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Albany Software achieves 9001:2000 Certification

Published on Thursday, May 01, 2008

Albany Software achieves ISO 9001:2000 certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI).

Alton-based software company, Albany Software, has today been presented with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9001:2000 certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI).

ISO 9001:2000 certification represents compliance of an organisation to an internationally acknowledged series of internal process benchmarks. These signify good quality management practices and provide assurance to customers that Albany's products and services meet stringent standards. BSI pioneered the development of the original quality management system BS 5750, which was developed and adopted by the International Standards Organisation into ISO 9000. Today, more than three quarters of a million companies are registered to ISO 9000.

Adrian Stafford-Jones, Managing Director of Albany Software, said, "This certification marks the start of a new era for Albany as a company. It is the first step in improving the way in which we do business."

ISO 9000 sets out how to implement an integrated quality management system fitting into the normal workings of the business. Avoiding the application of systems separate from your business processes, it creates a more 'process-based' logical and effective approach to managing an organisation. This enables companies to deploy a quality management system in the way that gives them the best results.

Bridget McGuiness of BSI who awarded the certificate to Albany said, "This certification is not an easy thing to achieve. BSI as an organisation is very protective of its awards and selective when it comes to those companies we certify as having reached a standard worthy of certification. It is to Albany's considerable credit that it has achieved this award through a very rigorous quality audit process.

ISO 9001:2000 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the organisation's processes so that they consistently turn out product and service levels that satisfy customers' expectations.

Dawn Vear, Quality Manager at Albany Software, explains, "We wanted to show our customers and potential customers that we are committed to providing quality products and services and that we were always looking for ways to improve." She adds, "We felt that ISO 9001:2000 registration was the best way to demonstrate that commitment."

Steps taken to achieve certification from the BSI include:

• Formalising company goals and objectives into one document; The Quality Manual
• Review and flowchart of top level processes and how they interact
• Review and formalisation of many existing processes and procedures
• Continual search for ways to improve processes and procedures through internal and external audits