ISO 9000

The international standard for quality control. It is also known as BS5750 and EN29001. The three standards are identical, but they are numbered and published differently by different standards bodies. The worldwide standard is published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and is the one generally referenced. ISO 9000 is a generic standard that any enterprise or individual department can use. It is not specific to the IT industry. The standard is subdivided into three — ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003. Enterprises use some or all of the parts, depending on the nature of their business. Any enterprise can claim that it complies with ISO 9000. To make the claim credible, an external assessor from an accreditation body must evaluate the enterprise’s quality system. ISO 9000 certification does not guarantee quality; it guarantees consistency of approach.