IT Quality Standard Launched - Accredit UK

12/11/2007

The National Computing Centre launches a quality standard for IT suppliers to promote confidence in the purchasing of IT solutions.

Coventry, 12 November 2007, Next week sees the launch of a quality standard to assess IT companies. Called Accredit UK, the quality standard is the result of over two years of careful development. Accredit UK  is being launched at the West Midlands ICT Cluster Conference on the 22nd November at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull.

Accredit UK’s creators, the National Computing Centre, claim that it is more than just another standard. It takes a totally new approach to quality assurance and is set to revolutionise the IT industry.

The Standard is based on close engagement with a variety of companies and organisations. This work has been backed up by a large market research exercise carried out. This showed that while 95% of respondents think that greater use of IT in their business would increase productivity, and that two-thirds of people think quality standards are useful when selecting suppliers, most do not have confidence in existing standards.

“We have carried out an enormous amount of research and spoken to a lot of organisations,” says Vaughan Shayler, Programme Director for Accredit UK. “The conclusion from the research outputs is that people are worried when they buy IT and are crying out for some sort of formal certification scheme.”

The standard will be used to assess IT companies and certify them in their chosen market segment(s). This will enable purchasers to know where to turn when they want to select a supplier. On the other hand, it will enable suppliers to gain extra recognition and will undoubtedly open doors to many smaller niche businesses.

“We want to give purchasers the confidence to go out and buy what will help their business grow,” concludes Vaughan Shayler. “94% of people that we surveyed think that the Accredit UK standard is a good idea. That is because it solves their burning need – they can now get what they want without fear.”