Commenting on their drive for certification, Warren Wander, Managing Director at LawWare, said: “Adoption of cloud computing is growing year-on-year, but end users still express concerns about making the right move. This is nowhere more true than in the legal sector, where privacy and security are of paramount importance. While there are a variety of helpful guidelines available to help users select trustworthy suppliers, few, if any, have the scope of the CIF Code of Practice. End users can now turn to CIF certified providers and have complete confidence that they operate in a fully transparent, accountable and capable way.”
Under the CIF CoP, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) are permitted to use existing certifications towards CIF self-certified status, including the CIF certified status of partners. APM Group has been working with CIF to encourage larger vendors who provide the vital infrastructure to smaller CSPs to go through the CIF certification process, which will not only provide an added level of credibility at the very start of the cloud supply chain but will mean larger providers can enable their certified status to be used by network partners who use the infrastructure to deploy services to customers, such as the LawCloud solution. LawWare is the first CSP to complete the self-certification process in this way, using their data centre partner Rise's existing certification to assist with their application.
This, along with updated step-by-step guidance and hand-holding support provided by APM Group to help registered providers navigate the application, dramatically increased the speed at which the certification was achieved, taking four weeks in total.
James Henigan, Managing Director at Rise, said: “We initially achieved our certification in 2011, and immediately saw a distinct increase in the confidence levels of both customers and prospects. The big benefit for us is that our customers can immediately see that we are a trustworthy provider – a benefit that is felt throughout the business. We are actively encouraging our partners, like LawWare, to pursue certification, with the end goal being a more accountable and transparent cloud industry.”
Richard Pharro, CEO of APM Group, concluded: “As LawWare attests, CSPs do not need to provide all aspects of service delivery and can effectively ‘share’ certifications with partners. The Code of Practice is an important tool for building trust in the industry, something it is dearly lacking. The more that CSPs from all parts of the supply chain participate with CIF, and get certified, the better it will be for the industry as a whole.”