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ISO 9001 focuses on quality management and customer satisfaction, while ISO 27001 focuses on information security and managing related risks.
ISO 9001 and ISO 27001: The differences, similarities, and benefits of combining ISOs
Introduction
Achieving an ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) Standard is an amazing achievement for any business. It highlights a dedication to excellence, whether that’s through environmental management, occupational Health & Safety, or information security.
ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 are two of the most widely adopted ISO Standards worldwide, focusing on quality management and information security respectively. Both Standards follow the Annex SL Structure, which makes for easy integration of multiple systems.
According to figures from the ISO survey 2024, the UK recorded nearly 33,000 ISO 9001 certificates, and 3,284 ISO 27001 certificates. When implemented together, the dual systems reduce duplication, improve efficiency, and present a stronger assurance story to customers, regulators and procurement teams.
Let’s explore what this all means – and how achieving several key ISO Standards can be a major benefit to your business.
The Standards at a glance
ISO 9001: Quality Management System (QMS)
- Focus: Customer satisfaction, process consistency, continual improvement
ISO 27001: Information Security Management System (ISMS)
- Focus: Protecting information assets, managing security risks, preventing breaches
Key similarities:
- Annex SL structure
- PDCA cycle
- Risk-based thinking
Key differences:
- Quality and service outcomes vs information security and confidentiality
UK relevance:
- Supports public sector tendering, GDPR and NIS2 compliance
- Reduces regulatory and reputational risk
Integration:
- Can be combined into an integrated management system (IMS) for efficiency and consistency
- Follows the same Annex SL Structure for maximum easy of corroboration
What is ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is the international standard for Quality Management Systems (QMS). Its main aim is to help organisations consistently meet customer requirements and continually improve their processes and performance.
When it comes to gaining ISO 9001 certification, companies need to understand how their organisation works, document the key processes, and measure their performance over time. The Standard provides a flexible framework that can be tailored to your business model, meaning companies of any size, from any sector, can benefit from ISO 9001.
It’s an especially useful Standard for UK businesses, who need to stay aligned with the Consumer Rights Act. But it also helps support tendering opportunities, allowing fellow businesses to see that your organisation is competent, reliable, and has strong processes in place to deliver top-quality output.
ISO 9001 core clauses
ISO 9001:2015 is made up of ten clauses, with clauses four to ten building the structure for your quality management system. These cover:
- Context of the organisation: Understanding the unique internal and external issues of your organisation, its customers, and the needs/expectations of other interested parties
- Leadership: Management’s responsibility and commitment towards the quality management system, implementing a quality policy, and taking accountability
- Planning: What you need to implement your quality management system, the risks, opportunities and quality objectives
- Support: Competence, awareness, communication and documented information to help maintain the quality management system
- Operation: Operational planning and control of processes to meet the quality requirements, including requirements for products and service delivery, and communication with customers
- Performance evaluation: Monitoring and measuring your quality management system including internal audits and management review
- Improvement: Continuous growth, identifying nonconformities and implementing corrective action for constant improvement
What is ISO 27001?
ISO 27001 is the international standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). Its purpose is to help organisations identify and manage information security risks to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their information.
Whilst ISO 9001 is more customer-focused, ISO 27001 is focused on risk-based management and strong security controls. It requires organisations to formally assess information security risks and apply appropriate controls to reduce those risks to acceptable levels.
For UK companies, ISO 27001 can play a critical role in demonstrating compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, especially when it comes to requirements around “appropriate technical and organisational measures”. It also supports the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Directive, which sets out what organisations based outside the UK offering services within the UK must do to stay in line with our security of network and information systems.
ISO 27001 core clauses
Similarly to ISO 9001, ISO 27001 is also broken into several clauses, four to ten being the most important. These follow the same structure as ISO 9001, ranging from early context of the organisation to future improvements once the ISO system is in place.
