SMA Financial, SWIFT Regional partner for UK, Eire, Channel Islands and the Nordics today announced the company has been awarded the SWIFTReady Connectivity Best Practice 2009 label, the first vendor who could successfully prove that it meets the rigorous requirements.
The Best Practice Label represents a significantly higher level of accreditation, and targets shared infrastructure providers who host SWIFT connectivity. SMA Financial had to demonstrate that they could meet the operational requirements by undergoing a stringent inspection of their SWIFT Service Bureau infrastructure.
In order to achieve the coveted accolade, SMA Financial initially submitted a comprehensive set of operational documentation, in response to an RFI. This was followed by a thorough 3-day SWIFT internal audit. The on-site inspection included visits to both primary and disaster recovery data centres, interviews with Service Bureau operational, technical and management staff, and reviews of all associated procedures and supporting documentation.
Of particular interest to many of SMAs Service Bureau clients is the fact that within data centres used by the company, the production environment is co-located at an ex-nuclear facility outside of London. This production facility minimises the risk of any physical or geographical disruption, whilst operational excellence is assured via SMA’s own SWIFT accredited staff, who are constantly monitoring the system.
This latest addition to our set of SWIFTReady labels is of particular interest to those SWIFT customers who dont want to run their own connectivity into SWIFTNet, however want to be assured about highest levels of operational security, resilience and reliability at the bureau of choice, says Patrik Neutjens, SWIFT Head of Partner Management. We really congratulate SMA Financial for being the first SWIFT Service Bureau to whom we could award this label.
D.C.