Windstream's Hosted Solutions subsidiary has completed a Service Organization Control (SOC) 3 examination for 14 of its cloud-enabled data centers, furthering its own commitment to meet high level compliance standards for its growing base of business customers.
The SOC 3 examination includes industry standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) designed to protect customer data and applications.
By gaining this new level of compliance, Windstream said it has completed the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16 SOC 1, SOC 2 and SOC 3 compliance suite.
According to the report conducted by BrightLine CPAs & Associates, 14 of Windstream Hosted Solutions' cloud-enabled data centers have the controls in place for meeting the applicable trust services criteria over the review period for the Security and Availability Trust Services principles.
Meeting SOC 3 compliance is just one of many compliance measures the service provider has taken for its data center facilities.
Windstream's information security program adopted essential elements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) requirements in 2014. The service provider also validated compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) version 3.0 for its Data Center services.
These examinations and validations illustrate that Windstream's data centers and network were designed with controls to help meet federal and industry standards for private health and financial data.
Melanie Posey, research vice president at IDC, said in a release that gaining these compliance issues will help Windstream enhance the trust its business customers have in placing their data in their facilities.
"Data center providers that offer compliance strengthen the 'trust' factor with clients, emerging as an even more important selection factor than price, performance and functionality," Posey said.
Having these elements in hand comes at a time when Windstream continues to grow its data center business, a trend that was certainly on display in the fourth quarter of 2014. During that period, Windstream reported that data center and managed services grew 21 percent year-over-year to $34 million.
For more:
- see the release
Related articles:
Windstream's CS&L appoints Wallace to be CFO, treasurer
Windstream's board grants final approval for REIT spinoff CS&L
AT&T to FCC: There are plenty of alternative choices for special access services
Windstream/Allworx study says SMBs have a low awareness of business phone system technology trends