What ISO certification is
ISO — the International Organization for Standardization — is an independent, non-governmental body made up of more than 170 national standards bodies, and the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards. An ISO management system certification confirms, through an independent audit, that your organisation runs a particular function — quality, information security, environmental management, occupational health and safety, and many others — to a globally agreed standard. For B2B buyers in 2026, that certificate is a shortcut to trust: it answers the supplier-assurance question before it is asked.
Why it matters, and who needs it
The value of ISO certification shows up across the whole supply chain. For businesses, it opens new markets, supports entry into competitive tenders, and improves products through better quality, compatibility and safety while reducing waste. For regulators and buyers, harmonised standards make cross-border trade and outsourcing more credible.
ABS helps organisations achieve certification to a broad range of ISO management system standards, including ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), ISO 27001 (information security) with its privacy and cloud extensions, ISO 22000 (food safety), ISO 13485 (medical devices), ISO 50001 (energy), ISO 37001 (anti-bribery), ISO 42001 (AI management) and many more. Whether you are a single-site manufacturer, a SaaS company, a hospital or a multinational, there is almost certainly a standard relevant to how your customers judge you.
How ABS approaches ISO certification
ABS is a consulting and advisory firm that helps organisations achieve ISO certification: we guide you from gap analysis through implementation and training up to the certification audit, which is carried out by an independent certification body. Each engagement begins with a fixed-price scoping conversation and a proposal, delivered on-site or remotely across India and international markets.
Common questions
Which ISO standard do we need?
It follows what you are being asked to prove. Quality and consistent delivery point to ISO 9001; information security to ISO 27001; environmental management to ISO 14001; occupational health and safety to ISO 45001; energy to ISO 50001; food safety to ISO 22000; medical devices to ISO 13485; business continuity to ISO 22301; privacy to ISO 27701; and AI management to ISO 42001. If a customer, tender or regulator prompted the question, the requirement usually names the standard — send it to us and we will confirm the scope with you.
Can we certify to more than one standard at once?
Yes. ISO management system standards share a common structure, so they can run as one integrated management system rather than several parallel ones, and certification bodies can often audit them together. Organisations commonly combine ISO 9001 with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, or ISO 27001 with ISO 27701.
Which of these standards can we actually be certified against?
Most of them, but not all. Standards such as ISO 31000 (risk management), ISO 26000 (social responsibility) and ISO 27002 (information security controls) are guidance documents: there is no certificate for them. That is why this page lists certification standards separately from guidance and implementation standards. Where a guidance standard matters to you, ABS implements it and assesses you against it, and certification is taken through a related certifiable standard.
Who issues the certificate?
An independent certification body that you appoint, not ABS. ABS is a consulting firm: we agree the scope, assess the gaps, help you implement the management system, prepare you for the audit and support you through it. The certification body carries out the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits, makes the certification decision and issues the certificate.