Client success story
How Whistl Achieved and Maintains ISO 27001 with Symbiant's Highly Agile, Connected Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) Software
ISO 27001 is the international benchmark for information security management. Symbiant Risk Management solution supports organisations in achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 certification by providing a structured, auditable ISMS that demonstrates security posture to customers, partners, and regulators worldwide.
From only £100 per module/month for unlimited users*
Symbiant: Stronger together
What Is ISO/IEC 27001?
ISO/IEC 27001 is the world’s leading international standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS).
It provides a structured, risk-based framework that helps organisations of any size or sector protect sensitive information, including customer data, intellectual property, and financial records, across people, processes, and technology.
Rather than focusing on individual technical controls alone, ISO 27001 establishes a management system that enables organisations to identify risks, apply appropriate controls, and continuously improve information security over time.
- Stronger Information Security: Proactively identifies, assesses, and mitigates security risks, reducing the likelihood and impact of data breaches and cyber incidents.
- Regulatory and Legal Alignment: Supports compliance with regulations such as GDPR and other sector-specific security requirements.
- Commercial and Competitive Advantage: Certification provides independent, globally recognised assurance of strong information security practices — often essential for enterprise, public sector, and regulated markets.
- Reduced Cost and Operational Risk: Helps minimise the financial, reputational, and operational impact of security incidents and ineffective or fragmented security controls.
ISO 27001 & GDPR
How Symbiant GRC Platform Supports Each Part of ISO 27001 Risk Management Compliance
Symbiant supports ISO 27001 as a management system, not a one-off certification exercise. Each part of the standard is supported through connected modules that provide structure, traceability, and audit-ready evidence.
1. Mandatory Clauses (Clauses 4–10)
The mandatory clauses define how an ISMS is established, operated, monitored, and continually improved. Symbiant supports these requirements by providing a single, connected system for managing governance, risk, controls, actions, and evidence.
Context, Scope, and Leadership (Clauses 4 & 5)
Symbiant helps organisations define and document ISMS scope, responsibilities, and ownership. Roles, permissions, and accountability are clearly assigned, supporting leadership oversight and governance expectations.
Planning and Risk-Based Decision-Making (Clause 6)
Risk Registers enable structured identification, assessment, and treatment of information security risks. Risks are linked directly to controls, actions, and objectives, ensuring risk-based planning is clear, consistent, and auditable.
Support and Documentation (Clause 7)
Document Management provides a controlled environment for ISMS policies, procedures, risk methodologies, and supporting documentation. Version control, access permissions, and approvals help maintain accuracy and consistency.
Operational Control (Clause 8)
Controls and Policies modules support the implementation and ongoing management of security controls. Control effectiveness can be reviewed, tested, and evidenced, with actions tracked where remediation is required.
Performance Evaluation (Clause 9)
Internal audits, reviews, and assessments are supported through Audit Working Papers, Questionnaires, and reporting tools. Evidence is captured as activities occur, enabling meaningful performance monitoring.
Continual Improvement (Clause 10)
Action Trackers ensure nonconformities, audit findings, and improvement actions are recorded, owned, and followed through to completion, supporting continuous improvement of the ISMS.
2. Annex A Controls
Annex A provides a structured set of security controls selected based on risk treatment decisions. Symbiant supports this by enabling organisations to select, manage, review, and evidence controls in a consistent way.
Control Selection and Statement of Applicability
The Controls and Policies module supports mapping controls to identified risks and enables one-click generation of the Statement of Applicability, clearly documenting control inclusion, exclusion, and justification.
Control Ownership and Effectiveness
Controls can be assigned owners, reviewed on a defined schedule, and assessed through Risk Control Self-Assessments (RCSA). Outcomes are recorded, and linked risks are updated where control effectiveness changes.
Evidence and Traceability
Controls are linked directly to risks, incidents, audits, actions, and documentation, creating a clear audit trail that demonstrates how controls are implemented and maintained in practice.
