One of many bits of (junk) mail I receive as a long suffering company director is an invitation from Lambeth Council to a Meet the Buyer Event aimed at helping local businesses become suppliers to the Council.  I accept the invite.

My expectations are not particularly high when I turn up.  The YMCA at Stockwell doesn’t sound like the classiest of venues and I get there its fallen down (I later discover it is in fact being rebuilt).  There are about 60 people in the audience.  I pick up the vibe that most of these people are from very small business.

There are three or four presentations and they are short and to the point.  The messages are that Lambeth has a specific initiative to help small businesses become public sector suppliers, and that if you are going to become a small business supplier its more likely to be as a second or third tier supplier to a larger private company which has won a large council contract.

Particularly impressive is a lady called Carol Hustler of Supply London.   She presents really well and seems to know her subject.  The colourful Steven Regalado from the Lambeth Council procurement department is also very approachable.

Questions from the floor are basic and largely uninspiring.  I ask what turnover companies require before they will get council contracts.  Stephen explains that most councils won’t give a company an order which is worth more than a quarter of its turnover.

At the end , I get Stephen’s business card but Carol has run out of them.  In nearly didn’t respond to the invite but I am glad I came – good event.

Based on an account recorded in my diary from December 2007.

Perhaps my knowledge of ERP systems makes me pay particular attention to this issue.  But one of the central reasons for finding out about International Standards and what they mean of this stage of the business development is so that I don’t start using an ERP system which turns out not to be compatible with the requirements of ISO’s further down the line.

As a confidential data shredding business, Data Eliminate must be totally scaleable – in that whatever systems, processes and software it starts with can grow with the company up to 200 employees plus.  I had assumed that a reasonably complex software configuration would be required by the ISO but this is not the case.

An additional challenge remains – that is to find a software package suitable for on site data destruction services.  I know that vehicle tracking/ route planning and bar coding of data tapes, usb sticks, hard drives and the like are going to be demanding requirements.  On completing my initial research on ISOs, I will focus on software selection. 

I now realize that ISO 9001 in itself is not going to require advanced automated systems and processes and therefore advance and expensive software.    A few weeks ago I thought this might be a showstopper in that the ISO would be so demanding.  The task is more to fit Peter’s simple forms in with the way an ERP software works rather than having to configure the software to fit the standard.  Much of the box functionality of an ERP system provides automatic compliance in ways which a fully manually system wouldn’t.

Now I need to look more closely at a potential joint venture with a US company  and the actual method to be used to deliver the data destruction service.

Based on an account recorded in my diary from November 2007.

I am curious that about retaining a management consultant – or at least someone doing something close to that.  I have not often been on the receiving end of one but have spent the last few years dispensing advice as just that – a Management Consultant.

Peter arrives with a big plastic folder for me containing the full text of ISOs 9001 and BS 7858.  This is very naughty – the origin/ copyright info is blacked out in the margin.  It’s a good start for me though – approximately £180 worth of documents.

I assume that we are going to start going through the standards, read each clause and learn what it means and how it applies to Data Eliminate.  Peter has no such plan.  He asks me a number of questions – he wants to see copies of customer orders and enquiries.  I have none.    Eventually he says that doesn’t matter and that we can draft up the necessary documentation. 

What astounds me about what Peter did (and charged me £500 for) was its simplicity. That is not a criticism of Peter.  He did a full day’s work, was obliging and he knew his subject area – but perhaps in a way which was slightly blinkered.  He offers value for money and is an obliging guy.  But compared to the type of “management consultancy” I am used to providing – it was so, so simple and based on the reproduction of standard material as opposed to creative thinking.

He had some set of form templates (Word documents) on his laptop – some relating to ISO 9001 and some relating to BS 7858.  Some of these are forms you fill in and others are processes.  It becomes apparent as Peter goes through these that he is giving a template for the paperwork you need to present to an ISO Auditor to prove you comply.

I am still expecting to go through the ISO requirements and work out how I need to configure Data Eliminate’s accounts, CRM, ERP and customer service workflows and processes so I can accommodate the needs of ISOs.  It seems its almost the case that if you have a few manual forms you comply.

BS7858 is about vetting your staff’s employment history before they start work.  For this you need a documented process which starts something like this

1. Requirement to Vet security personnel in accordance with BS 7858

2. All applicants must complete an application form and be interviewed

3. Collate completed application forms

4. Set up personnel fie

 And so on…..

It is completely common sensical.

Another document is a Quote Register done in Excel.  This features fields which would be collected automatically by the most basic quickbooks or Sage software package.

ISO 9001 requires you measure the satisfaction of some (but not all) your customers?  To prove this you have to ask them the questions in writing “Were you satisfied with our service” and thats about it.

As the day progresses, Peter spends increasingly more time working on his own without my input – he is amending more and more templates.  He is heading them with “Data Eliminate Ltd” and making minor amendments.  I keep expecting in depth discussions about processes etc and how they’ll fit in with ERP systems but this doesn’t happen.  I take the decision to let Peter provide as many as these forms as possible to maximise my vale for money by the time the day is out.

I am given a useful sheet on what do next for BS7858 which included the name of a Credit Agency and am advised to register under the Data Protection Act.

By the end of the day I am satisfied that I can move on to look at other aspects of the business idea like the practicalities and machinery for crushing hard drives.  What I don’t have is an understanding of the correlation or interpretation of the long legal like documents Peter gave me at the start of the meeting (the Standards themselves) with the simple forms he gave me at the end.

Based on an account recorded in my diary from October 2007.

Copies of each standard are available from the people that write them - namely the BSI – the British Standards Institute (not the same as the BSIA) but they cost about £90 a shot and I need two of them. It doesn’t seem possible to buy them on other sites significantly cheaper.

 I contact the Library of the IOD (Institute of Directors) who (as per normal come back) with some<!–[if !supportAnnotations]–><!–[endif]–>useful information after a few hours delay. They send me a list of libraries where you can see the ISO documents. These include City Business Library and Sutton Library (in Surrey). However, on the same sheet it gives the restrictions of the access you get to the documents. Eg. You can only photocopy 10% of any particular document and at other libraries you have to book appointments. This seems unlikely to get me the information destruction material I want at the speed I need it.

You get a significant discount off copies of the standards if you become a member of the BSI. Peronsal membership is the cheapest at £100 a year. Due to a quirk on the web site one cannot join and then pay for and get access to the standards in one go. You have to wait for your membership to be confirmed.

I apply for BSI Individual Membership and part with approx £110.

 I decide to open up and second channel of enquiry – hoping to find out more rather than expecting to engage a service. On the BSIA web site is a firm of ISO consultants who have experience in the security sector. I phone FXXP Associates and speak briefly to a lady who sounds like she knows what she is talking about. She arranges to call me back.

Based on account recorded in personal diary in October 2007.