I want to share my experience from a number of third party ISO 27001 audits in the Netherlands that I (co)conducted in the past months. I was quite impressed by the dynamic IT landscape that I encountered during these audits.
Some of the things that struck me were:
Strong focus on a single type of service
Most of the companies audited focused on one particular type of service product with the deliberate exclusion of others.
Innovative and promising developments
Most of these companies had developed completely new services with strong growth potential. Some examples:
- Innovative retail experiences based on video and sensor technology
- Collaboration tools enabling to support and follow fragile citizens across different community services
- New communication platforms for large organisations enabling a harmonized customer service experience across multiple technologies and softwares
- Specialized cybersecurity offerings in niche markets like the maritime sector
Strong cybersecurity consciousness
Strong management involvement in going for ISO 27001 certification to differentiate their company in assuring data security for their customers.
Cost focus
Low cost buildings, simple office environments without fuzz. For start up units, being cost conscious often makes the difference between growing and failing.
I look forward, during upcoming audits in Belgium, to compare the Belgian IT sector with what I saw in the Netherlands. I’ll keep you posted.