However, ISO 27001 also includes Annex A. This lists 93 security controls desgined to help your organisation implement the appropriate security measures. These are grouped into four categories:
- Organisational controls
- People controls
- Physical controls
- Technological controls
Key differences between ISO 9001 and ISO 27001
Although ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 share structural similarities, their objectives and requirements differ. Let’s take a look at where the key differences come into effect.
| Area | ISO 9001 | ISO 27001 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Quality control and customer satisfaction | Information security and risk management |
| Scope | Products, services, and processes | Information assets and data |
| Risk approach | Industrial/business and quality risks | Information security risks |
| Additional controls | No | Yes – Annex A controls |
| UK concerns | Efficiency, consistency, tendering | GDPR, breach prevention, building trust |
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Similarities between ISO 9001 and ISO 27001
ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 share several similarities, providing a lot of scope for overlapping both Standards and integrating them into your organisation.
Some of the key shared elements include:
- The Annex SL structure, helping keep everything aligned with the same clause numbering and terminology
- Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, emphasising continuous improvement once the Standard is in place
- Risk based thinking that is embedded into every stage of operations
- Audits/reviews that follow the same structure, allowing for joint evaluation
- Leadership commitment, helping keep people in positions of responsibility accountable and engaged
- Documentation similarity through reporting and reviewing
- Continual improvement and constant evolution of the organisation and their best practices
For UK organisations, this shared structure also makes it easier to align quality and security controls with regulatory expectations around governance and accountability.
Benefits of combining ISO 9001 and ISO 27001
They key differences between these two Standards should be seen as strengths, allowing for greater quality control and protection across the entirety of your organisation.
Here’s why combining Standards could be a huge benefit to your business:
- Operational efficiency: Having a single integrated management system reduces duplication and administrative effort
- Stronger compliance: Dual Standards provides a holistic approach to GDPR and NIS2, meaning less risk exposure
- Trust: Especially for UK organisations, having multiple ISO Standards is better for contracts, and building trust with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
- Cost savings: Integrated audits and management reviews have lower maintenance costs over time
- Competitive advantage in tenders: Multiple ISO Standards are particularly valuable in public sector and regulated procurement, where quality and security assurance are often evaluated together
How to integrate ISO 9001 and ISO 27001
Whilst it takes a lot of careful planning to successfully combine ISO 9001 and ISO 27001, the process is already well established, making it easy to follow along, even over a long period of time.
Practical integration steps
- Map common clauses and requirements: Identify overlaps in leadership, planning, support, audits, and reviews. This will make it easier further down the line, as you’ll already have the groundwork established.
- Develop unified policies and objectives: For example, a single management system policy supported by quality and information security objectives.
- Align risk management approaches: Integrate business, quality, and information security risks into a single risk framework.
- Conduct joint internal audits and management reviews: By auditing both Standards together, you save time and improve overall insight into your systems.
In the UK, it’s important to engage with the right roles, for example, your Data Protection Officer (DPO) or Privacy Officer to make sure all implemented systems are compliant and correct.
Common challenges and how to address them
Combining ISO Standards might present challenges but planning ahead can help you avoid troubles like:
- Resource constraints: But phased implementation and external support can help reduce internal burden
- Over-documentation: It’s important to focus on practical, usable processes rather than huge amounts of paperwork for the sake of it.
An example of dual implementation
Still wondering if an integrated management system is the right direction for your organisation?
Take this, for example:
A UK-based professional services firm handles sensitive client data. They choose to integrate both ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 to strengthen both the service delivery and the data protection of their clients.
Through this dual implementation, the organisation:
- Reduces duplicated procedures and audit time
- Improves consistency across their client-facing processes, leading to greater customer satisfaction
- Strengthens their position in public sector tenders that require both quality and security assurance
- Gains greater confidence in GDPR compliance and incident response, therefore highlighting their organisation as trustworthy and secure
With the integrated approach, it’s clear for the firm to see their efficiency gains and improved customer trust, and they now have better internal clarity into their own processes which they can continue to improve upon.