ISO 22301 is a management systems standard for business continuity management that is applicable to businesses of all sizes and types. These organizations will be able to get recognized certification in accordance with this standard, demonstrating to legislators, regulators, consumers, prospective customers, and other interested parties that they adhere to BCM best practices. Additionally, ISO 22301 enables the business continuity manager to demonstrate to senior management that a recognized standard has been met.
ISO 22301 is the second management systems standard to be issued that incorporates the new ISO high-level framework and standardized content. This will enable compatibility with all future and amended management system standards and facilitate integration with standards such as ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environmental), and ISO/IEC 27001 (information security).

This document defines the requirements for implementing, maintaining, and improving a management system that protects against, minimizes the likelihood of, prepares for, responds to, and recovers from disruptions.
The standards defined in this standard are generic in nature and are intended to apply to all organizations, or portions thereof, regardless of their form, size, or nature. The extent to which these standards are applicable is determined on the operating environment and complexity of the organization. This standard applies to organizations of all sorts and sizes that:

• establishing, maintaining, and improving a BCMS;
• guarantee compliance with the defined business continuity policy;
• require the ability to continue delivering products and services at a set level of performance amid an interruption;
• intend to strengthen their resilience through effective application of the BCMS.

ISO 22301 underlines the importance of an incident response organization that is well-defined. This guarantees that when issues occur, responses are escalated promptly and individuals are empowered to take appropriate action. The importance of life safety is underlined, as is the organization's need to communicate with any affected external parties, such as if an incident poses a noxious or explosive risk to nearby public places.