ISO/IEC 27001 has become a business necessity for many organizations: it increases customer and partner trust, facilitates tender and vendor audits, and reduces the business impact of information security incidents. The key to success is to treat certification not as a “documentation project” but as a risk-based, operating Information Security Management System (ISMS).
What is ISO 27001 and what are the core elements?
ISO/IEC 27001 is the international standard for an Information Security Management System, providing a risk-based framework for defining the organizational context and interested parties, setting the scope, performing risk assessment and risk treatment, establishing procedures and evidence, and enabling measurement and continual improvement.
In practice, preparation is a step-by-step process that is best structured into three phases:
- Strategic foundation (scope, risk management framework, policy)
- Implementation and evidence collection (operating controls + an audit-ready trail)
- Management review and certification audits (Stage 1–Stage 2), followed by sustainability
Phase 1: Strategic foundation – “building the base” for certification
In the first third of the project, the focus is not “document production” but setting the right direction: an approved scope, a risk management methodology, the framework of the information security policy, and a detailed implementation plan.
Typical, tangible outputs in this phase:
- business-focused, approved scope
- consistent, “audit-proof” risk management framework and an initial risk register
- information security policy outline and core principles
- prioritized roadmap with owners and deadlines (with management commitment)
A key reality: the overall preparation typically takes 6–16 months, depending on the organization’s maturity and the scope.
Phase 2: Implementation and evidence collection
The goal of the second phase is to ensure the system not only exists on paper, but actually operates and can be demonstrated. The focus areas are: (1) implementing controls and procedures, (2) building evidence, and (3) strengthening awareness and capabilities—resulting in operating processes and an audit-ready approach ahead of the internal audit.
Designing and implementing key controls (Annex A 2022)
In certification practice, particular emphasis is often placed on:
- incident management (workflow, categorization, ticketing, RCA/root cause analysis, closure evidence)
- access management, change management, and managing vendor/supplier risks
- awareness and training program (e-learning, phishing simulation, role-based trainings, knowledge assessment)
- measurement and monitoring (KPI/KRI, trends, reporting)
Evidence collection: the audit-ready trail of operation
During the certification audit it is critical that processes not only exist, but are provable—therefore it is worth building evidence collection intentionally: a central evidence repository, an evidence collection calendar, owners, deadlines, and an Annex A control-by-control checklist.
Phase 3: Management review and certification audits (Stage 1–Stage 2)
The third phase is about closing the preparation: the organization must demonstrate that the ISMS is operating in a mature manner, is measurable and controlled, and that continual improvement is also demonstrable.
Management Review: a “business checkpoint”
Management review is not an administrative obligation but a strategic tool: it summarizes ISMS performance, risks, and business impacts. Mandatory inputs typically include risk status, incident summaries, KPI/KRI trends, internal audit findings, vendor risks, changes, and resource needs.
Stage 1: documentation review
During Stage 1, the certification body assesses, among other things, whether the scope, policy and objectives, risk management methodology and outcomes, Annex A controls and the Statement of Applicability (SoA), documented procedures, the evidence collection system, and the existence of Management Review (MR) and internal audit are adequate.
Stage 2: on-site assessment of operation
Stage 2 is the real test of operation: auditors verify that processes actually work and can be evidenced—for example access management workflows, incident tickets and RCAs, change management trail, vendor assessments, awareness results, asset and log management, physical security, and backup/restoration tests.
Findings are typically classified as minor or major nonconformities, and “observations” as development recommendations are also common.
After certification: sustainability and continual improvement
Obtaining the ISO 27001 certificate is not the end of the project: operating the ISMS is a long-term task, typically involving annual internal audits, annual management reviews, annual risk reviews, vendor assessments, continuous monitoring, and KPI reporting. The certification body returns for surveillance audits, and recertification takes place every three years.
ISO/IEC 27001 becomes a true business advantage when the organization consistently executes the scope–risk management–implementation–evidence–audit logic, building an audit-ready, business value–creating information security operation.
