How an AI software company got ISO 27001 certified in six months

The ISO 27001 certification process took Biomni about six months, during which they relied heavily on Conformio for structure and guidance. While the software solution helped manage tasks, track progress, and automate document generation, consulting with actual ISO 27001 experts brought enough confidence to constantly move forward with the project.

“It would be impossible for us to get certified in six months without Conformio. Every week, the team would meet to divide the tasks, and Conformio was always there with us, giving us the complete structure we needed.”

Andreas Antoniou, CTO

Project kick-off

The most common reason companies employ consultants to help with ISO 27001 implementation is the need for clear guidance on the first or next step. In the case of Biomni, using Conformio resolved that with an expert onboarding session providing clear guidance on how to start and track the project, additional live training sessions to resolve any doubts even before they arose, and a clear setup of main steps to make the project easy to follow. The Biomni team took the step-by-step guide seriously and progressed throughout the implementation by taking each step to 100% completion.

Aligning internal resources

Biomni faced the challenge of aligning internal resources, a common issue for small businesses when implementing ISO 27001. With Conformio's easy-to-use platform, they could delegate responsibilities for different areas to different team members and manage progress. This allowed them to easily balance their everyday workload while working on the certification process. Additionally, automated tasks and reminders helped keep everybody in the loop, reducing the chance of any individual delaying the project progress. Conformio provided the necessary structure and guidance to get through the ISO 27001 certification process, and they successfully got certified in just six months.

Avoiding additional costs

ISO 27001 standard implementation costs can significantly vary depending on whether the company uses software, employs consultants, or internally trains employees to lead the project. By choosing one of the affordable Conformio plans, Biomni had a clear budget overview without any additional or hidden costs. That covered all the software use necessary for successful preparation for their certification audit. The access to both ISO-certified experts, as well as unlimited software support, provided extra help and guidance and helped avoid costs caused by delays.

Access to experts

Biomni faced the challenge of a lack of in-house expertise on the ISO 27001 standard. While larger corporations can afford to hire dedicated compliance teams or consultants, small businesses may struggle to educate their existing staff sufficiently or to outsource these specialized tasks. By using Conformio, they managed to resolve this issue by getting the necessary support and access to ISO 27001-certified experts. Biomni was able to ask questions and get advice on best practices and how to interpret certain risks and controls. With Conformio's guidance and structure, Biomni was able to successfully get ISO 27001 certified in just six months.

Biomni got their questions about software and the standard answered by experts on a regular basis via emails. They also took advantage of a one-on-one meeting with a certified ISO expert, at no extra charge.