Softwerx reaffirms commitment to cloud best practice with CIF certification

IT services and Support company Softwerx has once again successfully certified against the Cloud Industry Forum’s (CIF) Code of Practice, APM Group, CIF’s independent certification partner, has today announced.

Founded in 1999 and based in Cambridge, Softwerx is one of the leading providers of cloud and hybrid technology solutions in the South East of England. With extensive experience and a solid track record in supporting a wide variety of organisations, Softwerx assists businesses in the transformation, expansion or rationalisation of their IT systems to deliver flexibility and agility, whilst containing costs and enhancing security resilience.

This is the fourth time that Softwerx has certified against the Code of Practice, having initially certified in 2012, the company has seen a distinct increase in the confidence of customers and prospects alike. David Smart, Softwerx’s Managing Director, explained: “The CIF Code of Practice is something that Softwerx is 100% committed to, having consistently felt the benefits since we initially secured the certification. Arguably the biggest barrier to widespread adoption is the commercial matter of trust. When data is held on a company laptop or network there is a sense of control and security, trusting IT operations to a third party is a big step on from there for many people; especially when you have few guarantees that the Cloud Service Provider you are transacting with will do what they say they will. The Code of Practice provides those guarantees and helps to build trust between end users and providers, and businesses can look to certified CSPs and have confidence that they operate with the highest levels of transparency, accountability and capability.”

The CIF Code of Practice is a credible, certifiable tool that allows Cloud Service Providers to demonstrate that they meet specified requirements of transparency, accountability and capability. It aims to standardise enterprises offering cloud services to provide clarity and assurance to end users looking to migrate to the Cloud.
Richard Pharro, CEO of APM Group, added: “One of the biggest hurdles for organisations when adopting cloud services is a lack of clarity around what CSPs do and don’t offer. More specifically, what financial and operational substance is there behind providers, and what assurances are in place in regard to security, confidentiality and service levels? The Code of Practice aims to ensure that all of this information is freely available, thus ensuring that end users have access to enough information to be able to make informed decisions about their chosen partner. This is absolutely key to creating a sustainable cloud marketplace. Softwerx continues to demonstrate its commitment to the Code of Practice; something that we applaud them for.”