DORA · ISO 22301 · Operational Resilience Assurance

WHEN THE CRISIS
HITS,
WILL YOUR
RESILIENCE HOLD?

DORA and ISO 22301 assurance for financial institutions where operational failure is not a recovery scenario — it is a regulatory event, a reputational event, and a material financial consequence.

Test Your Resilience Readiness Download DORA Compliance Guide
Aligned with
DORAISO 22301ICT Risk
DORAEU regulation aligned
ISO 22301BCM standard
ICT RiskThird-party review
TLPTTesting readiness
Incident ResponseEffectiveness tested

The challenge

Plans are not
proven resilience.
Regulators know it.

DORA mandates tested, evidence-backed operational resilience — not documented frameworks. Most BCM programmes exist on paper. Regulators are now requiring evidence of testing outcomes.

DORA mandates evidence — not documentation

The Digital Operational Resilience Act creates legally binding requirements for financial institutions across the EU — including mandatory ICT risk management, incident classification, third-party ICT risk oversight, and Threat-Led Penetration Testing. Most institutions have documentation. DORA requires evidence of tested resilience.

Third-party ICT risk is your risk

Cloud dependencies, critical ICT service providers, and concentration risk across your operational supply chain are DORA obligations you cannot outsource. Regulators require evidence that you have assessed, monitored, and tested third-party resilience as rigorously as your own — and that the results are documented.

Engagement models

Two assurance tracks.
One resilience standard.

EONTA delivers operational resilience assurance through two structured tracks — each calibrated to DORA obligations and your current BCM maturity.

DORA · ICT Risk Assessment

DORA Compliance Assessment

Structured evaluation against DORA requirements — ICT risk framework, incident classification capability, third-party ICT concentration risk, and TLPT readiness — with outputs structured for supervisory review.

  • ICT risk framework design and implementation
  • Business continuity and disaster recovery testing adequacy
  • Incident classification and reporting capability
  • Third-party ICT provider risk assessment
  • TLPT programme readiness evaluation

DORA-specific — not generic BCM review

Third-party ICT risk included as standard

Structured for supervisory review submission

"Does our DORA compliance posture reflect tested, evidence-backed resilience — or documented intentions?"
ISO 22301 · BCM Conformity

ISO 22301 Conformity Review

Independent assessment of your business continuity management system against ISO 22301 requirements — design effectiveness, testing adequacy, and recovery capability validation.

  • BCM scope and impact analysis review
  • Business continuity strategy assessment
  • Recovery procedure testing evaluation
  • Crisis management capability review
  • Supply chain continuity validation

Evidence-based testing — not plan review

RTO/RPO evidence validation included

Board-ready and regulator-ready outputs

"Has our incident response been independently tested — and do we have documented evidence of the outcome?"

Core capabilities

What we test and validate.

Each capability delivers independently verified assurance — not review of documentation alone, but validation of whether your resilience programme works under real conditions.

DORA Compliance Assessment

Structured evaluation against DORA ICT risk management requirements — policies, governance, incident management, and third-party oversight — with supervisory-grade reporting outputs.

ISO 22301 Conformity Review

Independent BCM framework assessment against ISO 22301 — evaluating design effectiveness, testing adequacy, and recovery capability against documented objectives.

Incident Response Effectiveness

Scenario-based evaluation of incident response capability — testing whether classification, escalation, containment, and recovery procedures function under simulated stress conditions.

Crisis Management Evaluation

Independent review of crisis management governance — decision-making structures, communication protocols, and executive response capability under high-pressure operational scenarios.

DR Readiness Validation

Evidence-based validation of disaster recovery capability — RTO and RPO achievement evidence, system recovery testing results, and data integrity assurance.

Third-Party ICT Risk Assessment

DORA-aligned evaluation of critical third-party ICT provider risk — concentration risk, contractual resilience obligations, and monitoring programme adequacy.

How it works

From resilience framework
to regulatory confidence.

A structured four-phase engagement — designed to identify genuine resilience gaps, not confirm existing documentation, and to produce evidence your regulators and board can rely on.

Scope

Define DORA and ISO 22301 assessment boundaries, identify critical services, third-party dependencies, and testing gaps requiring validation.

Assess

Structured evaluation of BCM framework, ICT risk policies, incident management capability, and third-party ICT risk programme.

Test

Evidence-based testing of incident response, recovery procedures, and crisis management capability against documented RTO/RPO objectives.

Report

Structured findings — DORA compliance gaps, ISO 22301 conformity assessment, remediation priorities, and board-ready summary.

Why EONTA

What tested resilience
actually requires.

DORA-Specific — Not Generic BCM

EONTA's resilience assurance is built around DORA's specific requirements — not adapted from generic BCM checklists. The distinction matters: DORA creates obligations around third-party ICT risk, TLPT, and incident classification that standard BCM frameworks do not address with the regulatory specificity that supervisors now require.

Evidence-Based Testing — Not Plan Review

We do not review BCM plans and conclude they are adequate. We evaluate whether the plans translate into tested, demonstrated capability — whether your teams can execute them under real operational pressure, and whether the evidence of that capability is documented and supervisory-grade.

