MSPAlliance Adds HIPAA, Banking Addendums To Managed Services & Cloud Computing Certification

New enhancements include reporting on health care and financial services; UCS standard now part of MSP/Cloud Verify System

The International Association of Cloud & Managed Service Providers (MSPAlliance) recently announced several significant enhancements to its Unified Certification Standard for Cloud & Managed Service Providers (UCS).

New, unique addendums have been added to the existing UCS Standard, which will now help MSPs and Cloud Providers demonstrate their compliance with certain HIPAA and financial services regulations. The UCS is the oldest vendor agnostic, non-technical certification and audit, created in 2004, specifically for the managed services industry.

“Alongside the advancement in technology that are fulfilling the promise of mobile banking and telehealth, is a growing concern in regard to consumer and patient, which is at the forefront of cybersecurity initiatives,” said Charles Weaver, CEO and Founder of the MSPAlliance.

“Headlines report of staggeringly large breaches almost everyday,” added Charles Weaver, and less than two months ago, the FBI warned that health care industry companies are being targeted by hackers, following an attack that resulted in the theft of millions of patient records.

“Now more than ever before, cloud and managed services providers need to prove their ability to protect against such attacks. Otherwise, I fear we may see a regression in the mainstream use of these truly breakthrough innovations, which could have catastrophic consequences on multiple levels.”

John Burgess, President of Mainstream Technologies and a member of the MSPAlliance Advisory Board, adds “These new framework-specific addendums are powerful tools for MSPs who operate within multiple regulatory environments. The UCS was designed to address a broad spectrum of regulatory frameworks and the new addendums help draw a clear line from the UCS to a particular framework for each of our customers within their respective industries.”

UCS Now Part of MSP/Cloud Verify
Another significant change to the current UCS Standard is the addition of the MSPAlliance MSP/Cloud Verify™ system.

MSP/Cloud Verify was created as a verification process for end-users so that they could more easily identify certified and audited MSPs and Cloud providers. Providers who have successfully completed the UCS Standard audit process will be issued a UCS report, written and signed by a 3rd party CPA firm and issued an MSP/Cloud Verify Logo and directory listing.

“The new addendums allows MSPs to provide their customers with more trust, transparency and assurance about the types of services being delivered and the competence level at which they can deliver them,” said Charles Weaver, CEO of MSPAlliance. “Particularly for customers that have certain legal or regulatory needs, the enhanced UCS reports will provide more visibility into how their service providers deliver their services. Ultimately, more customers will be able to do more business with their service providers who have the UCS.”

The MSP/Cloud Verify Program is based on ten objectives of the UCS, each of which is supported by individual controls, and focuses on a unique area of service provider capabilities. Operations, security, documentation, event & change management, and corporate health, are just a few of the areas covered by the MSP/Cloud Verify Program.

“The MSP/Cloud Verify program is a unique and tailored certification program that allows MSPs to complete a certification that all of their customers can use across industry verticals,” said Cody Griffin, partner at HoganTaylor LLP and head of the MSPAlliance MSP/Cloud Verify Program. “The MSP/Cloud Verify approach will be more cost effective and efficient for MSPs.”

About MSPAlliance
Since 2000, the MSPAlliance has been the only unified voice for the Managed Services Industry, and the only organization that promotes the highest level of professionalism, reliability and integrity. As the world's largest Professional Association and Accrediting Body for the Managed Services Industry, the MSPAlliance was created to meet the needs of the Managed Services Professional and to educate the end-user community on the benefits of using a Managed Service Provider. For more information, visit www.mspalliance.com