Accreditation speaks to Aramco’s business continuity efforts

After a series of comprehensive audits that evaluated both core and supporting processes, the EXPEC Computer Center (ECC) has been awarded with the ISO 22301 Security & Resilience — Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) standard certification by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for demonstrating an effective implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the BCMS practices and processes.

The ISO 22301 is a globally recognized international standard that establishes a framework based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle specific for the BCMS. This sustainability framework specifies requirements to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and continually improve a BCMS to protect against, reduce the likelihood of occurrence, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptive incidents when they arise. 

Abdullatif A. Al-Ghanim, general manager of the EXPEC Computer Center, said, “The ISO 22301 accreditation is an international testament of the EXPEC Computer Center’s commitment in ensuring resilience of the services provided to our customers in Upstream, and in alignment with the corporate resilience strategy.

“This important milestone in our journey is another testament of our commitment to business continuity excellence, and ensuring that our services are delivered in accordance with the highest international standards,” Al-Ghanim added.

“A lot has changed since establishing the ECC BCMS more than 15 years ago, but one thing we have maintained throughout this journey is the culture of continuous improvement,” said Raed H. Al-Rabeh, manager of the EXPEC Computer Operations Department, about this accreditation.

Commitment and team spirit

Bander S. Al-Otaibi, administrator of the department’s Data Center Management Division, said, “The outcomes of this accreditation demonstrate the commitment and the team spirit to ensure that the system brings tangible value to the business, and an acknowledgment of the efforts exerted by many professionals over the years.”

To complement the process accreditation, ECC has also invested in developing the people responsible for overseeing its BCMS to ensure they are equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and capabilities. This investment has resulted in obtaining several individual professional certifications from different international institutions, such as ISO 22301 Lead Implementer by the British Standards Institute, the Certificate of Business Continuity Institute (CBCI) and the Disaster Recovery Professional by the EC-Council.

Abdullah H. Aldhamin, group leader of the ECC Business Continuity Management, said, “The ISO certification provided an opportunity for the team to evaluate themselves individually and collectively as one team in the context of the BCMS structure and process.

“It was a unique journey in that we benchmarked our capabilities against international standards, with the goal to ensure a healthy and effective business continuity management system is in place,” Aldhamin said.