At Smile IT we go on a lot about data security and how important it is to for businesses of all sizes to protect their information. It is, it really is. Today we’re proud to let you know that we’re not just a company who talks the talk, we also walk the walk:
It’s been an ongoing and rigorous process, but we’ve done it: we’re officially a Brisbane ISO 27001 certified managed service provider.
Hold up, what does that even mean?
Let’s start with ISO, or the International Organisation for Standardisation. You’ve no doubt heard of this before, as many different manufacturers or businesses aim for the ‘feather in the cap’ ISO certification.
ISO is an independent and non-government global organisation with a membership of 166 National Standards bodies. They create and publish industrial and commercial standards that cover all aspects of technology and manufacturing. The organisation adopts an ISO framework, which is a mix of policies and processes for them to use.
While not mandatory, these standards imply that an organisation is committed to the quality and safety of their products and services.
ISO/IEC 27001 is one of those standards.
Ok, tell us more about ISO/IEC 27001 then.
The full name is actually “ISO/IEC 27001 – Information technology – Security techniques – Information security management systems – Requirements.” You can see from the name why it’s important a Managed Service Provider like Smile IT in Brisbane attains that level of certification. It’s related to everything we do and we want our customers to feel confident we do it to an internationally recognised standard.
What ISO 27001 does is provide Smile IT with a framework to protect our information. This is called an Information Security Management system, or ISMS. This is basically a set of rules for us to follow that helps us identify risks and safeguards, determine what stakeholders expect of us, set objectives, implement controls, continuously monitor the controls and make continuous improvements.
What does this achieve when it comes to information security?
There are three main objectives of this framework when it comes to digital information security:
Confidentiality: Access to information is protected and granted to necessary and authorised people only.
Integrity: Information cannot be changed, unless pre-authorised and done by the correct people.
Availability: People with an authorised right to the information can have access to it whenever they need.
How does this help Smile IT and our clients?
As a leading Brisbane MSP our priority foremost is to provide a seamless, safe and trustworthy IT service to our clients. Being one of the few ISO/IEC 27001 certified IT companies in Queensland shows how committed we are to this.
There are a number of other benefits it indicates:
Legal Compliance: The web of legality related to information security seems to increase everyday, which laws, regulations and requirements getting regularly added. ISO/IEC 27001 certification means that most of these requirements are taken care of. When you’re dealing with a certified company, you know legal compliance is high on their priority list.
Well organised: Start-ups and fast-growing businesses are often to focused on dealing with sudden expansion to have time to organise and define their processes. An ISO/IEC 27001 established Managed Service Provider is established and organised, with the time and resources to effectively map out what they do. This ensures a greater efficiency and effectiveness in the service they provide you.
Seamless Operations: The idea behind ISO/IEC 27001 certification is a reduction in security incidents. Incidents cost time and money and depending on their severity can damage the future of a business. You want your digital information to be protected, you need to entrust a certified MSP to help you guard it.
Any questions? Please get in touch with the team at Smile IT. We’re a Brisbane-based, ISO/IEC 27001-certified managed IT services provider who love to help our clients secure their data and strengthen their processes. We’d also love to chat with you about Odzi, our very own Governance, Regulation and Compliance (GRC) platform that we’ve built on the back of our ISO 27001 certification.
When he’s not writing tech articles or turning IT startups into established and consistent managed service providers, Peter Drummond can be found kitesurfing on the Gold Coast or hanging out with his family!