Which role is associated with specialist services offered by third parties?

Under ISO 22301:2019, Clause 8.3.4 (Resource requirements), organizations must determine the resources needed to implement business continuity solutions, which explicitly includes "partners and suppliers." Suppliers are the third-party entities contracted to provide specialist services, outsourced processes, or critical resources necessary to maintain or recover operations during a disruption. Managing these external providers is a critical component of business continuity planning to ensure supply chain resilience.

A. People: Refers to internal personnel working under the organization's direct control, not external third-party service providers.
B. Stakeholders: A broad category of interested parties; while suppliers are stakeholders, the term is too generic to specifically denote third-party service providers.
C. Reputation: An intangible asset representing how the organization is perceived by the public and stakeholders, not a provider of specialist services.

1. International Organization for Standardization. (2019). ISO 22301:2019 Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements. Clause 8.3.4 (Resource requirements), p. 13.