Client challenge
Defence, government and critical national infrastructure organisations globally rely on Nexor’s secure information exchange solutions.Our client connects, transforms and protects sensitive information in cyberspace. It enables working across domains, prevents data loss and promotes collaboration using secure technology solutions that meet the most stringent government and corporate security policies.
Like ourselves, Nexor had been closely involved in upgrading TickITplus alongside other stakeholders. As a member of the scheme’s Working Group, the company had helped to develop a more flexible approach, better serving the increasingly diverse needs of the IT industry. The upgraded scheme is underpinned by a Base Process Library (BPL), containing a set of base processes that Nexor helped shape.
Nexor had always invested in best practices and, for some time, had been looking for a framework for process maturity (initially adopting the Capability Maturity Model Integration, CMMI™, as a basis for continual improvement). “When we found out about the development of the TickITplus scheme, we felt this would give us what we were looking for,” explains Irene Dovey, Nexor’s Business Improvement Manager: “a valuable and pragmatic way of demonstrating the maturity of our processes.” Nexor asked us a leading technical authority to support their early transition to the scheme.
Making the transition
The Nexor team began by reviewing each process areas and carrying out a gap analysis against the TickITplus requirements. This included:
- preparing a process reference model, the basis of the evidence required for the TickITplusassessment
- establishing a business improvement action plan for areas needing further attention
- selecting the scheme profile – Systems and Software Development and Maintenance Scope in this case – so new that published guidance wasn’t yet available.
We covered a lot of ground in the assessment, which looked at most of our processes. Our [LRQA]
Certification through LRQA
As part of the TickITplus pilot, Nexor volunteered to be the first organisation to undertake external assessment by us. “We were very aware that we were the first organisation to take this step and probably because of this, there was a real buzz and a sense of excitement during the assessment,” adds Irene Dovey. “We found it a far more interactive experience than a standard ISO 9001 TickIT audit and our assessor was challenging in his questions, which was good.”
Nexor plans to undertake a capability assessment at Bronze or Silver level next, depending on the scheme’s developments.
Saving time and money
Nexor is already seeing benefits from having reviewed each of its process areas, being able to identify duplicated effort. Andy Kays, Head of Operations, explains: “An example of this is in procurement where we had a number of different people getting involved that didn’t need to be. So, we made one person responsible for purchasing third-party equipment, which not only avoids confusion but has saved time, effort and money.”
Enhancing service delivery
Service delivery has also benefitted, adds Andy Kays. “The sales team, having won client business, would come back into the office and brief the engineering team. During the life of the project, the engineering team would liaise with the client as needed on specific aspects. This often meant additional and valuable information being learnt by the engineers. However, this information was not routinely being fed back into the sales teams. This in turn meant that when the sales person visited the client again they could find themselves out of touch. This loop has now been closed with a formalised debrief from engineering to sales at the end of a project.”
