NCEMA 7000
Map national continuity requirements into the same analyses, strategies, plans and evidence cycle.
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Specialised practice · BCMS
Business continuity that satisfies ISO 22301 and NCEMA 7000.
One capability, two rulebooks. ISO 22301 certification does not, on its own, satisfy NCEMA 7000, and running parallel programmes means proving the same capability twice. We design one business continuity management system (BCMS) built to stand up to both, and to the customers and authorities who depend on you continuing to operate.
Two standards, one capability
Build continuity once.
Evidence both rulebooks.
ISO 22301 and NCEMA 7000 are aligned but not equivalent. One governed BCMS can organise the shared analysis, plans, exercises and evidence without pretending that one standard replaces the other.
ISO 22301
One operating capability for impact analysis, recovery, response and assurance.
- BCMS scope and governance
- Impact and risk analysis
- Continuity strategies
- Plans and exercises
- Audit and review
ISO 22301 audit
Prepare the governed system and operating records for independent accredited certification.
Impact analysis
Define recovery priorities and objectives from operational impact rather than assertion.
Crisis readiness
Connect activation, command, communication and recovery decisions to tested plans.
Suppliers & sites
Include the facilities, technology and third parties on which critical services depend.
Stakeholder requirements
Evidence continuity obligations imposed by authorities, clients, insurers and group policy.
Scope once.Define the activities, entities, sites and dependencies against both certification and national scrutiny, avoiding two disconnected continuity programmes.
How the work runs
A continuity capability, not a binder on a shelf.
Scope is configured to your organisation: a focused compliance assignment or a full BCMS programme across entities and sites. Typical stages:
Business impact analysis and risk assessment
Which activities cannot stop, for how long, and what they depend on, with recovery objectives set by analysis rather than assertion.
Continuity strategy and plans
Recovery strategies proportionate to the impact analysis, and plans written to be usable at 2 a.m. by the people who will hold them.
Crisis and exercise programme
A structured programme from desktop exercises through live walkthroughs, escalating in realism until the plans have been tested by something other than optimism.
Internal audit and management review
The BCMS runs a full cycle and is audited internally before any external party examines it, with findings closed through the same corrective process both standards require.
Certification and compliance support
Preparation for ISO 22301 certification audits with an accredited body of your choice, and for demonstrating NCEMA 7000 compliance to the entities that require it.
Roles are explicit: our practitioners design, coach and quality-review; your team owns and operates the system. ExSolution advises and supports implementation. Certification is issued by independent accredited bodies, and no consultant can guarantee it.
Typical deliverables
What an engagement typically produces.
Configured to scope; a proposal states exactly which apply.
- Business impact analysis (BIA)
- Risk assessment
- Continuity strategy options
- Business continuity plans and crisis procedures
- Exercise and test reports
- NCEMA 7000 alignment mapping
- Internal-audit report
- Management-review pack
Is this the right service?
The right route to continuity.
- NCEMA 7000 applies, or a government client expects continuity arrangements consistent with it.
- ISO 22301 certification is required by clients, insurers or a group mandate.
- An existing ISO 22301 certificate does not by itself demonstrate conformity with NCEMA 7000; the additional requirements are addressed within the same programme.
- The mandate in front of you is information security: Information Security – ISO 27001; the two systems share their risk foundations.
- The exposure is supplier failure: Vendor & Third-Party Risk addresses supply-chain continuity directly.
- The board wants a wider oversight structure, not one system: Governance, Risk & Assurance.
Delivery
A named Engagement Lead.
The proposal names the Engagement Lead responsible for coordinating the business continuity consultancy work, client communication and delivery. A second senior practitioner, not involved in day-to-day delivery, provides quality review. Team size is configured to scope: focused assignments stay lean and priced accordingly.
How we work →Questions buyers ask
Straight answers.
We're ISO 22301 certified. Are we NCEMA 7000 compliant?
No, not automatically. The standards are aligned rather than equivalent: NCEMA 7000 contains requirements ISO 22301 does not, and evidence prepared for a certification body is not framed the way NCEMA reviews expect. Your certificate is a strong foundation; the remaining work is a gap assessment against NCEMA 7000, closed inside the same BCMS rather than beside it.
Who must comply with NCEMA 7000?
UAE federal and government entities, and organisations directed to comply by NCEMA or their supervising authority. Suppliers and partners of government entities may be asked to demonstrate continuity arrangements consistent with the standard. If you are unsure, the answer usually sits in your mandate, your regulator's requirements or your government contracts.
How real do exercises need to be?
Real enough to find failure before an incident does. Both standards expect a progressive programme: desktop exercises to test decisions and roles, then live walkthroughs to test whether the arrangements physically work. An exercise designed so it cannot fail proves nothing. The exercises worth running produce findings, and those findings get fed back into the plans.
Business Continuity Governance Readiness Index
The governance behind your continuity arrangements, from impact analysis to exercise evidence. It tells you which arrangements would hold on the day.
Twenty minutesCandidly scored
Experience across sectors and systems.
Explore representative anonymised assignments across government, aviation, healthcare, retail and real estate, manufacturing, and maritime services.
Facing a continuity mandate?
Tell us which authority is asking, whether NCEMA, a certification body, a client or all three, and by when. We aim to respond within two business days.
Related: Information Security – ISO 27001 · Governance, Risk & Assurance