Shrewsbury-based Start Tech has become the first IT provider in the Midlands region to earn the Assurix Trustmark, demonstrating its commitment to greater transparency, accountability and higher standards across the managed IT industry.
The Trustmark has been created to address a challenge facing small and medium-sized businesses.
IT providers can have extensive access to their clients' systems, sensitive data and day-to-day operations, but it can be difficult to tell whether one provider is genuinely more secure, reliable or capable than another.
Unlike a traditional certificate, which reflects a single point in time, the Trustmark is maintained through continuous verification and can be publicly suspended if standards slip.
The Assurix Trustmark gives businesses clearer evidence. Start Tech has been independently assessed against 59 controls, comprising 40 security controls and 19 operational maturity checks, covering areas including cyber security, patching, backups, privileged access, service performance, documentation and business resilience.
Evidence is gathered continuously from the systems Start Tech uses every day and reassessed roughly every six hours, helping to confirm that the required standards are being maintained, rather than demonstrated only on the day of an assessment. If a control falls out of compliance and is not remediated within 30 days, the Trustmark is suspended publicly until standards are restored.
Ian Groves, managing director of Start Tech, said: "Choosing an IT provider is a hugely important decision for a business. You are trusting that company with access to some of the most critical and sensitive parts of your business.
"However, from the outside, one provider can look very much like another. Most will say they are secure, proactive and responsive, but it can be difficult for a business owner to know what is really happening behind the scenes.
"SMEs should not need to be cyber security experts to determine whether their IT provider is doing the job properly. The Assurix Trustmark gives them independent evidence and helps make that decision easier and clearer.
"There is currently no single mandatory standard requiring every IT provider to continuously prove how securely and effectively it operates. We believe good providers should be willing to demonstrate their standards with evidence, not simply make promises.
"We wanted to help raise the bar for MSPs and give SMEs greater confidence in the businesses they depend on. Start Tech has opened its own systems and processes to that scrutiny, and rightly so."
Assurix's security controls are mapped to the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) Cyber Assessment Framework, the standard used by the UK government for critical national infrastructure. Start Tech is already recognised as an NCSC Assured Service Provider, and the Trustmark adds a further, continuously verified layer of evidence on top of that existing standard.
The UK Government has recognised the growing cyber risk associated with managed service providers, which often have privileged access to the systems and data of multiple clients. Planned legislation will bring qualifying medium and large MSPs into the scope of the Network and Information Systems Regulations.
However, Start Tech believes businesses need greater transparency when choosing an IT provider now.
Mit Patel, founder and CEO of Assurix, said: "I spent 20 years running an MSP. I know the difference between doing the work and being able to prove you've done it, every day, to a standard someone outside your business can verify. Start Tech has closed that gap for their clients. Their clients no longer have to take Start Tech's word for it."
Ian added: "This award belongs to the whole Start Tech team. It reflects the work they carry out every day to protect our clients, support their people and ensure their technology continues to perform.
"Much of that work is invisible when it is done well, but it is essential to our clients' security, resilience and growth. The Trustmark helps make that work visible."
Founded in 2000, Start Tech provides managed IT, cyber security, Microsoft Cloud, communications, AI integration and digital transformation services to businesses across Shropshire and the wider UK.
Pictured: The Start Tech team celebrates as the company becomes the first IT provider in the Midlands to earn the Assurix Trustmark
