requirements

ISO/IEC 27031:2011 covers the lifecycle of ICT readiness using a management-system approach (Plan‑Do‑Check‑Act). Core technical topics include:

• IRBC principles and elements - concepts that link ICT readiness with overall Business Continuity Management (BCM).
• Planning - defining ICT requirements, understanding critical ICT services, identifying gaps, and selecting IRBC strategy options.
• Performance criteria - specifying measurable ICT readiness performance parameters (qualitative and quantitative).
• Implementation and operation - people, facilities, technology, data, processes and supplier arrangements needed to deliver IRBC.
• Incident response and recovery - preparing ICT response and recovery plans, documentation and procedures.
• Awareness, competence and training - roles, responsibilities and skill sets for IRBC teams.
• Monitor, test and review - monitoring threats, testing and exercising plans, internal audit and management review to measure ICT readiness.
• Continual improvement - corrective and preventive actions to improve IRBC capability.

The standard emphasizes management responsibility, documentation control and consistent measurement of readiness against agreed criteria.

Practical applications - who uses this standard

ISO/IEC 27031 is practical for organizations that depend on ICT continuity to deliver critical services. Typical users include:

• IT managers, CIOs and infrastructure teams implementing ICT continuity and disaster recovery.
• Business continuity managers and BCMS designers integrating ICT readiness with ISO 22301.
• Information security professionals aligning IRBC with ISMS requirements (ISO/IEC 27001).
• Third‑party service providers and suppliers delivering outsourced ICT continuity or recovery services.
• Auditors and regulators assessing ICT resilience and preparedness.

Benefits include clearer ICT recovery objectives, measurable readiness metrics, improved resilience and better alignment between ICT and business continuity plans.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 27001 - Information security management systems (ISMS)
• ISO 22301 - Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS)
• ISO/IEC 24762:2008 - ICT disaster recovery services

Use ISO/IEC 27031:2011 to create a structured, measurable IRBC program that integrates ICT resilience into broader business continuity and information security efforts.