Training module
ISMS Scope & Statement of Applicability
Define clear ISO/IEC 27001 ISMS scope and boundaries and maintain a defensible Statement of Applicability (SoA)
Define the frame that makes ISMS decisions defensible
Build practical judgement for ISO/IEC 27001 scope and Statement of Applicability work: services, boundaries, interfaces, outsourced processes, shared responsibilities, control applicability, evidence reality and review triggers.
Overview
What this module is about
ISMS scope and Statement of Applicability decisions often look tidy on paper while the real organisation remains messier: shared platforms, regional teams, suppliers, cloud services, outsourced processes, customer responsibilities and changing service models do not fit neatly into a certificate sentence.
This module uses the evolving Northstar case to practise defining a defensible ISMS scope, making boundary and interface decisions visible, and building SoA rationale that can support risk work, customer assurance and management review. The focus is practical management-system judgement, not a generic ISO/IEC 27001 overview or a control-by-control Annex A walkthrough.
Audience
Who it is for
Management system implementers and coordinators
Executives and department heads accountable for management system performance
Those responsible for processes, policies, assets, risks and controls
Auditors seeking insight into management-side practice, not audit technique
Consultants working on management system design, governance or improvement
Decision supportIs this module for you?
It is a good fit if you…
work with ISMS implementation, scope definition, SoA maintenance or customer assurance.
need to connect ISO/IEC 27001 scope to real services, processes, information assets and obligations.
see unclear boundaries across shared platforms, suppliers, outsourced processes or regional teams.
want control applicability and exclusion rationale that can survive review, audit and management questions.
are preparing to strengthen an ISMS before certification, recertification, customer assurance or major change.
It may not be the best fit if you…
want only a short overview of ISO/IEC 27001 clauses.
are mainly looking for technical hardening, tool configuration or penetration testing.
want a full information security risk assessment or residual-risk acceptance course.
expect a control-by-control Annex A interpretation workshop.
already have a clearly owned, maintained and evidence-backed ISMS scope and SoA that works in practice.
Agenda
What is taught
6 parts01ISMS scope as decision frame
Read scope wording before trusting it
Use context, interested parties and obligations at the level needed for ISMS decisions
Define what scope must support for risk, controls, assurance and management review
02Services, processes and information assets
Start from customer-facing services and management-system outcomes
Connect services and processes to primary and supporting information assets
Repair scope wording so coverage, exclusions and assumptions are clear
03Boundaries, interfaces and retained responsibility
Map organisational, technical, supplier and customer boundaries
Clarify outsourced processes, supplier-operated controls and shared platforms
Assign internal ownership for interfaces, evidence and escalation
04Applicability rationale and exclusions
Decide whether selected controls are applicable, not applicable or partly applicable
Test exclusion rationale against scope, obligations, risk inputs and retained responsibility
Use AI-assisted review to challenge weak rationale without outsourcing judgement
05SoA structure, status and traceability
Separate applicability, rationale, implementation status, references and ownership
Find gaps between documented status and evidence reality
Identify handoffs to risk management, supplier management and operational control
06Maintenance, assurance and management review
Use service, supplier, platform, incident and AI workflow changes as review triggers
Prepare customer-safe assurance wording without overclaiming coverage
Turn scope and SoA status into concise management-review input
Outcomes
Learning outcomes
01
Define an ISO/IEC 27001 ISMS scope that explains services, boundaries, exclusions, interfaces and assumptions
02
Clarify retained responsibility across shared platforms, suppliers, outsourced processes and customer interfaces
03
Build SoA applicability rationale that links scope, risk inputs, control status, evidence and review triggers
Connect ISMS scope to services, processes, information assets, obligations and assurance needs
Distinguish applicability, exclusion rationale, implementation status and operational evidence
Use supplier, platform, service and AI workflow changes as scope and SoA review triggers
Prepare customer-safe scope and SoA assurance wording for management review
Use AI support to compare artefacts and challenge weak rationale without replacing accountability
Materials
The content and the assessment
Written module
The full content in writing, complete in itself. Videos are recorded for parts of it as an alternative way through, and the written module always carries everything.
Exercises
Graded work on the case organisation's own registers: structured answers checked against the encoded case, written answers scored against a rubric traced to it, with a trainer holding the final word on every assessed item.
On completion
The assessed exercises must be passed before the certificate is issued.
Scheduling
No public run of ISMS Scope & Statement of Applicability is scheduled at the moment. Tell us you are interested and we will let you know when the next one opens, or discuss running it in-house.
Module facts
- Module ID
- HAM-IS-S-01
- Discipline
- Information Security
- Part of tracks
- Management System Manager
Case organisation
You work inside a company that already has the problem
Exercises run on one case organisation, carried across modules rather than restarted, so what you build here is what the next module finds.
Northstar Integrated Services AG is a group headquartered in Zurich, providing digital operations platforms and managed services to regulated organisations across Europe. It has not always been that. It began in 2008 as a field-operations firm of about twenty-five people, and what first forced documented decisions and named accountability on it was not growth but a single regulated customer. It now runs an acquired business in Poland and the Czech Republic through a subsidiary that kept its own legal identity, which is where the interesting failures live: group instruments rolled out operationally and never put in force by the governing bodies of the subsidiary itself.
Linked registers
Organisation and people, risks, objectives, policies and documents, findings and reviews, third parties, processes
Not a case study
Nothing is summarised for you; the evidence is where it would really be
It has a history
The organisation has a timeline, and modules enter it at different points, so a structure can be studied before it broke as well as after
It crosses borders
A Swiss parent, an acquired operating business in Poland and the Czech Republic under its own legal entity, and customers in several jurisdictions
Why it matters
Judgement is not trained on tidy examples, and it is not trained on a fresh one each week. Northstar is deliberately untidy, and modules enter it at different points of its history, so you see a governance structure being built, outgrown and rebuilt rather than a finished one. What you decide in one module is what the next one finds.
Delivery & dates
How this module reaches you
Delivered live online, combining conceptual framing, discussion, case work and direct interaction with the trainer. In-house and contextualised delivery is available on request.
No public run is scheduled at the moment. Most modules run on request as well as on the public calendar, so tell us the timing you need.
Want this module scheduled?
We will tell you when the next run is scheduled, or run this module in-house with your own case material.
Not sure it is the right module?
Describe your context in a short message and we will tell you honestly.