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Softline Group Northern Europe and HDI Group become the first two organizations certified


Swindon, UK, 22nd February 2023: 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.

Goal achieved: Global ITAM certification is here

The ITAM Forum launched in May 2020 with the aims to promote the business benefits of ITAM and to create the world’s first, globally-recognized and accepted certification scheme for ISO/IEC 19770-1.

Speaking during its launch, Martin Thompson, founder of the ITAM Forum, commented, “ITAM is rapidly ascending in significance. By benchmarking an ITAM department or team against a globally recognized ISO standard, internal and external stakeholders, including the Board, will be assured of the highest-quality processes.”

Speaking today, Thompson remarks; “Today marks a major milestone for the global ITAM industry and for the ITAM Forum. We have achieved one of our key objectives with help from the world-wide ITAM community. This wouldn’t have been possible without the continued work of several ITAM leaders, such as David Bicket, who have championed ITAM for decades, long before the ITAM Forum came into existence.”

First two organisations to be certified

Ash Dharas, Managing Consultant and Practice Manager ITAM at Softline Group Northern Europe commented, “We’re thrilled to be the first organization to achieve certification. This was an important milestone for us, and I’m incredibly proud of this achievement. We’re also now well prepared to help our clients with their certification journeys, and hopefully, many will follow in our footsteps.”

Patrick Milas, License Manager for HDI Group commented, “Today is great day for HDI. We are the first end-user organization to gain ISO ITAM certification, a fantastic achievement. I would like to thank all of my colleagues who helped make this happen and TIMETOACT GROUP for its support and guidance. I encourage all companies that engage in ITAM to explore the business benefits of ISO certification.”

Closing remarks

Martin Thompson, founder of the ITAM Forum comments, “I would like to personally thank Softline Group Northern Europe and HDI for their leadership and vision and for helping to bring this certification scheme to life. Without their hard work in going through the extensive certification process, we wouldn’t be able to share this great news today. More companies are undergoing the certification process right now, so we hope to soon announce more certifications.”

Attend the upcoming ISO/IEC 19770-1 Practitioner Course

The ITAM Forum and Brand Compliance (the certification scheme auditor) will host a live, expert training course for ITAM professionals in Florida, 23-24 March 2023, immediately following Wisdom NA 2023. This brand-new course focuses on the skills needed to help end-user organizations successfully navigate the ISO/IEC 19770-1 audit and achieve certification. For more information, and to register, visit this webpage.

Organizations interested in exploring ISO/IEC 19770-1 certification can now register their interest.

About the ITAM Forum

The ITAM Forum is the professional body for the advancement of the IT Asset Management industry. It is a not-for-profit, independent, and trustee-led organization with two goals:

  1. To be a caretaker of a new organizational certification program to allow organizations to demonstrate the quality of their ITAM practices (by certifying compliance with the ISO19770 ITAM standard)
  2. To educate and evangelize – to encourage more companies to do ITAM and to attract new professionals into the industry

The ITAM Forum is supported by a growing roster of Patrons who share in its mission to promote and grow the business practice of IT asset management. These Patrons represent a broad group from across the ITAM industry and around the world, including ITAM tool providers such as Flexera, ServiceNow, and Snow Software; and ITAM service providers such as AirTrack, Anglepoint, ITS Partners and TMG. For the full list of Patrons, visit the ITAM Forum website.