Background
The TickIT initiative was launched in 1991 after a report was published by the British Department of Trade and Industry. The TickIT scheme covers the assessment and certification of an organisation's software quality management system to ISO 9001 with a pass or fail outcome. In fact, it neither adds nor subtracts any formal assessment requirements from 9001 but does require specially qualified auditors supported by detailed guidance on how to interpret 9001 in the software context. TickIT was aimed primarily at developers but the IT sector is now much more diverse.
What is new?
Since 1991 there have been significant changes to the industry. TickITplus has been developed to address these through the following
- TickITplus is a process model now formally based on IT sector best practice standards.
- Graded certification levels so you have a quantifiable measure of your organisation’s capability
- Integrated with ISO 9001 accredited certification with optional extensions to ISO 27001 (security) and ISO 20000 (IT service management)
- Improvements planning and assessment required at all TickITplus levels
Benefits of TickITplus
For organisations
- Encourages and promotes continuous improvements
- Supports IT process development to meet business needs
- Embeds good process practices
- Reduces organisational disruptions through integrated assessments
- More involvement in assessments by the organisations staff
- Cost savings for organisations pursuing ISO 9001 and capability maturity measurements
- Entry level access to capability grading at Foundation Level
For customers
- Better criteria for the supplier selection process
- Offers a clear indication of a suppliers capability and organisational maturity
- Allows for better risk management of suppliers.
Where do I go from here?
For third party certification, you need to implement an effective software quality management system complying with the requirements of the standard. The first step is to get on the road to certification for TickITplus.