2020 was a busy year for Bubo.AI, alongside it being a year that changed the world in so many unexpected ways. Amongst everything that happened for us, we are delighted to have secured ISO certification in record time.
Shortly before the end of 2020, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the only government-recognised accreditation body, confirmed that Bubo.AI now has ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification.
Now we can proudly state to have the following, for the benefit of clients, regulators and other stakeholders:
ISO 9001 : 2015, in recognition of our Quality Management Systems, covering the following scope of activities: Artificial Intelligence Price Optimisation for Wholesalers and Distributors Globally.
ISO 27001 : 2013, in recognition of our Information Security Management Systems, covering the following scope of activities: Artificial Intelligence Price Optimisation for Wholesalers and Distributors Globally.
Both are global certifications that are internationally recognised that last for three years. We went through an extensive process to achieve this, and are proud of the work the whole team put in. In this blog, we are explaining more about what these certifications mean and why it’s beneficial for clients that we are ISO certified.
What is ISO certification?
ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 165 national standards bodies. This organisation creates and sets international standards for quality, process management, and cybersecurity.
ISO sets the standards, which are then awarded to organisations (businesses, charities, even government agencies) that want to gain ISO certification, through national accreditation bodies, such as UKAS.
Next, we take a look at the benefits of the two certifications and how companies become certified.
Benefits of ISO 9001
- Customer confidence. Gaining ISO 9001 certification is a massive international demonstration of the sorts of systems and processes a company has in-place. Clients are far more confident in the abilities of companies with this certification, especially when it comes to delivering high-value services and solutions.
- Regulatory compliance. Although every company operates in different regulatory environments, client take confidence in a businesses ability to meet compliance requirements when they have ISO certification.
- Operational efficiencies. Having clear processes and systems, when it comes to delivering data and consultancy-led services makes things clearer and more efficient for clients and vendors. This also helps to save money, save time, and ensure services are delivered effectively.
Benefits of ISO 27001
- Safeguard customer data. As an AI company, we handle vast amounts of customer data. Our systems need to go above and beyond GDPR compliance. Information and cyber security systems need to be robust, secure, and capable of preventing data breaches. ISO 27001 certification gives clients confidence that everything they entrust to us is secure as possible.
- Safeguard Bubo.AI. In order for us to deliver the sorts of services that clients benefit from, we need to maintain data integrity. Since GDPR came into force, fines for preventable data breaches have increased. Achieving ISO 27001 certification shows that we are doing and have done everything possible to keep data safe and secure, to protect ourselves and clients.
How to achieve ISO certification?
Becoming ISO certified is a three-stage process. Thankfully, our CEO, Alan Timothy, has some experience of this with other businesses he has founded and operated in the past. That experience proved invaluable when it came to following the steps required to get certified.
ISO certification, for 9001 and 27001 (and others), starts with an audit. This way, the accreditation body (UKAS in the UK) can recommend what changes to quality management processes and systems need to be made to adhere to the accreditation criteria. In the case of Bubo.AI, they also audited our Information Security Management Systems, which is crucial considering the vast amounts of data we process for clients.
Once the audits were complete, we had the chance to adapt processes and systems, and then document them. It’s crucial, to achieve ISO certification, to have documents covering quality management and security management systems.
With everything documented, UKAS came back to audit everything, review the documentation and thankfully, declare Bubo.AI certified for ISO 9001 and 27001.
Alan Timothy, CEO of Bubo.AI, comments: “Achieving ISO certification, in not one but two core operational areas — quality management and information security management (9001 and 27001, respectively) — is a big win for Bubo.AI.”
“With the ISO certification in-place, we can demonstrate to clients all over the world that we have clear and effective processes and systems for delivering the services they need and keeping data secure within our AI systems. It can take companies years to achieve this, making the efforts of the team even more impressive. We hope clients and new customers around the world will take confidence in our management, quality processes, and cyber security measures.”
Bubo.AI: Find out more about our cutting-edge award-winning AI solutions, that will help companies generate more revenue and higher profits, thanks to our customer value-based pricing products and services.