On December 16th, Ralph Freude, Head of ICT at TÜV Rheinland, presented Harald Schlüter, the Information Security Officer (ISO) of cc cloud GmbH, with the ISO 27001 certificate. The ceremonial handover took place in the auditorium of codecentric's headquarters in Solingen. Rainer Vehns, Managing Director of cc cloud GmbH and Board Member of codecentric AG, and Unit Manager Tobias Knierim were also present at the handover.
cc cloud GmbH manages the cloud-based infrastructures for codecentric AG and its customers, and also maintains the internal IT systems of codecentric AG. The topics of data protection and data security have gained even more significance in the course of implementing the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR). It therefore quickly became clear to Rainer Vehns, Managing Director of cc cloud GmbH, and Unit Manager Tobias Knierim that they wanted to pursue ISO 27001 certification.
ISO 27001 is a globally recognized standard for establishing an Information Security Management System. Certified companies have an effective Information Security Management System (ISMS). The ISMS supports cc cloud GmbH in keeping systems and IT processes available and maintaining the confidentiality of information.
Harald Schlüter, together with his deputy René Wölker and the codecentric InfoSec team, drove the certification forward. cc cloud GmbH, supported by its consultant Christian Maas, commissioned TÜV Rheinland with the audit and certification process. A TÜV Rheinland auditor first reviewed the ISMS of cc cloud GmbH and the associated documentation at an initial appointment. In a second step, the TÜV Rheinland auditor examined over the course of three days whether the ISMS of cc cloud GmbH meets the requirements set out by the standard.
Harald Schlüter emphasizes in this context that ongoing audits also verify the continuous improvement of the ISMS.
The initial certification is therefore valid for three years. It is reviewed annually to determine whether the company continues to maintain the effectiveness of the ISMS – and whether the system is being further developed.
The requirements of the standard thus align with the guidelines of cc cloud GmbH, as it is important to them to pursue sustainable and up-to-date solutions while at the same time not negatively impacting day-to-day business operations and continuing to work in an agile manner.
During the certification process, the management support that distinguishes codecentric AG and its subsidiary cc cloud GmbH also became evident. Rainer Vehns backed the initiative from the very beginning: "We didn't want the certification for certification's sake – but rather, in parallel, improved our internal processes and guidelines in the interest of our customers and in the interest of security and data protection."