ISO 4 SMS

In today’s world economy where the advent of new technologies have brought corporations of the world within each other’s reach, a standard identification for one’s credibility as a business is compulsory nowadays. One of these standards of excellence is called the ISO 9001, which allows you to compete outright against other global corporations for new business. Expect the Philippines, the SMS country, to produce an ISO-certified text messaging applications developer.

The Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) recently awarded Philippine-based wireless applications developer Chikka Asia Inc. an ISO 9001:2000 certification for its quality management systems. The prestigious SGS further confirmed that Chikka is the first and only SMS applications developer in the country to achieve such.

What can I say but "text" applications development has really come a long way since companies like Chikka and Bidshot recognized that SMS is going to be the preferred way of doing things in this part of the world.

Today, beyond the oft-repeated tag "Text Messaging Capital of the World," the Philippines is truly also achieving prominence as a regional center for excellent wireless applications development.

Now that a local applications developer like Chikka has aligned its management and software development processes with international standards, it has also raised the bar for the local industry and is solidifying the Philippines’ leading position as an SMS applications developer for the world.

For those who are not yet acquainted, Chikka Asia Inc. actually launched a mobile instant messenger that was the first of its kind in the world and launched it, quite naturally, in the Philippines.

The service is now extremely popular among online PC users anywhere in the world who use the service to be able to "text" with friends and relatives who are Globe or Smart subscribers.

But the company has also made available other innovative products and services, including various corporate SMS-enabling solutions.

In truth, the Philippines may eventually cede its "text capital" position to a larger GSM market, but our local value-added services scene would be pretty hard to beat. To be sure, international carriers, applications developers and content providers have taken notice of the RP phenomenon. With an ISO certification, Chikka has just given assurance that all that we are creating are "exportable" and that in this way, the Philippines will always be a major player.

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The ISO 9001 series really represents the important requirements for any business to ensure the consistent production and timely delivery of its goods and services to its customers. From what I have read, ISO is sought by companies who want their customers to be able to objectively determine their ability to supply products which meet their specified requirements.

In the end, an ISO aspiration is really synonymous with "customer focus." In particular, the ISO 9001:2000 series, the latest version in the ISO 900 series of Quality Management Systems, helps assure that firms dedicated to producing and selling goods or providing services are committed to quality and productivity, customers needs and specifications.

In the case of a mobile data enabler like Chikka, that customer would be chiefly the GSM network operators with their exacting standards fit only for over 14 million of the world’s most advanced "texters," and for corporate partners who concede that SMS is truly nothing short of "a way of life" in this country.

In the international arena meanwhile, an ISO certification is a definite advantage, nay, a prerequisite, as foreign clients insist on certain contractor’s standards.

It is easy to see where Chikka is headed, pioneering with "killer applications" for mobile data services, launching these for Filipinos (probably, with the most advanced texting culture in the world), and then gunning for ISO certification.

Philippines, get ready to be proud. World, prepare to want one.

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Patrick R. Garcia is managing director of Bidshot Wireless Services. For comments or suggestions, text your message to 233011 (Globe) or 243011 (Smart) or e-mail [email protected].