# Clause 8.4: Business continuity plans and procedures

Maintain a response structure and a set of plans and procedures that let the organization warn and communicate, respond in a structured way, continue prioritized activities and return to normal operation.

Cloud: Plans for a cloud estate need a scenario for the provider being unavailable but the internet working, and a scenario for the provider being reachable but wrong. Both happen, and they need different first moves.

Evidence: Current plan set covering response structure, warning and communication, plans and recovery; Evidence the plan set derives from the selected strategies and solutions; Distribution evidence showing plans are where responders are.

Test: Confirm the plan covers provider unavailable and provider degraded as separate scenarios.

Citation: ISO 22301:2019, clause 8.4. Source: https://compliance.theartofservice.com/frameworks/iso-22301-2019. Last updated: 2026-10-20.