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Avocette Achieves ISO Certification

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Avocette receives ISO 20000-1 Certification

Avocette is proud to announce that our Application Managed Services have been fully certified as ISO 20000-1 compliant.

Two years ago, Avocette started the journey of ISO certification for its Application Managed Services.  This was undertaken with the goal of ensuring that the formal service delivery processes and procedures were certified by a 3rd party. The certification journey started by engaging a Registered Certifying Body and then proceeding to adhere to the rigorous ISO guidelines that would result in certification.

The scope of the certification included:

  • creating and baselining all documentation
  • creating training videos & quizzes to support staff development
  • an internal audit to assess readiness
  • an external audit by the Registered Certifying Body

All of these activities were done to ensure that Avocette operates to the highest standards of service provision and our clients can be confident that the services they receive from Avocette have been carefully designed and developed to ensure that each and every part of our service is transparent, consistent, and efficient.

The ISO 20000-1 certification requires an annual re-certification. Combined with the continuous improvement that ISO 20000-1 mandates, this means that our services are continually evolving and remaining current.  

In turn, this means that all clients can be confident that the services they are selecting from Avocette have been carefully designed and developed to ensure the most optimal performance.

  • The certification is re-assessed on an annual basis
  • Our ISO certification involves monitoring and measuring current processes to make improvements
  • Proactive approach to mitigating IT risk by applying auditable processes that access vulnerabilities
  • Reduce process errors and strengthen incident management
  • The ISO 20000-1 standard has allowed us to more effectively evaluate our customer service, which will help us improve it in the future
  • 3rd party Benchmark of how Avocette’s organization setup compare to the process and service of other ISO certified IT Service Provider
  • Affirmation that continuous improvement is a cornerstone of Avocette’s Values

Avocette also achieved ISO 9001 certification which is focused on Quality Management Systems (QMS). The aim of ISO 9001 is to help a company satisfy its customers, meet regulatory requirements, and achieve continual improvement. It should be considered to be a first step or the base level of a quality system. In simple terms, ISO 9001 certification provides the basis for effective processes and effective people to deliver an effective product or service time after time. This is the key to any successful business is strong quality control.

The benefits of ISO 9001:

  • Improved IT processes and operational efficiencies
  • Controlled and consistent, high-quality services to customers
  • Leverage a proven set of best practices
  • Demonstrate Avocette’s commitment to provisioning reliable IT application and infrastructure services

For details about the International Organization for Standards (ISO) Certification, visit https://www.iso.org/home.html.

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MSPVerify 2021

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What is MSPCV certification?

Managed Service Providers Cloud Verify (MSPCV) is a certification for cloud and managed services practitioners worldwide. It is based on the 10 control objectives of the Unified Certification Standard for Cloud & MSPs (UCS) and is the oldest certification program for cloud computing and managed services providers. The MSPCV was the first of its kind created specifically for the managed services and cloud industry. Every certification comes with a written report with the entire process documented, validated and signed by a third-party accounting firm. The MSPCV has been reviewed by governmental agencies and regulatory bodies across the globe and is used and accepted in 5 continents around the world.

What does MSPCV assess?

  • Objective 1: Governance
  • Objective 2: Policies and Procedures
  • Objective 3: Confidentiality and Privacy
  • Objective 4: Change Management
  • Objective 5: Service Operations Management
  • Objective 6: Information Security
  • Objective 7: Data Management
  • Objective 8: Physical Security
  • Objective 9: Billing and Reporting
  • Objective 10: Corporate Health

How are these objectives assessed?

The MSPAlliance certification process includes thorough readiness assessments and gap analysis based on the best practices in the industry. The results are then examined by an independent third-party accounting firm for verification and signing of a public-facing report.

What is SOC 2 Type 1 Certification?

Service Organization Controls (SOC) are a series of standards designed to help measure how well a given service organization conducts and regulates its information. The purpose of SOC standards is to provide confidence and peace of mind for organizations when they engage third-party vendors. A SOC-certified organization has been audited by an independent certified public accountant who determined the firm has the appropriate SOC safeguards and procedures in place.

More specifically, SOC 2 is designed for service providers storing customer data in the cloud. It requires companies to establish and follow strict information security policies and procedures encompassing the security, availability, processing, integrity, and confidentiality of customer data.

What Does the SOC 2 Type 1 Audit Examine?

SOC 2 looks at five Trust Factors of secure data processing and storage. Demonstrating proficiency across one or more of these criteria is an attestation to the privacy and security controls:

  • Security
  • Availability
  • Processing Integrity
  • Confidentiality
  • Privacy

What does this compliance mean to Avocette's clients?

SOC 2 Type 1 compliance assures our customers that we have best-in-class safeguards and procedures in place to ensure the security of their information. Avocette has been in business for over 43 years serving all levels of government (Federal, Public Sector and Municipal) providing our clients with trusted service and commitment. SOC 2 Type 1 compliance demonstrates that Avocette’s security policies, measures, and procedures rigorously protect the consumer and their data with oversight of an independent third party assessment.