3. Audits, Certification, and Ongoing Assurance
ISO 27001 certification relies on demonstrating both design and effective operation of the ISMS.
Symbiant highly agile GRC software supports:
planning and execution of internal and external audits
structured recording of findings and observations
tracking corrective actions and improvements
producing clear, consistent evidence for certification body visits
This reduces reliance on last-minute evidence gathering and supports confidence during surveillance and recertification audits.
4. Continuous, Scalable Compliance
Because Symbiant is modular, organisations can start with core ISMS requirements and expand as needed, supporting multiple ISO standards, business growth, and changing risk profiles over time.
The result is an ISMS that:
operates continuously rather than annually
remains auditable at any point
adapts as the organisation evolves
THE CHALLENGE
Why Managing ISO 27001 with Spreadsheets and Siloed Tools Creates Risk
Managing ISO standards, particularly ISO 27001, can become increasingly complex when information is spread across paperwork, spreadsheets, and disconnected systems.
Before using Symbiant, Whistl relied heavily on manual documentation and multiple platforms to manage their ISO requirements. This made it difficult to maintain a clear, joined-up view of ISMS risks, controls, audits, documentation, and objectives, especially when preparing for internal reviews and external certification body visits.
As the organisation matured its approach to risk management and expanded its ISO landscape, the need for a more integrated, scalable system became clear. Whistl required a solution that could support multiple ISO standards, reduce administrative overhead, and provide consistent, auditable evidence of compliance, without rebuilding processes each year.
“ Before Symbiant we relied heavily on paperwork, spreadsheets, and several disconnected systems and platform to manage our ISO standards, and since we started using Symbiant for risk management we have added new modules over the years because of the integration, the reporting, and the excellent support we receive.”
— Ben Moulds, Head of Health & Safety, Assurance and Compliance, WHISTL
THe solution
Symbiant GRC - Centralised ISO 27001 ISMS Built on Integrated Risk, Audit, and Control Management
Before adopting Symbiant, Whistl relied heavily on paperwork, spreadsheets, and several disconnected systems to manage their ISO standards. While this approach supported compliance in principle, it made it increasingly difficult to maintain consistency, visibility, and confidence across ISO 27001, particularly as audit requirements, evidence expectations, and internal oversight increased.
Whistl initially implemented Symbiant to support risk management, providing a structured foundation for identifying and managing ISMS risks. As their programme matured, they expanded their use of Symbiant by introducing additional modules, driven by the platform’s integration across risk, controls, audits, documentation, and objectives, as well as the quality of reporting and ongoing support.
As a result, Symbiant has become a core part of Whistl’s ISMS programme, supporting adherence to the clauses and controls of ISO 27001 and playing a key role in annual certification body visits.
For ISO 27001 specifically, Symbiant supports Whistl by enabling:
Structured management of ISMS risks and controls
Planned and auditable internal and external ISO audits
Audit Action Tracker is used to plan, conduct, and follow up on both internal and external ISO audits. Findings, actions, and outcomes are tracked within the system, ensuring clear ownership and consistent follow-through.
Centralised ISMS documentation
The Documents module provides a controlled environment to create, maintain, and share ISMS documentation, from policies and procedures to risk assessments and supporting evidence, reducing reliance on scattered files and manual version control.
Ongoing monitoring of ISMS objectives
The Objectives module enables progress against ISMS objectives to be tracked and reviewed, supporting alignment between information security goals, risk management, and audit outcomes.
“ We use several modules of Symbiant for many requirements of our ISO standards with the benefit being that they enable us to manage our multiple ISO certifications easily. With regards to ISO27001 we benefit from the following:
Risk & Controls modules for managing our ISMS Risks and the effectiveness of technical and practical controls.
Audit Manager and Finding Tracker to plan, conduct, and follow up on all internal and external ISO audits and outputs.
Documents module to create and maintain and share all company documentation from Policies to risk assessments.
