Case Study – IP House
IP House Ltd ISO 27001 – Information Security Management
IP House is an independently owned business with over 20 years’ experience working with industry leading brands. They offer a purpose built, enterprise-class colocation data centre that meets the Uptime Institute’s Tier III classification. Their data centre boasts industry leading technology, together with the latest power, monitoring and security systems.
ISO 27001 helps businesses to protect their corporate information from unauthorised access, loss and corruption.
By implementing this system, IP House are ensuring that they:
- Store confidential information securely, preventing unauthorised access
- Securely exchange information through robust processes that follow industry best practice
- Meet legal obligations and comply with industry regulations
- Manage and minimise exposure to risk
We have been provided excellent service right from the initial enquiry stage, through to the presentation of our ISO 27001 certification.
Sean Hilliar, Data Centre Manager
What did QMS do?
Our experts took IP House through a three-stage certification process.
1 Gap Analysis
QMS’ initial visit to IP House was to carry out a detailed Gap Analysis of their business, comparing their existing processes against those set out in the ISO 27001 Standard.
The QMS Consultant used their findings from this visit to produce a customised Manual for IP House which detailed all of their relevant systems, processes and procedures.
Sean Hilliar, Data Centre Manager at IP House recalled “[the Consultant] was very helpful – ensuring that we had all of the correct policies in place”.
2 Implementation
Next, IP House needed to ensure they implemented and process changes
highlighted by the QMS Consultant.
For IP House, some of the most beneficial procedural changes included the introduction of an asset register (to keep hardware and software licenses valid) and a comprehensive security questionnaire (ensuring that prospective suppliers follow the same strict information security processes).
With several ISO certifications already in place; IP House were able to use existing policies and procedures to help them achieve ISO 27001 compliance – reducing training requirements because their team were already familiar with the processes.
3 Certification
The final stage of the process required an accredited Auditor to visit IP House to confirm that the processes documented in their Information Security Management Manual were being followed correctly. Once the auditor satisfied, they were awarded their ISO 27001 : 2013 certificate.
Sean commented “we had been provided an excellent service right from the initial enquiry stage, through to the presentation of our ISO certification”.
What were the benefits of certification?
Compliance with Legal Obligations
As a colocation provider, IP House has a number of legal obligations to meet in regards to the security of their systems. Through ISO 27001 they are not only able to meet these requirements but have proof that
they have done so.
Minimised Risk Exposure
With their new asset management and access control features, IP House can now identify potential risks and threats before they happen, allowing them to deal with these issues before they affect the business.
More Streamlined Processes
Through the multiple Standards held by IP House and the tools provided by these certifications, they have been able to streamline their processes, increasing their efficiency and saving the business time. In particular their new starter/leaver processes have become more efficient.
Greater Customer Confidence
ISO 27001 certification provides IP House with industry-recognised proof of their robust information security practices. This validation reassures their customers, giving them confidence in IP House’s ability to adhere to the highest standards of security and resiliency, as expected in their industry.
Sean recalled “our first customer sought us out specifically because of the Standard; ISO certification being a requirement for them and their customers when considering hosting solutions. They mentioned
that it was difficult to locate a privately operated Data Centre which were able to meet ISO standards”.
QMS has provided IP House with an exceptional service. The knowledge and expertise of the QMS auditors provided our business with a simple and effective approach which ensured we achieved certification and can continue to maintain and improve.
Sean Hilliar, Data Centre Manager
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