Who is MSPAlliance?

MSPAlliance is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry. Established in 2000 with the objective of helping MSPs become better MSPs. Today, MSPAlliance has more than 30,000 cloud computing and managed service provider corporate members across the globe and works in a collaborative effort to assist its members, along with foreign and domestic governments, on creating standards, setting policies and establishing best practices.

AMS Project Review: The Importance of Managed Services to Meet the Challenges of Modernizing

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AMS Project Review: The Importance of Managed Services to Meet the Challenges of Modernizing

Karsten Ngai-Natsuhara

June 21, 2021

News

A Crown corporation in British Columbia, working in partnership with a federal agency based in Ontario, to supply funding to groups developing initiatives that invest in a key British Columbia industry. The two organizations were administering grants using an old legacy website application whose design was heavily structured on a paper-based system and associated processes. As a result, the Funding Management System (FMS) had several workflow inefficiencies with updates and changes to the system requiring significant downtime.

The decision was taken to completely redevelop the application and leverage modern technologies. A comprehensive assessment was initiated to determine the key client drivers; identifying security, flexibility and operating budget. The assessment also focused on how the new technology and functionality could integrate with business processes. Once these requirements were identified and baselined, the project team worked on determining an option that was best for the client. Consideration was given to efficiencies in cost, flexibility to cope with fluctuating user numbers, and future-proofing the system to keep up with technology innovations. Several challenges were also identified, which included ensuring consistent communication despite time differences and geography, having a stable platform for collaboration, and being able to effectively adopt an Agile approach.

After the assessment, it was determined that a cloud-native architecture was the best fit for the FMS solution. By using a cloud-native solution, benefits such as scalability and availability can be better leveraged. It allows the ability to practice Agile and DevOps Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) Infrastructure automation. Also environment creation can be scripted, which brings in benefits of increased productivity, greater consistency, and reduced costs.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Fixed Completion Date

The grants are allocated at set intervals throughout the year. The upgraded system needed to be in place by a set date to accommodate the start of their grant submission process.

Solution:

Requirements were grouped into different areas to start demonstrations and continue these throughout the design phase. These included configuration screens, proponent screens, and funder screens. This allowed the development team to build out certain parts of the system as the timelines progressed.

Transparency & Communication

The project involved multiple stakeholders in different locations, time zones, and shifting project teams, all of which could potentially slow the project’s progress.

Solution:

Microsoft Teams was used to tackle communication and transparency concerns. It provides a single platform for communication that can be accessed by all key project stakeholders in BC and Quebec. It also retains historical conversations between the group, which meant staffing changes did not stall the project.

Pre-Existing Grant Allocations

The grant allocation process spans multiple periods over the course of a single year. The cutover from the existing system to the new one needed to be seamless.

Solution:

We were able to launch the new system at the start of the new grant allocation period meaning that there was no need to migrate data to the new system. The project plan was carefully created to achieve this.

KEY FINDINGS

The Importance of an Agile Approach

The primary achievement was taking a long-standing application and rewriting it to reflect modern web application standards, update to the latest business requirements, and successfully deliver these in time for the fixed launch date of the 2020/2021 call for funding applications. Our Agile development approach also identified some ‘value-added’ opportunities for improvements, such as the dynamic ‘track changes’ feature for client reporting.

Collaboration is key

Collaboration was important to the success of this project. Every opportunity was taken to leverage the team tools that are part of the Azure DevOps environment. Status Meeting notes, Design documents, and anything that required discussion was placed on the site wiki for all members to review. Heavy use was made of the Kanban-style board with all work clearly identified as tickets on a board. Multiple boards were set up to match team functions so that boards, and the information presented, could stay clean and focused.

Pacing

The use of the DevOps platform introduces interesting dynamics. Generally, it could be said that the platform’s full use helped all teams, disciplines, and stakeholders involved in the project. However, the benefits are not even. One of the key learning points was the importance of developing methods, tracking feedback, and managing resources (both internal and external) so that the project could move forward smoothly for all team members.

CONCLUSION

The new system is more intuitive with deploying changes with only 3 minutes of downtime versus the 30 minutes needed with the old system. The feedback from test users was positive, indicating that the system was more intuitive, cleaner, and more modern interface. The Azure cloud technology is constantly advancing with new developments daily. We were able to leverage them and make them part of the build and ensure the client would maintain the most up to date technology into the future.

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Avocette: MSPCV and SOC 2

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What is MSPCV certification?

Managed Service Providers Cloud Verify (MSPCV) is a certification for cloud and managed services practitioners worldwide. It is based on the 10 control objectives of the Unified Certification Standard for Cloud & MSPs (UCS) and is the oldest certification program for cloud computing and managed services providers. The MSPCV was the first of its kind created specifically for the managed services and cloud industry. Every certification comes with a written report with the entire process documented, validated and signed by a third-party accounting firm. The MSPCV has been reviewed by governmental agencies and regulatory bodies across the globe and is used and accepted in 5 continents around the world.