ISO Objectives module to monitor progress against our ISMS objectives. ”
— Ben Moulds, Head of Health & Safety, Assurance and Compliance, WHISTL
Risk Management Software
The Symbiant Risk Management Software module enables organisations to identify, understand, and manage risks with ease and efficiency. It provides a streamlined approach to monitoring, assessing, and mitigating risks, ensuring informed decisions and compliance.
AI-Powered Assistant
Symbiant AI connects data across your organisation, delivering actionable insights and seamless workflows. From logical, data-driven risk scoring to uncovering root causes and predicting the domino effect of control failures, Symbiant AI empowers smarter, faster decisions. Eliminate duplicate risks in seconds, refine controls, identify emerging risks, and so much more—all tailored to your business.
Audit Management Software
The Symbiant Audit Management Software module streamlines audit planning, action tracking, and time management. It automatically pulls relevant data, allows easy report customisation, and generates professional audit reports.
Hover to Explore our Solutions.
Symbiant
All-in-One GRC & Audit
Management Powerhouse
Symbiant’s flexible, modular platform streamlines governance, risk, compliance, and audit—so you can reduce complexity, adapt fast, and stay focused on achieving your objectives.
Our Solution at a Glance:
Risk Management Software
The Symbiant Risk Management Software module enables organisations to identify, understand, and manage risks with ease and efficiency. It provides a streamlined approach to monitoring, assessing, and mitigating risks, ensuring informed decisions and compliance.
AI-Powered Assistant
Symbiant AI connects data across your organisation, delivering actionable insights and seamless workflows. From logical, data-driven risk scoring to uncovering root causes and predicting the domino effect of control failures, Symbiant AI empowers smarter, faster decisions. Eliminate duplicate risks in seconds, refine controls, identify emerging risks, and so much more—all tailored to your business.
Audit Management Software
The Symbiant Audit Management Software module streamlines audit planning, action tracking, and time management. It automatically pulls relevant data, allows easy report customisation, and generates professional audit reports.
Trusted Across Industries
Real Results with Symbiant: GRC Success Stories from Our Clients
Symbiant powers governance, risk, compliance, and audit functions across a wide range of sectors—from financial services and logistics to local authorities and regulators. Explore our case studies to see how our modular GRC, Risk and Audit Management software helps teams effectively achieve business objectives, work smarter, reduce costs, and stay ahead of emerging risks.
See how organisations like SRBS, Whistl, Marsh Finance & more, use Symbiant to improve compliance, manage risk more effectively, and simplify audit processes—on one agile platform built around their unique needs.
” We have had nothing but good experiences and we have a very strong relationship with the team at Symbiant. We continue to use Symbiant for a few reasons. 1. Cost – I don’t know of a GRC solution as broad as ours for a similar price. 2. Customisation – we are able to make changes to have the system look, feel, and run to our requirements with ease. 3. Support – the team at Symbiant Support are friendly, knowledgeable, understanding, and quick to respond.”
— Ben Moulds, Risk, Assurance and Compliance Manager, Whist
” Our previous risk system had very limited functionality, was very difficult to use and was expensive. […] Reporting was manual, inefficient and error prone.With Symbiant, we now have a system which is simple, easy to use, cost effective, and connects risks, controls, incidents and action tracking in one tool. […] Reporting is quick and easy, and the system is very well designed and user friendly. The Symbiant team were very helpful and collaborative when adapting the system to meet our specific needs.”
— Camilla Owen, Head of Non-Financial Risk (1st Line of Defence)
— Megan Macpherson, Risk Analyst, SRBS”Before we moved to Symbiant, we were spreadsheet-based, which was a very manual and time-consuming process […]. We also had a bespoke ‘waterfall report’ made to show changes in risk scores month by month — it makes it very clear to see any changes over the last six months.”
”We sought a Risk and Compliance software solution due to the cumbersome and manual process of managing everything through spreadsheets and folders. […] Our account manager at Symbiant actively listens to our requirements and proposes enhancements to improve functionality. Symbiant has revolutionised our R&C department’s operations, easing our workload and enhancing compliance levels.”
— Dan Simpson, Risk & Compliance Director
unbeatable pricing