Third-Party ICT Risk as Standard

DORA makes third-party ICT risk a first-class compliance obligation. Our assessment includes it as standard — not as an optional add-on — because regulators will examine your critical ICT provider oversight with the same scrutiny they apply to your internal controls.

Who this is for

Built for those
accountable for operational continuity.

EONTA's resilience assurance services are designed for the governance functions and executive roles directly accountable for operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and institutional stability.

Primary stakeholders

Chief Operating OfficersChief Risk OfficersOperations Risk FunctionsBusiness Continuity ManagersInternal Audit FunctionsBoard Risk CommitteesIT Risk & Governance TeamsRegulatory Affairs

Common engagement triggers

DORA compliance deadline or supervisory review approaching

Financial institutions facing DORA implementation deadlines or regulatory examination requiring evidence of tested operational resilience.

Third-party ICT provider change or concentration risk concern

Institutions requiring DORA-aligned independent assessment of critical ICT provider risk following outsourcing changes or concentration risk identification.

Post-incident assurance or BCM programme maturity review

Organisations requiring independent validation of resilience programme quality following an operational incident or as part of an annual programme maturity review.

Frequently asked

Questions before
every resilience engagement.

DORA creates specific requirements that go beyond typical BCM programmes: mandatory ICT risk management frameworks, prescriptive incident classification and reporting timelines, third-party concentration risk governance, and — for significant institutions — mandatory Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT). A BCM programme focused on availability and recovery is necessary but not sufficient for DORA compliance.
TLPT (Threat-Led Penetration Testing) under DORA is a controlled, intelligence-led test of a financial institution's detection and response capabilities against realistic adversary scenarios. It is mandatory for significant financial institutions as designated by competent authorities — primarily larger banks, insurers, and critical infrastructure providers. EONTA supports institutions in scoping, preparing for, and evidencing TLPT readiness.
Our primary role is governance and control assurance — evaluating whether your resilience frameworks, ICT risk management, and third-party oversight controls meet DORA and supervisory expectations. For TLPT engagements specifically, we support scoping, threat intelligence integration, and assurance governance. Actual adversarial testing is conducted by specialist TLPT providers; we assure the governance around it.
A scoped DORA readiness assessment — covering ICT risk management, incident response, business continuity, and third-party ICT risk — typically requires 5–8 weeks. For institutions that also require TLPT support, timelines extend based on the complexity of the TLPT scope and scheduling with the designated provider. All timelines are confirmed at the outset.
DORA requires documented ICT third-party risk management frameworks, contractual provisions meeting RTS requirements, concentration risk assessment, and — for critical ICT third-party providers — direct regulatory oversight. Institutions must maintain a register of all ICT third-party arrangements and conduct regular assessments. EONTA assesses the completeness and effectiveness of your third-party ICT governance against DORA's specific requirements.
Deliverables include: a DORA readiness assessment report with gap analysis against each pillar; an ICT risk management framework evaluation; a third-party ICT risk governance review; a TLPT readiness assessment where applicable; a remediation roadmap with regulatory-priority sequencing; and a board-ready summary of key findings and compliance status.
Yes. EONTA has experience with the UK operational resilience framework — including Important Business Services identification, impact tolerance setting, and scenario testing — alongside DORA. Where institutions operate in both regimes, we identify where a single control addresses both regulatory expectations and where jurisdiction-specific gaps require separate attention.
TLPT under DORA is a controlled, intelligence-led test of a financial institution's detection and response capabilities against simulated adversary attack. DORA mandates TLPT for significant institutions on a minimum triennial basis. EONTA supports TLPT readiness assessment — evaluating whether your controls, processes, and governance are ready for a formal TLPT exercise — and can advise on selecting appropriate TLPT providers.
Our methodology combines documentation review with scenario-based effectiveness testing. We evaluate whether your incident response procedures, crisis management structures, and recovery capabilities function under simulated stress conditions — not just whether they are documented. The balance between desk-based review and operational testing is determined during scoping.
A DORA compliance assessment for a defined institutional scope typically concludes in 4–7 weeks. An ISO 22301 conformity review with incident response testing typically requires 5–8 weeks. Engagements that include third-party ICT risk assessment or TLPT readiness evaluation typically add 2–3 weeks to these timelines. We provide a scoped timeline at the outset.
DORA is a regulatory obligation for financial institutions in the EU — it creates mandatory, legally enforceable requirements. ISO 22301 is a voluntary international BCM standard that provides a structured framework for business continuity management. They are complementary: ISO 22301 provides the governance structure that supports DORA compliance. EONTA assesses both simultaneously, identifying where ISO 22301 implementation supports DORA obligations and where regulatory-specific gaps remain.
Standard deliverables include: a DORA compliance assessment report with regulatory gap analysis; an ISO 22301 conformity assessment where included; an incident response effectiveness evaluation; a third-party ICT risk assessment summary; a remediation priority matrix with regulatory timeline mapping; and a board-ready executive summary structured for audit committee and regulatory review.

Take the next step

Has your incident response been independently tested this year?

DORA requires evidence of testing — not just documentation. Validate your resilience posture before your next supervisory review asks for it.

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All scoping conversations are confidential. EONTA does not share engagement details with third parties.