Siemens IT Solutions and Services Receives ISO Certifications
October 30 2008 - 12:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens IT Solutions &
Services announced today that its North American Global Production
Centers have achieved a triple crown of ISO certification. Siemens
has now officially achieved the following certifications: -- ISO
9001:2000--Quality Management System -- ISO/IEC 20000-1--IT Service
Management in accordance with ITIL(R) Processes -- ISO/IEC
27001--Information Security Management (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) This
triple certification is a rare achievement for any company and
reflects a rigorous approach to these three important IT service
management disciplines. It also represents a considerable
trajectory of achievement for Siemens, which went from a single ISO
9001 certification at their Toronto Data Center to all three
certifications at their Mason, Ohio, Toronto and Chicago Centers.
In all, Siemens IT Solutions & Services has achieved this
triple ISO certification at 65 locations in 17 countries around the
world, including 11 out of their 14 Global Productions Centers.
"With this achievement, our North American operations have been
integrated even more seamlessly into the Siemens global delivery
network," said Michael W. Somers, Vice President, Operations for
Siemens IT Solutions & Services. "Collaborating based on common
standards in this network enables us to effectively leverage our
global capabilities for the North American market." "These are the
three ISO Certifications we set out to achieve as a company and
we've accomplished it," said Lisa Davis, the National Director of
Quality and Continuous Improvement for Siemens, North America.
"Some companies achieve this by dedicating a few people to document
process but they are not really lived. I'm confident that we can
say that we achieved these certifications because this is 'how we
do business'," said Davis. These Siemens' ISO certifications were
achieved by an independent audit conducted by DQS GmbH. Siemens IT
Solutions & Services spent a year preparing for the review. The
preparation culminated in a 10-day site visit by DQS auditors. The
audit focused on highly detailed analyses of the Siemens Global
Production Centers in Chicago, Mason, and Toronto and covered
everything from verifying the quality and use of industry standard
processes for IT service delivery, resolution, control, release and
relationship management, to data center security and risk areas
such as insuring the use of non-combustible materials in the data
centers. "This is an important milestone for Siemens," said Somers.
"The ISO benchmark is an important competitive differentiator in
the IT marketplace. It assures our clients around the world that
Siemens adheres to a very high set of quality standards. It is," he
said, "a strategic and a tactical reality and that quality is
reflected in everything we do." "The triple ISO certification
provides Siemens with a unique asset in the IT marketplace. From a
customer perspective," said Davis, "this combination of external
certifications allows us to integrate quality throughout our
service offerings. For instance, we can use ITIL(R) Best Practices
to achieve a certain level of quality and then bring in our Six
Sigma Black Belts to advance to an even higher level of service."
The achievement of ISO certification is far from an end to the
process, noted Davis. While an important achievement, it represents
a corporate commitment to quality. ISO-accredited auditors will
continue to monitor Siemens processes and procedures to ensure
ongoing achievement of their standards. They will conduct at least
annual "no-knock" audits of Siemens facilities. The certifications
provide a powerful road map for continuous improvement and assures
clients that Siemens adheres to a global benchmark of quality.
"That quality manifests itself in the processes and services that
we offer our customers," noted Somers. "It provides our customers
with a sense of security and requires that we have both internal
and external procedures in place that ensure that we deliver what
we promise." About ISO ISO (International Organization for
Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of
International Standards. It is a network of the national standards
institutes of 157 countries, one member per country, with a Central
Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between
the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member
institutes are part of the governmental structure of their
countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand,
other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector,
having been set up by national partnerships of industry
associations. About Siemens IT Solutions & Services Siemens IT
Solutions and Services, Inc. is one of Siemens operating companies
in the United States. Siemens IT Solutions and Services is an
internationally leading provider of IT solutions and services. With
its comprehensive know-how and specific sector knowledge, this
division of Siemens offers solutions and services from a single
source -- from consulting to systems integration to software
development and management of IT infrastructures. Siemens IT
Solutions and Services has 43,000 employees and posts annual
worldwide sales of more than $6.4 billion USD. For more
information, please visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/it-solutions.
About ITIL(R) During the 1980s, as the practice of service
management grew, so too did the dependency of the business. At the
same time, the UK government, fuelled by a need for finding
efficiencies, set out to document how the best and most successful
organizations approached service management. By the late 1980s and
early 1990s, they had produced a series of books documenting an
approach to the IT service management needed to support business
users. This library of practice was entitled the IT Infrastructure
Library -- ITIL to its friends. ITIL consists of a series of books
giving guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the
accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT.
ITIL has been developed in recognition of organizations' growing
dependency on IT and embodies best practices for IT Service
Management. A formal standard for ITSM, The British Standard 15000,
largely based on ITIL practices, was established and followed by
various national standards in numerous countries. Since then the
ISO 20000:2005 Standard was introduced and gained rapid recognition
globally.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGODATASOURCE:
Siemens CONTACT: Scott Smith, +1-678-327-9864, Web Site:
http://www.usa.siemens.com/it-solutions
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