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It is important that before your organization applies for third party certification from an ANAB approved certifying body, that your organization is ready.
The first decision that needs to be made is which standard or standards should your organization be certified to? To answer this question you will want to review each of the 3 standards to determine which one is best aligned to the program you already have in place.
If this process seems daunting, The International Consortium for Organizational Resilience (ICOR) offers two different training courses focused on teaching the requirements of the 3 standards.
- BCM 5000: Auditing BCM Programs for PS Prep Certification is the only auditor preparation course that includes preparation of auditing a BCMS against all 3 PS Prep standards. Attendees will gain a solid understanding of business continuity management programs and practices along with an in-depth study of the appropriate audit requirements. The course includes the following process for instruction;
· Essential BCM Program Components are introduced and explained (the How)
· The appropriate standard component is identified (the Why)
· The appropriate audit requirement is determined (the What) The audiences for this 5 day in depth course are internal auditors, BCM practitioners, and certifying bodies seeking ANAB accreditation. One benefit to using this course as a preparation for third party certification is that it is the same course offered both those seeking certification and those providing the certification so you will learn the language and be very familiar with what will be required by the auditors. 2. BCM 4050: Business Continuity Maturity Model® Assessor's Training has been updated as of January 2011 to be aligned to all 3 PS Prep Standards. So in addition to being an assessment tool to measure an organization's Business Continuity Program maturity and provide direction for creating and maintaining a BC program as a sustainable process, it can also be used as an internal audit tool to evaluate your readiness for an external audit under PS Prep. The audience for this 2 day course are those BCM practitioners with at least 3 years of experience and internal auditors of BCM programs. The course will teach you how to use the BCMM® tool and how to audit against the 3 standards, but will expect all participants to have the required BCM knowledge and experience to evaluate their program. The International Consortium for Organizational Resilience (ICOR), an international non-profit professional development and credentialing organization, completed its preliminary application to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for recognition of four of its training programs as one of its Certificate Accreditation Programs (CAP). ANSI's CAP accredits a wide range of organizations that issue education and training certificates internationally and has accepted ICOR's preliminary application for four of its training courses.
To learn more about the two courses, contact Lynnda@theicor.org or visit http://theicor.org/courselisting.html#bcm
To learn more about the value of the ANSI CAP program and to view other education and training programs currently accredited by ANSI and those whose preliminary application has been accepted visit the ANSI website. https://www.ansica.org/wwwversion2/outside/CAPgeneral.asp?menuID=212
The acceptance of ICOR's preliminary application is significant and directly impacts those organizations interesting in pursuing PS Prep certification.
The Department of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS/FEMA) Voluntary Private Sector Accreditation and Certification Preparedness Program (PS Prep) requires that trained auditors working for certification bodies be accredited by ANAB (ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board).
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