Monday, November 7 2005 14:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: HeroITES, the independent SBU of the Rupees 10,000 crore Hero Group, a premier provider of International Contact Center/ BPO services, has been awarded the BS 7799 -2:2002, the globally recognized standard for information security management.

The prestigious certification of compliance was recommended in August 2005 following a successful audit by KPMG, the world's second largest audit firm.

BS 7799 certification is a culmination of a 6-month long process, which covers all facets of Information Security. The standard is not only limited to IT security and provides for a Generic Quality framework in line with the PDCA approach and is universally applicable to all types, nature and size of organizations. It provides over 127 main controls addressing 36 control objectives and over 500 detailed controls.

Commenting on the occasion, Rohit Chanana, Business Head, HeroITES, said, "Certification to the BS7799-2: 2002 standard is an important acknowledgement of HeroITES's commitment towards security of information that impacts our customers and our ability to serve them effectively," he further added, "As one of leading International Contact Centers in India, it is critical that we are able to safeguard sensitive information about our customers and their products during service delivery. We are amongst a small group of companies globally that have achieved this recognition and hope that it will increase customer confidence in the way we run our security processes."

Conformance to industry standards such as BS 7799 further assures HeroITES's clients of the security processes and methodologies followed by the company. Besides employee education, HeroITES has also deployed very rigid access and physical control policies; which are monitored around the clock. A Security Council comprising senior management team and Operation Directors reviews the information security procedures periodically. Before launch of any new program, a full information security audit is conducted.

Mr. Navin Chopra, Associate Director and Product Champion (Six Sigma) with KPMG's Quality Registrar Practice, while appreciating and congratulating Team HeroITES for their sincere work stated, "We are very impressed with the stringent security procedures followed at HeroITES. With this certification the journey on Information security has just begun. Efforts should now be to integrate these systems with existing Quality Management systems to provide the quality services while ensuring the confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of the information assets, which is a pre-requisite for any organization in the BPO industry."

Mr. Chopra expressed confidence on the capabilities of the leadership team and the task force. He stated, "I am sure in times to come HeroITES would have a seamless system integrating the benefits of QMS and ISMS and provide the desired level of services to its client."

HeroITES had recently announced the spin-off into an independent company to have a sharper focus on the Contact Center/ BPO business and execute its aggressive growth plan, including an IPO in the future.