Planning to Implement ISO Standard within Your Organization: Quick Catch-up to Few Things

In this globalized BizWorld of the marketplace, maintaining consistency and quality across industries requires essential checks and balances in place. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assist organizations and industries to maintain an international standard. ISO is an independent, non-governmental, international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems. ISO also provides organizations with certification that certifies for specific standardization. One can view that ISO certifications are present in various sectors, from social responsibility, and energy management to medical devices.

For most organizations, implementing the ISO standard is a strategic decision. It is considered as a less measurable project when matched against something like developing a new product, implementing new software, a new service, or a new machine on the production line. However, the process is not something that brings changes in overnight. It takes time and requires devotion to organization and the employees will certainly feel the difference and understand that the process provides order to the organization only after some time.

Industries ranging from manufacturers and labs to auto suppliers and pharmaceuticals, the ISO standards are now rapidly being implemented by most organizations. ISO standards are mostly preferred by companies not only for seeking to improve their quality, efficiency, and profitability. It is also put into practice, as it is required by your customers, especially internationally focused businesses, overseas regulatory bodies for suppliers of quality-sensitive products. For example, medical devices, and to maintain market presence and a competitive advantage.

Benefits of ISO and information security:

The organization’s quality system can be transformed into an effective system that meets and exceeds customer expectations through the guidance of ISO standards. The internal and external benefits of the standard will accrue over time, as organizations can find distinct benefits from applying for and attaining ISO certification. Some of the benefits include:

Certification can bring new businesses and opportunities to organizations as major purchasers in business and government often require suppliers to be ISO certified.
Certification can make the supply chain to become more solid and dependable as the global economy is rapidly increasing.
ISO certification can assist organizations to improve internal communication, customer relationships, financial benefits for stakeholders, develop procedures, and enhance supplier relationships.
By building continuous improvements into the strategic plan, certification can become a roadmap for defining quality.
Organizations will be able to fully engage themselves in running a business with ISO 9000 certification program.

The benefits of ISO certification, which requires an audit to prove compliance, now extend beyond the prestige of taking that extra “step.” Certification for relevant ISO standards has itself become the standard. Depending upon the industry, ISO has published various frameworks establishing standards in many different sectors and industries that include service, environment, technology, health, medical and many more. Each entity will choose to comply with different frameworks depending on its situation and sector. Some ISO frameworks are highly specific.

There are more than 22,600 ISO standards to date for many industries. Among them, the most needed standard for any type of organization include:

ISO 9001, the international standard for quality management systems (QMS). This standard promotes a process approach to management, examining more than 20 processes.
ISO 27001 the international standard for information security management systems (ISMS)

Quality Management System (QMS) standard and information security:

ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) outlines a framework for improving quality. It is consider as the “Father of all Standards” and is a widespread framework for a sequence of particular quality standards in various industries and organizations. It also acts as a terminology of understanding for any organization seeking. To provide goods and services that meets the need and expectations of customers and other stakeholders. With its first publishment in 1987, the latest iteration (ISO 9001:2015) replaces ISO 9001:2008. The QMS is consider as the aggregate of all the processes, resources, assets, and cultural values. That support the goal of customer satisfaction and organizational efficiency.

ISO 9001:2015 is based on seven quality principles that include the following:

Customer Focus: Understanding the customer requirements and expectations from the service or the product.
Leadership: A clear, consistent, and binding quality policy formulated by the management.
Engagement of People: Associating employees by making them feel part of the organizational effort by engaging them with tasks and processes.
Approach Process: Enhancing the outcome of different and parallel processes that takes place in an organization (for example, in different departments).
Improvement: Measuring the organizational processes, examining the outcomes, and drawing conclusions for development and enhancement.
Evidence-based decision-making: Making decisions based using logical analysis and up to date information.
Relationship Management: Having a good relationship and mutual benefits for all the related parties.

ISO 9001:2015 encompasses a subset of strategic elements that match with the strategic principle. The five elements include:

Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle: This process approach manages the procedures and systems to make a cycle of continuous improvements in the organizations.
Risk-based thinking: This approach deals with understanding the main concern of the company and its related stakeholders by analyzing the risks involved with imminent transformation.
Leadership participation: Leadership ensures and is responsible that the standard is focuse on providing customer satisfaction with active support and participation.
Unified structure: A unified structure for management system standards developed by ISO since the 1990s.
Clarified documentation requirements: Comprises of simple categorized and clarified documented information.

Information Security Management System (ISMS):

Subsequently, with an increasing number of cyber attackers and information security breaches, it has become essential for organizations to keep information completely secure. The ISO 2700 Information Security Management System (ISMS) is a globally recognize international standard originally publish in the year 2005 and revise on 2013. This standard reflects on managing the potential threats and security of the information of an organization. With ISO 27001:2013 certification, organizations can prove their clients and other stakeholders, that the information within the organization is manage with security. Also, The ISO 27001:2013 standard Information Security Management System (ISMS) provides a set of standardized requirements. This standard allows organizations to securely exchange information, enhance customer satisfaction. Additionally, build a culture of security, manage and minimize risk exposure, protect the organization’s assets.

The ISO standard also provides a framework for information security management that assist organizations in:

Achieve compliance with regulations such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR)
Protect organization image and Secure client and employee information.
Also, Manage risks to information security effectively.

Both of the common standards can be implemented to any organization, sector, or of any size. However, various ISO standards were written for a particular industry such as manufacturing, shipping, medical, technology, and rail. They have their specific ISO standards.

Other familiar standards from International Standard Organization (ISO) includes:

ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Health and Safety Management System
ISO 14001:2015 for Environment Management
ISO/CD 22000:2005 for Food Safety Management System
ISO 22301:2012 for Business Continuity Management System
ISO/CD 22000:2005 for Food Safety Management System
ISO 18513:2003 for Tourism Services
ISO 21101:2014 for Adventure Tourism Safety Management System

Difference between ISO Compliance and ISO Certification:

The major difference between ISO compliance and ISO certification is the audit process. The ISO certification needs an external audit by an independent professional. This professional needs to be accredited by an authorized body. Contrarily ISO compliance does not require such an audit.

The implementation of ISO compliance and ISO certification are both optional. so, They are not compulsory regulations. However, in some situations, organizations involve in the manufacturing process might want their supplier to be ISO certified. Moreover, Certification helps them to be ensure about their goods, services, processes, the security of their information, systems, and networks.

Since the certification has many different benefits including being recognized internationally. Due to preparation time needed to pass the audit required for certification. Moreover, some organizations, particularly small ones with fewer budgets, might opt out of the cost. Hence, they decide to have compliance as a better option and let go of the extra expenditure and hassle.