Spreading your ISMS audit over a three cycle with Hicomply.
When your daily business to-do list seems never-ending, investing in large-scale, immediate changes can be tricky. That’s why distributing your internal audit over a three-year cycle is a strategic approach for managing your ISMS. It allows you to give compliance the focus it needs, without taking away from the rest of your organisational obligations.
The advantages of a three-year cycle
There are many benefits to staggering your compliance journey, chief among them being more focused internal audits. By spreading out the internal audit process, you can concentrate on specific departments or areas, allowing for more thorough reviews of processes and controls.
It’s also beneficial for resource management, reducing the strain on time, staff and budgets, which is particularly useful for businesses with limited resource or small teams. Key costs can be distributed evenly across the cycle.
When internal audits happen regularly, you have the opportunity to continuously improve your defences, and correct non-conformities. Regular internal audits also keep information security high on the team’s priority list, fostering a security aware business culture.
What to consider
A three-year cycle, like any certification roadmap, requires careful planning. You’ll need to access the scope and schedule of your audits to make sure all areas of the ISMS are covered. You should also be mindful of specific regulations and guidelines that may change over time, both in terms of content and timelines. These should influence your audit schedule.
Staggering your audits requires stringent follow-ups on findings, and the implementation of corrective actions in a swift manner. This will help you maintain momentum and address issues before the next audit cycle.
Hicomply’s internal audit feature provides all the guidance you need to carry out a thorough audit, with issues able to be managed effectively in the Hicomply tasks feature.
What does a three-year cycle look like?
The best three-year certification cycle will differ for every business, but it should address all the areas of your ISMS effectively. A suggested schedule for a three-cycle of ISO27001 certification may look like this:
Year 1 – Establishing foundations
4 Context of the Organisation
5 Leadership
6 Planning
7 Support
8 Operation
B.5 – Organisational Controls (B.5.1 – B.5.18)
B.6 – People Controls (B.6.1 – B.6.8)
Year 2 – Deepening the review
8 Operation
9 Performance Evaluation
10 Improvement
B.5 – Organisational Controls (B.5.24 – B.5.37)
B.8 – Technological Controls (B.8.1 – B.8.34)
Year 3 – Completing the cycle
9 Performance Evaluation
10 Improvement
B.5 – Organisational Controls (B.5.19 – B.5.23)
B.7 – Physical Controls (B.7.1 – B.7.14)
Clear the road to certification with Hicomply
At Hicomply, we make certification simple. Our one-stop solution for ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and other vital accreditations lets you wave goodbye to accountability gaps, poor visibility, endless spreadsheets, and complex internal processes.
Our ISMS platform takes the headaches and hassle out of your compliance journey, dramatically reducing the time and resources needed. Simplify scoping documents and mitigating reports, and receive real-time updates tailored to your organisation. Our single, simple platform clearly illustrates your commitment to information security clearly, letting your clients know that yours is a business they can trust.
Not currently using Hicomply? Ready to find out more about what the platform can do for you? Book a demo.
