Retail Assist achieves ISO 20000 accreditation

Retail Assist achieves ISO 20000 accreditation

March 2008: Solutions and service provider, Retail Assist, has announced the successful outcome of its BSI audit and the achievement of ISO 20000 accreditation across its business. The company is the only retail-specific IT services provider to have attained this 'gold standard'.

ISO 20000 sets out best practice for IT service providers, providing a systematic approach to managing services and a framework for continuous improvement. The standard is particularly important for an outsourced service provider such as Retail Assist.

Explains Retail Assist's Managed Services Director, Dan Smith: "This is an endorsement of the effectiveness of our business: our people, processes and technology. ISO 20000 engenders a service culture which very much reflects our own. Its guidelines and controls support the continuous improvement of implementing projects and delivering managed services. The framework will help us further improve our processes and respond with confidence to our clients' expectation of faultless and consistent delivery."

At a time when the company is expanding its operations in Europe and the US, Retail Assist feels it is particularly relevant to demonstrate its adherence to an auditable standard that is accepted industry-wide and internationally.

In a market where retailers are increasingly opting for fewer but closer supplier relationships, it's critical for them to have confidence in the organisations they choose to partner with. Retail Assist sees ISO 20000 as the passport to success in new business generation: both when dealing with larger retailers for whom use of accredited suppliers is often mandatory, and with smaller retailers who rely heavily upon their technology.

Dan Smith explains that the company has always been very results-oriented. Its client contracts are driven by Service-Level Agreements and it conducts regular satisfaction surveys.

"We play an enabling role in helping our clients to evolve and put into practice - their strategy. Our ISO 20000 status takes things a step further. It reassures our clients and endorses their choice of Retail Assist."

ISO 20000 also encourages a more proactive form of problem management, helping suppliers and clients to address issues before they develop and to prevent their reoccurrence. This has a cost-saving benefit for both parties.

Retail Assist is the only retail-specific services provider to have gained ISO accreditation. "The ISO standard fits in with our ethic of putting clients' requirements at the heart of our business. Our accreditation demonstrates our commitment to good practice and to good service, and formalises processes and procedures such as our adherence to ITIL which have enabled us to grow."

"The ISO 20000 approach of 'plan, do, check, act' gives us the framework for continuous improvement that our market demands. In the retail race, there is no finishing line" Dan Smith concludes.

Retail Assist managed services clients include Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, World Duty Free Europe, adams kids, Warehouse, Principles, The Shoe Studio, Oasis, Coast, Thresher Group, INGLOT and Odin Retail.

 

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