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Until
now, there has been little to
distinguish a reputable IT company
from a bad one. After all, even
a bad IT company can have a web
site that creates a good first
impression.
So, how are customers to know which
companies are the real deal? Well,
it's always been a bit of a lucky
dip when it comes to IT support
companies since the industry has
been pretty much unregulated until
the launch of a recent IT services
benchmark standard.
We
were approached by Accredit UK during
the early part of 2010 with a view
to us applying for the recently
introduced benchmark standard that
they had researched, devised and
origianlly launched in the West
Midlands. This standard would be
different from the usual qualifications
attached to software and hardware
vendors' products. Instead, this
system would focus on all aspects
of the business including staffing,
contractors, supplier agreements
and general accounting. Following
this, the assessor would then delve
deep into the IT management aspects
of the business to establish whether
or not the business was handling
client's support, projects and other
IT related activities in a responsible
and efficient manner. The whole
company would be inspected and a
certification would only be awarded
if the business made the grade.
Even
though our business is tiny in comparison
to some of the competition, after
an initial investigation Your Computer
Department was found to be fairly
close to the mark already. With
a only a few improvements here and there
we were awarded the certification
in October 2010. We are delighted
to have been ahead of the competition by
becoming the first business
in the East Midlands to have been awarded
this prestigious certification.
Sadly, we feel that AccredIT UK are aiming this certification at larger businesses than ours - particularly those who are actively seeking work within the public sector (we primarily work in the private sector). Our initial aim was to prove that we were at least as good, if not better, than the larger players in our industry. We've done that and we're happy with the results we've seen from the small changes we needed to make. However, the cost of renewing the certification was just too great for us and we took the conscious decision not to renew in 2011. For us, the journey was worth the investment and we've gained respect from our industry peers and clients as a result of it.
It's official - We're good at IT!
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