Benefits of ISO 9001 and 27001 for Companies and Their Clients

With the evolving nature of security regulations set forth by government agencies, businesses strive to constantly adapt and provide assurances to each other that they are in line with the latest rules and best practices. One of the ways companies do this is by obtaining ISO 20071 and 9001 certifications. In this article, we will take a closer look at what does ISO certified mean and the requirements to obtain them.

What is ISO 9001?

The ISO has created this certification as the standard for Quality Management Systems (QMS) for companies all over the world. These rules govern all of the processes businesses follow when creating a product and then delivering it to the customer. Each company will be able to tailor the QMS to their individual needs, but it still must correspond to the international standards as specified in the ISO 9001. There are numerous benefits of ISO 9001 certification:

• Improved credibility – When customers see that you are ISO 9001 certified, they know that your internal processes are geared towards meeting their requirements.
• Increase customer satisfaction – one of the major focuses of ISO 9001 is identifying the needs of the customer and delivering the best possible product.
• More cohesive processes – The ISO 9001 governs not only individual processes, but also how they all interact with one another. This provides for a better level of organization and speeds up delivery.

Not that we have a definition of ISO 9001 and its benefits, let’s take a look at how a company would acquire such certification.

How to Become ISO 9001 Certified

In order to get this certificate, a company would have to perform the following steps:

1. Conduct an internal audit – This is done so you can get a preliminary look at how your current rules and processes stack up against ISO 9001 requirements.
2. Management review – The C-suite of the company will get together to assess the finding of the audit and allocate resources to comply with ISO 9001 standards.
3. Corrective actions – At this stage, you fix all of the problems that you identified during the audit.
4. First certification stage – Auditors from the ISO will check your documentation to make sure you meet certification standards.
5. Second certification stage – This is when the auditors perform a more thorough review of all the actions and activities as well as company practices.

What is ISO 27001?

This certification is geared towards your Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). The ISMS is all of the policies that control the information risk management processes. The ISO 27001 provides international standards for ISMS management to make sure that all of the necessary security processes are in place, and customer data is secured. There are many benefits of information security, such as:

• Increased customer confidence – Clients will trust you with their documentation and data
• Better business resilience – the operations specified by the ISO 27001 protect your business against internal and external threats.
• Aligned processes with the customer – Since the ISO requirements are standard for companies everywhere, your processes will be in line with that of the customer, thus further increasing trust.

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the ISO 27001 certification process.

ISO 27001 Requirements Checklist

To obtain ISO 27001 certification, a company must perform the following steps:

1. Initial assessment – This will help determine if the mandatory requirements are being met.
2. Secondary assessment – Determines the effectiveness of the systems and makes sure that the management system has been implemented.
3. Recommendation for certification – the ISO will review any corrective actions taken to address the issues found in steps 1 and 2.
4. Certification review and decision – The company’s files will be reviewed by an independent panel, and a decision will be made about the certification.
5. Awarding of the certification – Upon successful completion of all the steps, the company will be awarded an ISO 27001 certificate.

Skywell Software LLC understands the importance of these certifications and the level of trust and peace of mind it brings to our clients. This is why we are currently going through the process of obtaining these certificates to serve our clients better and abide by international standards.

Take Your Service Offering to the Next Level

The guideline provided by the ISO serves as best practices to make sure that your internal processes are aimed at satisfying the customer’s requirements and making sure that your security standards abide by international norms. When companies see that their service provider has implemented all of the requirements as specified by the ISO, it increases the level of trust between the two parties and helps your business stand out from the competitors.

While implementing all of the ISO standards will require an investment as far as time and resources, thus will be justified by the benefits it will bring your business. In fact, a lot of companies nowadays are requiring potential service providers to possess ISO certification, which will allow you to respond to quote requests from companies who demand such accreditation. More importantly, it will enable you to improve your company and the quality of products that you create while increasing customer satisfaction along the way. Start your journey towards ISO certification today and reap all of the rewards that it will bring your business