What does MSPCV assess?


  • Objective 1: Governance

  • Objective 2: Policies and Procedures

  • Objective 3: Confidentiality and Privacy

  • Objective 4: Change Management

  • Objective 5: Service Operations Management

  • Objective 6: Information Security

  • Objective 7: Data Management

  • Objective 8: Physical Security

  • Objective 9: Billing and Reporting

  • Objective 10: Corporate Health

How are these objectives assessed?

The MSPAlliance certification process includes thorough readiness assessments and gap analysis based on the best practices in the industry. The results are then examined by an independent third-party accounting firm for verification and signing of a public-facing report.

What is SOC 2 Type 1 Certification?

Service Organization Controls (SOC) are a series of standards designed to help measure how well a given service organization conducts and regulates its information. The purpose of SOC standards is to provide confidence and peace of mind for organizations when they engage third-party vendors. A SOC-certified organization has been audited by an independent certified public accountant who determined the firm has the appropriate SOC safeguards and procedures in place.

More specifically, SOC 2 is designed for service providers storing customer data in the cloud. It requires companies to establish and follow strict information security policies and procedures encompassing the security, availability, processing, integrity, and confidentiality of customer data.

What Does the SOC 2 Type 1 Audit Examine?

SOC 2 looks at five Trust Factors of secure data processing and storage. Demonstrating proficiency across one or more of these criteria is an attestation to the privacy and security controls:


  • Security

  • Availability

  • Processing Integrity

  • Confidentiality

  • Privacy

What does this compliance mean to Avocette’s clients?

SOC 2 Type 1 compliance assures our customers that we have best-in-class safeguards and procedures in place to ensure the security of their information. Avocette has been in business for over 43 years serving all levels of government (Federal, Public Sector and Municipal) providing our clients with trusted service and commitment. SOC 2 Type 1 compliance demonstrates that Avocette’s security policies, measures, and procedures rigorously protect the consumer and their data with oversight of an independent third party assessment.

Who is MSPAlliance?

MSPAlliance is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry. Established in 2000 with the objective of helping MSPs become better MSPs. Today, MSPAlliance has more than 30,000 cloud computing and managed service provider corporate members across the globe and works in a collaborative effort to assist its members, along with foreign and domestic governments, on creating standards, setting policies and establishing best practices.

Avocette Technologies Receives MSPCV Certification

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New Westminster, BC, August 15, 2019 – Avocette Technologies today announced that it has successfully completed the MSPAlliance’s MSP Verify Program (MSPCV) certification process. The MSPV was the first certification created specifically for Cloud, Application and IT managed service providers. The MSPCV is based on 10 Control objectives of the Unified Standard for Cloud and & MSPV (Governance, Policies and Procedures, Confidentiality and Privacy, Change Management, Service Operations, Information Security, Data Management, Physical Security, Billing and Reporting and Corporate Health). Clients can rest assured that Avocette Technologies meets or exceeds these well-established standards.

“The MSPV certification is a rigorous process that benchmarks and verifies the quality of the company providing cloud and/or managed services,” said Celia Weaver, MSPAlliance® president. “We are very proud to have Avocette Technologies as a member of this elite community of MSPs and cloud providers.”

Certification is renewed annually with completion of the MSPCV documentation on all 10 of the control objectives. The results are then examined by an independent third-party accounting firm for verification and signing of a public facing report. The MSPCV has been reviewed by governmental agencies and regulatory bodies across the globe and is used and accepted in 5 continents around the world.

“We are proud to receive the MSP/Cloud Verify Program certification” said Mitchell Ngai, Avocette COO “Avocette is invested in our client’s success and we have been committed to providing transparency, risk management and continuous improvement to our clients for over 40 year and being a MSPV certified company re-affirms that commitment.”

ABOUT MSPALLIANCE

MSPAlliance® is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry. Established in 2000 with the objective of helping MSPs become better MSPs. Today, MSPAlliance has more than 30,000 cloud computing and manage service provider corporate members across the globe and works in a collaborative effort to assist its members, along with foreign and domestic governments, on creating standards, setting policies and establishing best practices. For more information, visit http://www.mspalliance.com/

ABOUT AVOCETTE TECHNOLOGIES

Avocette Technologies Inc. (Avocette) was founded in 1977 and has been in business for over 42 years. Focused on providing information technology solutions and consulting to all levels in Canada and the United States. Avocette also provides cloud solutions, application development, software, application and IT managed services and consulting to the public sector, municipalities, healthcare providers, regulatory organizations, private sector and non-profit organizations. Avocette works collaboratively with its clients in long-term partnerships, by providing tailored solutions, best-of-breed software and responsive services. Delivering reliable on-going support and expertise, creating opportunity, stable and mutual success. For more information, visit https://avocette.com

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