The ITAM Forum today announced the launch of the world’s first ISO/IEC 19770-1 certification scheme for IT asset management and celebrates the first two organizations to ever receive certification – Softline Group Northern Europe and HDI Group.

As a management system – similar to ISO 27001 and 9001 – ISO/IEC 19770-1 specifies the requirements for an IT asset management system – the people, processes and technology necessary to manage IT assets throughout the lifecycle. Until today, organizations could not demonstrate the quality of their ITAM practices in a consistent, uniform and globally-accepted way. Now, ITAM teams can receive unrivaled recognition for their work.

Block 64, a leading provider of discovery and analytics for IT Asset Management, Cybersecurity and Cloud Enablement, today announced that it has successfully completed the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type II certification, one of the world’s most coveted and rigorous information security certifications. Through this designation, Block 64 has successfully demonstrated its ability to meet the very highest standards for maintaining the security, availability, integrity and confidentiality of customer data.

“This achievement reflects our commitment to not only meeting but exceeding the bar when it comes to information security for our clients,” said Dean Williams, President and Founder of Block 64. “At a time when the threat landscape continues to grow in size and complexity, this certification provides our customers with the assurance that our internal controls and procedures have been rigorously designed and tested and are actively protecting sensitive client data.”

While the SOC 2 Type I certification demonstrates that an organization has designed robust internal controls, SOC 2 Type II goes significantly further than its predecessor. It requires applicants to prove through an external audit by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that these controls have been tested repeatedly over time and are operating effectively. This auditing process involved evaluating Block 64’s security controls, monitoring processes, communications, risk management practices as well as the policies and procedures it uses for writing and releasing new software and updates to the market.

“Because we are required to test our controls on an ongoing basis, SOC 2 Type II is the certification that never sleeps,” said James Corless, Chief Operating Officer at Block 64. “The discipline required to meet and maintain these standards is critically important, not only to regulatory compliance-dependent organizations, but to every Block 64 partner and customer that requires certainty that their data is being handled with the utmost care.”

Block 64’s hybrid IT asset management, cybersecurity and cloud enablement services are leveraged by hundreds of world-leading technology organizations, and thousands of their customers across the globe. Block 64 is one of only a handful of organizations to successfully complete the months-long evaluation process required to meet the requirements of the SOC 2 Type II certification.