More businesses looking to certified companies like SingTel

Singapore, 12 September 2005 -- Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), Asia’s leading communications company, is the only regional provider of Managed Hosting Services (MHS) that is BS 7799 certified.  SingTel offers MHS under the brand name of SingTel EXPAN.

The British Standard or BS 7799 is a renowned management system that helps companies implement best practices in information asset and security management.  SingTel’s data centres in Singapore and Hong Kong received their BS 7799 certification in 2002 and 2003 respectively.  SingTel’s data centre in Tokyo, Japan, joined the elite rank of BS 7799 certified companies in Japan recently. 

Today, companies generally recognise the importance of corporate information security but many do not have the in-house expertise to build a secure computing environment.  With the popularity of compliance and governance codes such as Sarbanes-Oxley and SAS 70 which place emphasis and demands on companies to adopt recommended best practices, many companies are also reviewing their corporate policies with regard to IT outsourcing or co-locating with certified service providers. 

Mr Wong Soon Nam, SingTel’s Vice President of Corporate Business Marketing, said that BS 7799 meets the strictest security requirements of IT components of most international standards.

“As a BS 7799 certified company, SingTel has security measures that are the best.  They are audited, certified and they comply with the standards of an international accreditation body.

“Unlike other service providers, SingTel’s regional data centres in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are all BS 7799 certified.  We can therefore provide customers with peace of mind when they entrust us with their Business Continuity Plan or have their Disaster Recovery Sites at SingTel’s certified data centres,” Mr Wong said.

Mr Wong added that “organisations need to ensure that the provider not only has a well-established infrastructure but can also safeguard their information assets” when choosing hosting service providers.

Industry regulators (such as the local banking or monetary authorities) as well as stringent audit processes may also require companies to make sure that their hosting providers comply with the strictest security standards.

“We see more companies than ever before asking SingTel to jointly conduct an audit of their current service provider.  In the past 12 months, we have received 30 enquiries by new and existing customers about our Managed Hosting Services certification and security processes,” Mr Wong said.  “In fact, some customers decided to host with SingTel EXPAN when they know that we are BS 7799 certified.”

NCS, SingTel’s systems integration arm, is also a BS 7799 certified Hosting Provider in Singapore.  Optus, SingTel’s wholly owned subsidiary in Australia, is expected to be BS 7799 certified next year.

More information about BS 7799 can be found: 
http://www.bsi-global.com/HigherEducation/Information_Security/benefits.xalter