A Stamp Of Quality

Competition is the name of the game and staying ahead is the key

for survival.' Like others, this rule also applies to the solutions provider

community. Against the face of growing business, and hence increased

competition, solution providers have begun to realize the need to provide their

customers a differentiation factor, in terms of service, products, price and

technology. And one of the many ways to do that, they believe, is acquiring

various kinds of process-related certifications, like the ISO. While these

certifications by themselves do not help increase business, they certainly seem

to help companies get an edge over the competition.

 ISO stands for 'same' in Greek. The International

Organization for Standardization issued the standard to promote the development

of international standards and facilitate the exchange of goods and services

worldwide. The ISO 9000 series was published in 1987 and revised in 1994. Its

implementation and certification is being applied to a wide range of operations

in services as well as industries. In fact, in many cases, compliance to

standards like ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003 is required by customers or government

bodies in their purchasing specifications.

Why ISO?



ISO has a universal appeal and its new model released in 2000 is well suited

to IT, compared to the 1994 version. Companies today believe that the right kind

of interpretation of this model and adherence to the same in letter and spirit

enables them to reap the maximum benefits. Solution providers believe that in

order to provide significant value to the customer, they need to constantly

improve as organizations. This success requires robust processes and rigorous

quality standards.

-Saket Kapur, MD, Green Vision "The certification was certainly a necessary step to gain elevation in business"

In addition, to be the best in the business, solutions providers

have to continuously improve and benchmark themselves against the best-in-class

quality organization. Certifications are, therefore, an external validation of

quality standards. And importantly, most solution providers believe in the need

to leverage on these quality certifications as a strength and differentiator to

aid sales efforts.

According to Rajeev Arora of TQ Vision, a certification provider

based in Delhi, "A certification to ISO 9000 QMS increases the customer's

confidence in the supplier's quality and delivery commitments. Since ISO 9000

QMS is universally recognized, it helps companies to penetrate global markets,

while also improving the performance." Besides, ISO certification helps in

standardization of key processes in a company. "And once they are defined,

ISO encourages organizations to focus on continual improvement," asserts

Kapil Nakra of Whizlabs, another company that helps organizations to obtain

quality certifications. 

Getting It



All ISO requirements are generic and are intended to be applicable to all

organizations, regardless of type and size. Companies need to define, document,

and implement the requirements of the standard ISO 9001:2000 to get certified.

Certifying bodies like TUV Rheinland, TUV Sutherland, KPMG, and BVQI, could help

obtain certification. After selecting the certifying body, the company has to

give information to the certifying body about its nature of business, number of

employees and its geographical presence. Depending on the size of the

organization, an ISO certification can be obtained three to 18 months after the

process has begun.

For this, first, they need to consult an individual quality

auditor or a firm of quality consultants well versed in ISO matters, seeking a

detailed orientation for understanding and, thereby, adequately meeting the

requirements of quality standards. The top brass should then identify the ISO

category under which their organization falls, for example, ISO 9001, 9002 or

9003. There ought to be some system already in existence, either written or

oral, with regard to adherence to quality of the product produced by the

organization, be it a produce or service. The organization has to review the

existing oral/documented quality system, identify procedural areas for

modification, and then decide on what needs to be implemented and how to format

the ISO 9000 required quality manual.

Once through, different members of the organization involved in

the procedure need to agree on a feasible deadline for inviting the

certification body for conducting the necessary audit required for the ISO

certification. Then, they have to make a documented report on planning and

implementation of procedures for ISO Certification. With the help of the report,

they are then required to identify the appropriate personnel/departments for

working on the procedures required to have a compliant quality manual to review

and update the QA manual(s) for compliance with the ISO standard. Here, it is

advisable to produce a flow chart to illustrate the interrelation of all the

procedures. The company also has to arrange for training of the appropriate

personnel at all levels of the organization on the procedures detailed in the

quality manual.

A Must Have



The organization needs to conduct internal quality audits at pre-agreed

intervals to verify compliance with quality procedures. It is the main

requirement of ISO. Then, the organization has to initiate corrective actions on

any deviation found and conduct periodic management meetings to review the

performance of the quality system and the corrective action process.

Finally, it is now the time to bring in the registrar of the

certifying body to conduct the certification audit, which is a very detailed

audit procedure, from auditing the management team to the line team. All the

clauses are thoroughly checked to ascertain whether the employees have

understood the concepts well. An ISO certificate is issued for a period of three

years, after which it has to be renewed. The certifying body conducts periodic

audits every six, nine or 12 months during this time, depending upon the size

and operations of the organization to make sure that they are adhering to the

ISO certification standards.

The Difference 



According to Saket Kapur, MD of Green Vision, "The non-tangible

benefits of the exercise were evident from the existing and prospective

customers who thought of us as a more quality conscious and serious player.

Certain businesses, which required ISO as a pre-qualification, became

accessible. Moreover, the written down procedures and processes brought in more

accountability with the working staff." Though it is very difficult to

assign the increased business solely to getting the ISO certification, Saket

believes that the certification was certainly a necessary step to gain elevation

in business.

Subbalakshmi BM, with inputs from Zia Askari and Gopikrishna mail@dqindia.com