The Definitive Governance Requirement.
Clause 7 mandates that you provide the necessary support mechanisms to allow the ISMS to function. If Clause 6 is the engine design, Clause 7 is the fuel, the mechanic, and the maintenance manual. Without resources, competence, awareness, and documented information, your ISMS is just a theory.
The Mandate
You cannot wish a secure environment into existence. You must resource it. Clause 7 is the collection of “Enabling” requirements that ensure the system can actually operate.
It comprises five non-negotiable statutes:
- Clause 7.1 (Resources): You must provide the people, budget, and infrastructure required.
- Clause 7.2 (Competence): You must ensure your people have the skills to do the job.
- Clause 7.3 (Awareness): You must ensure the wider organization understands the policy and the consequences of failure.
- Clause 7.4 (Communication): You must control the flow of security information (Internal & External).
- Clause 7.5 (Documented Information): You must control the paperwork. Version control, access rights, and retention are mandatory.
The Verdict: A brilliant Risk Assessment (Clause 6) is worthless if the people implementing it are incompetent (Clause 7.2) or if the documents describing it are lost (Clause 7.5).
The Implementation Strategy
Clause 7 is where the “Bureaucracy” lives. You must master it, or it will strangle you.
- The Human Firewall (7.2 & 7.3): Distinguish between the Experts (who need Competence) and the General Staff (who need Awareness). Do not train the Receptionist on cryptography; train them on phishing.
- The Communication Matrix (7.4): Formalize your channels. Who speaks to the Press? Who speaks to the Regulator? Write it down.
- Document Control (7.5): This is the silent killer of audits. Every policy must have an Owner, a Version Number, a Date, and an Approval Signature. If you hand an auditor a policy titled
Policy_Final_v2_DRAFT.docx, you have failed.
The Auditor’s Trap
[The Auditor’s View] The most common Major Non-Conformance here is “The Version Control Nightmare.” We often find the HR department using version 1.0 of the Disciplinary Policy, while the Intranet shows version 2.0, and the ISMS Manager is editing version 3.0 on their desktop. If you cannot guarantee that every employee is looking at the current version of the truth, you are non-compliant.
Required Evidence
Clause 7 requires a robust administrative trail.
- Resource Plan / Budget: Proof of investment (7.1).
- Competence Matrix & Training Logs: Verification of skills (7.2).
- Induction Records: Proof of awareness for new starters (7.3).
- Communication Plan: The “Who, What, When” of messaging (7.4).
- Master Document Register: A central index of all controlled documents (7.5).
Strategic Acceleration
Managing version control and training records in spreadsheets is a liability. You need a structured framework.
The Support Framework includes the Competence Matrices, Communication Plans, and Document Control Templates required to satisfy Clause 7 instantly. It turns administrative chaos into order.
The Next Move: Deploy the Support Framework