India|February'2009: Bharti Airtel, Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider announced that it is now a fully ISO 27001:2005 Certified Organization. The ISO 27001:2005 certification from BSI: British Standards Institute ensures a high quality information security environment in Airtel and is one of the most stringent information security standards in the world. With this achievement, Bharti Airtel has successfully institutionalized a strong security foundation based on a robust Information Security Management System that is process oriented, person-independent and self-sustaining.

With a total of 29 certificates awarded under the ISO 27001:2005 Certification Program, Airtel has the unique distinction of being awarded the largest number of certificates to any company in India across sectors and is amongst one of the largest in the world. The ISO 27001:2005 certification program encompassed all strategic business units - Mobile Services, Enterprise Services and Telemedia Services, covering around 300 locations. The scope included all central and zonal office locations, data centers, network zones, landing stations, switch locations and Airtel Center. In terms of personnel, the scope included all employees of Bharti Airtel.

"The completion of the program is a significant milestone in the journey towards our 2010 vision of being the most admired brand in India. With around 40,000 information assets under security management, it is a momentous achievement by the team at Airtel to have made this certification program a huge success” said, Dr Jai Menon, Director Technology & Customer Service, Airtel. He added, "This certification will help build trust and confidence amongst our customers and further enhance the confidence of our employees in operational processes.”

The journey to be a ISO 27001:2005 compliant organizations began with the BISP (Bharti Information Security Policy) being launched in 2003, followed by a great deal of technology rollout through outsourcing beginning 2004, and a systemized approach for certification starting 2005 with the first certification being awarded in 2006. Airtel achieved complete enterprise-wide certification in February, 2009.

ISO develops and publishes standards that establish best practices across a variety of industries. The ISO 27001:2005 certification is an endorsement of Bharti Airtel commitment to deliver managed and monitored security solutions that are benchmarked to the highest international standards.

Reachout's News Bureau
 February' 2009