BUSINESS STANDARDS
is the quarterly magazine of BSI Group, highlighting the vital role that standards play in today's business environment. Regular features include interviews with leading business figures, as well as news on the latest developments in management systems and standards.
Viewpoint
Question: what is the value of a "non-standard" standard, such as a PAS?The PAS, or Publicly Available Specification, forms part of our spectrum of standards information ranging from full international consensus to bespoke individual company advice. Market demands in recent years are for sector-relevant, speedy but accurate statements of good practice and the PAS is our tool for meeting this need, producing guidance on some of the most pertinent subjects of the day.
Consider recent examples: PAS 11000 covers collaborative business relationships; PAS 78 deals with web accessibility; PAS 83 offers guidance on cell-based therapeutics - these are topical, practical guidelines responding to the specific demands of industry and its customers.
And when you come up with a timely solution to a demand, it can drive the agenda. Once in the market place we have the ability to go forward to a formal consensus standard as experience in its use develops and the scope broadens, as is the case with the recently launched BS 25999 business continuity management standard which began as PAS 56 Guide to business continuity management. Or it stands as a definitive statement of good practice as with PAS 71 Vocabulary - Nanoparticles which developed and encourages the use of a common language for nanotechnologies. Either way it represents a catalyst for business change and that's invaluable.
Mike Low, Director, British Standards
"'Non-standard' standards, such as a PAS, answer an industrial need in a timely fashion. Engagement with the key stakeholders is essential, to obtain the necessary user-community confidence, and as such, any non-standard standard must be developed in a rigorous and repeatable fashion. It must distil the quagmire of existing standards, legislation and best practice into a single, coherent and concise model that can be used effectively by the people who need it - the industry. A standard with rigour and stakeholder engagement means confidence and user buy-in. A standard without such will always be just another 'nice idea'."
Dr Jon Holt, PhD, BEng, CEng, FIEE, FBCS Managing director, Brass Bullet Ltd
"When you're looking at something significant - from the safety of hang gliders to IT service continuity management - giving organizations the ability to benchmark what they do against agreed best practice is essential. Having an informal standard where there is no applicable standard at all is the first step along the road to formal international standards, and a PAS allows BSI to produce a view of best practice much faster than they could if they were producing a formal standard."
Oscar O'Connor, Lead author, PAS 77 IT Continuity Management Programme director, Adam Continuity
For more information, visit:
www.bsi-global.com/feb07pas
Business Standards © 2007. Editorial produced by Caspian Publishing in association with the British Standards Institution. Editorial opinions expressed on are not necessarily those of BSI Group or Caspian Publishing. Neither Caspian Publishing nor BSI Group accept responsibility for advertising or editorial content, nor for that appearing on linked third-party websites. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without written permission from BSI Group or Caspian Publishing.
Security is a challenge at the best of times for a retail bank. If you offer services via the internet, security becomes even more complicated. For Barclays UK Retail Online Banking, information security is at the core of their business, which is one of the main reasons the organization pursued and achieved certification to ISO/IEC 27001 Information security from BSI.
Sustainability: more than "green"
Sustainable development means taking into account the social, economic and environmental impacts of business activities, not only for the present but also for future generations.
BSI is planning an informal free lunchtime roundtable in central London on 10 December 2009 to explore how small businesses and their trade bodies can work more effectively with standards. Places are limited so to register your interest or request more information, please email bsi.survey@bsigroup.com or call +44 (0)20 8996 7750.
While there was a time when companies would never consider working alongside the competition, today's marketplace demands a more flexible approach. Collaboration is fast becoming par for the course. For example, large government contracts often require expertise that goes far beyond any one company's capacity to deliver. Forming a consortium brings together the right experience in the right place, and it can mean the difference between winning or losing a tender.
Gerda, a leading developer and manufacturer of products for the security industry, has become the first company to be awarded the Kitemark for thief-resistant lock assemblies, in line with BS 10621:2007 Thief resistant dual-mode lock assembly.
Question: Can standards really help minimize the need for regulation?
Regulation and legislation keep business on a level playing field and help mitigate against risk, as was acknowledged by The Hampton Review in 2005.
Have a standards-related question for BSI or a comment on the website? We'll find the right person to answer.
