ISO Certification for Application Development Companies and ISO Applicable Standards
Introduction
As the center of digital delivery, companies that develop applications (e.g., banks, retailers, hospitals, manufacturers) are experiencing strong growth due to an increase in demand from all sectors utilizing mobile/web experiences for doing business. The current market size of the global software industry is estimated to reach approximately USD 730.70B by 2024 and USD 817.77B by 2025. Market research estimates for the software services market is expected to be USD 1,479.31B in 2024 and expected to rise again to USD 1,596.61B in 2025. The growth of digital commerce and adoption of platforms continue to cause an increase in demand for mobile/web experiences, contributing to the busy application delivery pipelines across all industries.
As demand increases so do the expectations and requirements placed on vendors responsible for delivering projects. Enterprise buyers want to see evidence that application development teams can manage and adapt to ever-changing requirements, safely release, control all sub-contractors, and meet deadlines on all projects across multiple geographies. Higher levels of security and privacy as there are higher levels of security/personal privacy, developers are responsible for managing the source code and credentials, customer personal data and production access managed through CI/CD pipelines and cloud tooling, increasing due diligence, continued media reporting indicating the very high business costs associated with breaches has led many enterprise buyers to perform a more thorough analysis before selecting application vendors.
This blog explains the most relevant ISO standards for application-development companies, why they matter and how certification requirements translate into day-to-day delivery controls. Get started with your certification process for your application-development business, contact us at [email protected] today! In a services market where trust is earned through evidence, ISO certification helps you show controlled delivery and safer handling of client information.
Quick summary
ISO certification gives application-development companies a structured way to manage delivery quality, information-security and service continuity. The most relevant standards are ISO 9001:2015 (quality-management), ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (information-security) and ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 (IT service-management), with additional options like ISO 22301:2019 (business continuity) and ISO/IEC 27701:2019 (privacy) for teams handling sensitive data and uptime commitments. Certification strengthens trust with enterprise clients, regulators and partners in a fast-changing global software market.
Applicable ISO standards for application development companies
Application-development companies deal with changing requirements, fast release cycles, third-party components and cloud infrastructure. ISO standards help convert those realities into controlled processes with defined roles, records and internal checks.
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ISO 9001:2015 for application-development companies (Quality Management)
ISO 9001:2015 is a quality-management standard focused on consistent delivery through controlled processes and measurable outcomes. For application-development companies, it helps formalize the delivery lifecycle from lead intake and requirement capture to sprint planning, code review, testing, deployment and post-release support. It also supports structured handling of change-requests so scope changes are assessed, approved and tracked rather than handled informally. Many teams use ISO 9001 to tighten defect tracking, manage supplier components and reduce rework through clearer acceptance criteria and test evidence.
Read more: ISO 9001 certification
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 for application-development companies (Information Security)
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 helps control risks to confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. In application development, this includes source-code repositories, build pipelines, cloud keys, test data and production access. It supports role-based access, secure onboarding and offboarding, vendor and open-source risk review, secure backup routines and incident-response playbooks. It is also useful when clients ask about secure SDLC practices, vulnerability handling, penetration-test coordination and security controls around remote work.
Read more: ISO/IEC 27001 certification
ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 for application-development companies (IT Service Management)
ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 sets requirements for an IT service-management system. It is highly relevant for product teams delivering SaaS, managed applications, application support, or SLAs tied to uptime and response times. In practical terms, it strengthens incident-management, change-management, release-management, problem-management, configuration-management and service reporting. It also supports clearer service catalogs and service-level tracking, which helps reduce disputes about support scope and response expectations.
Read more: ISO/IEC 20000-1 certification
ISO 22301:2019 for application-development companies (Business Continuity)
ISO 22301:2019 helps teams stay ready for disruptions that can slow delivery or interrupt services. For application-development companies, disruption can include cloud-region outages, credential compromise, ransomware events, sudden loss of key engineers, or vendor downtime. ISO 22301 supports business-impact analysis, recovery priorities, alternate operating arrangements and tested response steps so delivery continues during disruption.
Read more: ISO 22301 certification
ISO/IEC 27701:2019 for application-development companies (Privacy)
ISO/IEC 27701:2019 extends ISO/IEC 27001 with privacy controls for organizations handling personal data. For application-development companies building consumer apps, healthcare portals, HR platforms, fintech workflows, or marketing systems, privacy expectations often include data-minimization, retention controls, purpose limitation and support for data-subject requests. ISO/IEC 27701 helps teams formalize privacy roles, privacy risk assessment, vendor controls for processors and privacy-by-design steps in the delivery lifecycle.
Read more: ISO/IEC 27701 certification
What are the requirements for ISO certifications in application development?
Certification is not just about passing an external audit; it requires application-development companies to put structured systems into practice. Understanding how to get ISO certified for application-development companies involves selecting relevant standards, implementing management systems, training staff, conducting internal audits and engaging an accredited certification body for third-party audit and certification issuance. Common requirements include:
Defining scope: Define what is covered such as custom development, SaaS delivery, mobile-app development, web-app development, DevOps, maintenance and support, or managed services across one or multiple locations.
