Granting global recognition to globalised companies, the International Organisation for Standardisation is establishing itself as a key awards body for outsourcing providers. Far from being media-managed industry 'gongs', its certificates are significant credits for technical detail in areas such as management and data security.

Networking 157 of the world's national standards bodies – some of which are public and some private – the non-governmental group works to harmonise standards into a vision that will benefit society as a whole. To reflect that broad-based approach, and to work around the problem of how the group's initials change with the languages of its member countries, its certificates were dubbed 'ISO' – derived from the Greek 'isos' for 'equal'.

Of particular interest to the LPO trade are the ISO 9000 awards, dedicated to quality management – specifically, 9001:2000. Certificates in this category are globally accepted marks of assurance, honouring efforts to meet customers' quality thresholds; excellence in customer service; attention to regulatory systems, and continuous improvement in all those areas. ISO 9001:2000 seeks to provide linkage between global companies and their suppliers by encouraging multinationals to participate in the worldwide marketplace, while directing service providers towards maintaining high standards. Outsourcing is cited as one of the major sectors the organisation hopes to stimulate with this policy, with the underlying aim of promoting the transfer of best practices to emerging economies.

Enhancing client-provider relations is also the goal of the 27000 – or 27k – awards. While the 9000 scheme focuses on improving the general conditions for globalised trade, the 27k series sets standards for quality control in information security. Its criteria spur data-rich companies to achieve high levels of competence in documenting, monitoring and protecting information, within the context of their overall business risks – all crucial skills in the outsourcing world. Once a business has been awarded a 27k certificate, it is able to implement it alongside existing company policy, ensuring that data security is managed cost-effectively, and that internal and external compliance rules are met.

On 12 September, the Australian business compliance and assurance group, SAI Global, announced that it had awarded ISOs in both the 9000 and 27k categories to leading legal outsourcing provider, CPA Global, for high standards of work in its Indian knowledge base. In a statement, SAI principal auditor, Vinod Khanna, said: 'I found CPA India to be a very focused team that is organised to deliver results for the overall benefit of its clients around the world. Their processes are pertinent to the tasks in hand and designed to deliver assured results. The company management is fully committed to the cause of quality and provides the right leadership for an effective organisation.'

CPA India's Head of Operations, Inder Duggal, welcomed the awards. 'Both certifications acknowledge our quality processes and the stringent measures we take to ensure that every solution delivered by CPA India measures up to the highest possible international standards of quality and information security,' he said. 'This has helped to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness.'

Find out more at www.iso.org.

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