How McConnell Jones excels through multiple ISO certifications with ISMS.online and
A-LIGN

McConnell Jones helps clients navigate complex financial and regulatory environments by providing accounting, audit, tax, and consulting services. Their purpose as a CPA firm is to protect confidential data of their client and ensure that they have applied all due diligence at the core of ISO 27001 and beyond.

The Challenge

McConnell Jones aimed to achieve compliance with ISO 27001 (Information Security Management), ISO 27701 (Privacy Information Management), and the NIST cybersecurity framework. The firm sought a simpler approach to managing compliance with multiple standards, allowing the team to address the overlapping requirements efficiently, avoid redundant efforts, and maintain clarity on tasks specific to each standard.

“We were looking for a cost-effective and a user-friendly solution for our ISO certifications.”
Chris Williamson, CISA, CDPSE Chief Information Security Officer, McConnell Jones

The next step was to select a reliable auditing partner to validate compliance and issue certifications. With limited internal resources for managing such a substantial project, McConnell Jones required tools and expertise that would help them balance these rigorous compliance demands without disrupting day-to-day work.

“We looked for an auditor that is willing to answer questions and provide insight across different compliance frameworks. We wanted to partner with an auditor whose values and auditing approach aligns with the way we would audit our own clients.”
Chris Williamson, CISA, CDPSE Chief Information Security Officer, McConnell Jones

The Solution

McConnell Jones adopted ISMS.online, a cloud-based solution that can assist companies to implement an ISMS and work towards ISO 27001 compliance. The platform provided a centralised system that McConnell Jones implemented to manage all aspects of their ISMS, including policies, risk management, and audits. ISMS.online’s pre-configured templates and guided workflows assisted during the implementation, while also allowing the team to easily map controls across ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and NIST frameworks.

“The templates that were provided for the policies and controls significantly reduced the time it took to write our new policies. The Virtual Coach helped a lot as ISO was a new area for us. The guidance that it provided made it easy for us to transition from NIST to ISO.”
Chris Williamson, CISA, CDPSE Chief Information Security Officer, McConnell Jones

ISMS.online’s real-time collaboration features and audit tools further facilitated the certification process. The platform empowered McConnell Jones’ teams to work together in developing policies, conducting internal reviews, and ensuring that all stakeholders were involved.

“Having a system purpose built for ISO compliance has been great. Without ISMS.online, I do not think we would be able to achieve and maintain our certifications with two people that we have managing the project.”
Chris Williamson, CISA, CDPSE Chief Information Security Officer, McConnell Jones

McConnell Jones also partnered with A-LIGN to perform the certification audit. A-LIGN’s in-depth expertise in certification requirements. combined with their unwavering support throughout the process, resulted in a seamless audit experience.