INDUSTRY AWARDS AND ACCREDITATIONS

Assessing your organization against the industry is an important way of finding out whether the service proposition really is worth investing in. As a means of benchmarking, awards processes are one way of finding out how good you actually are, although they do carry the risk of rejection, which can be demotivating. Industry awards recognize achievement rather than intent to achieve and so, although they can form an important part of the initial plan, they are timed for most appropriately when part of the plan is ready for external validation. Gaining awards or other external recognition from industry bodies with appropriate credentials will not only validate your achievements to management but also offer moral support to the teams undergoing what may well be fundamental change. Trophies, plaques and certificates are also a tangible sign of a serious intent to transform and should be sited in full visibility of everyone, including customers – whether this is in a corporate trophy cupboard, the main reception area or through a website is simply a matter of choice. It is rare to find IT awards displayed among other trophies of corporate recognition, but they do act as a means of communicating to everyone concerned that IT is committed to success in the same way that, say, marketing or premises is and can therefore occupy the same cabinet or wall space. Awards that are felt to be of particular importance are:

• Information Systems Quality at Work (ISQW) accreditation, which shows that the organization has adopted a formal approach to career and skills development for its IT staff;

• the Investors in People award, which accredits the staff development and training schemes against best HR practice;

• industry scheme achievements, such as the Service Excellence and IT Professional Awards, which rank different aspects of IT delivery against a peer group as well as objective minimum standards;

• accreditation against a major standard such as ISO 9000 or ISO/IEC 20000;

• conformance with web usability standards, such as Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and PAS78 for website accessibility.