Policies and commitments: Set policies for delivery quality, information-security, privacy handling where applicable and service-management commitments tied to SLAs.
Risk assessment: Identify risks such as insecure code changes, missed release windows, build-pipeline compromise, credential leakage, production outages, data loss, third-party library risk, inadequate backups, unclear change-approval and vendor dependency failures.
Documented processes: Maintain written procedures for requirement capture, sprint planning, code review, branching and merge controls, testing and regression checks, release and rollback planning, incident response, change-management, access-control management and supplier onboarding.
Staff training: Train teams on secure coding basics, review discipline, incident reporting, privacy-aware handling of customer data, access-control hygiene and client-specific delivery requirements.
Record keeping: Maintain logs for training, code-review evidence, test results, release notes, incident tickets, change approvals, access reviews, asset inventories, backup checks and vendor due-diligence records.
Monitoring and internal audits: Track KPIs such as defect trends, SLA response performance, incident recurrence, security findings closure and customer complaints, then review results through internal audits and scheduled management review.
Tip:Application-development companies often start with ISO 9001 to standardize delivery and reduce rework. Adding ISO/IEC 27001 supports secure development and builds client trust during vendor due-diligence. For teams running production workloads or SLAs, ISO/IEC 20000-1 strengthens incident, change and release controls, while ISO 22301 supports continuity planning for outages and major disruptions.
What are the benefits of ISO certifications for application development companies?
ISO certifications bring significant benefits to application-development companies. These include:
Certification supports client reviews for procurement, security questionnaires and contract onboarding
ISO 9001 supports clearer scope control, fewer defects, improved test evidence and more predictable release readiness
ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701 support safer handling of code, credentials and personal data across dev, test and production
ISO/IEC 20000-1 supports incident response, change approval and SLA reporting for managed apps
Faster complaint closure, better root-cause handling and clearer communication improve client experience
ISO 22301 supports planned response steps for cloud outages, key-person loss and supplier failures
ISO-certified vendors gain an edge with corporate clients, tenders and partner ecosystems that prefer certified suppliers
Industry research supports the value of formal management systems. The global software-services market is estimated to grow from USD 1,479.31 billion in 2024 to USD 1,596.61 billion in 2025. The broader software market is also estimated to rise from USD 730.70 billion in 2024 to USD 817.77 billion in 2025. App-delivery demand continues to rise in parallel, with one forecast placing the app-development market at USD 264.96 billion in 2025 with growth to USD 543.13 billion by 2030. Demand is strongly tied to digital commerce and platform adoption and for context you can reference the external report here: (source: UNCTAD Digital Economy Report 2024). Security and privacy risk remains a major buyer concern and for context you can reference the external report here: (source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2024). In this environment, ISO certification helps application-development companies show controlled delivery and safer handling of client information with audit-backed evidence.
ISO certifications cost for appplication development service
ISO certification cost for application-development services varies based on team size, number of delivery locations, client mix and the standards included in scope. A single-site company certifying ISO 9001 alone is typically lower cost than a multi-location provider combining ISO 9001 with ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 20000-1, because audit-days and sampling increase. Costs also depend on whether your processes are already documented, how mature your ticketing and change controls are and how much training is needed before the certification audit. Ongoing costs also include surveillance audits in the certification cycle.
Contact [email protected] for a scope-based quote that matches your delivery model.
ISO certifications timeline for application development services
ISO certification timeline for application-development services commonly ranges from 3-6 months for a focused single-site scope and 6-10 months for multi-site or integrated certification programs, depending on readiness. Early steps usually include scope definition, internal gap review, risk assessment and process documentation, followed by implementation and internal audits. The external audit typically runs in two stages, with Stage 1 focused on documented system review and readiness and Stage 2 focused on verification of real implementation through records and interviews. Teams with stable sprint routines, ticketing discipline and established release controls often move faster because the system builds on existing practices.
How Pacific Certifications can help?
Pacific Certifications, accredited by ABIS, audits and certifies application-development companies of all sizes. Whether you build mobile apps, web platforms, SaaS products, or provide application support and managed services, we provide independent third-party certification audits that help you align with ISO standards and gain recognition from clients and partners.
Here’s why application-development companies should choose us for their ISO certification needs:
Our auditors have experience auditing software and IT service organizations, including multi-site delivery models
We provide clear audit plans and transparent audit reports aligned to the standard requirements
We support integrated certification audits for combinations such as ISO 9001 with ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 20000-1
We schedule audits with project delivery realities in mind, including remote-team evidence where applicable
We support certification-cycle requirements including surveillance audits and re-certification audits
We focus evidence collection around real delivery controls such as change-approval, release readiness, incident tickets and access reviews
Contact us
If you need more support with ISO certification for your application-development business, contact us at [email protected].
Author: Alina Ansari
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