Independence IT Earns SAS 70 Type II Certification

ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Independence IT, a leading provider of application hosting and infrastructure management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, today announced that it has completed its semi-annual SAS 70 (Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations) Type II audit.  This certification verifies that Independence IT has the proper internal controls and processes in place to deliver high quality services to its clients.    

SAS 70 Corp., a licensed CPA firm, performed the audit and appropriate testing of Independence IT's controls that may affect its clients' financial statements.  Tested on five elements of internal control, including Control Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities, Information/Communication and Monitoring, the SAS 70 Type II audit report includes Independence IT's description of controls as well as the detailed testing of its controls over a minimum six-month period.   Independence IT completed its first SAS 70 audit in 2006.

"Serving as the virtual IT department for our clients, it is critical that they have peace of mind that solid internal controls and processes have been established at Independence IT," said Tony Whitton, CEO at Independence IT.  "We are committed to providing our clients with the highest quality services and this evaluation process demonstrates our ability to deliver consistent and reliable services and helps our clients meet the requirements of governmental and industry regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA."

"Many of the Independence IT clients rely on their systems to process or store sensitive data," said Joseph Kirkpatrick, senior auditor with SAS 70 Corp.  "As a result, Independence IT has implemented best practice controls demanded by their customers to address Information Security risks.  Our third-party opinion validates these controls and the tests we perform provide assurance regarding the managed solutions provided by Independence IT."

SAS 70 Type II is a widely recognized auditing standard for service organizations that was established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).  The standard demonstrates that an organization has adequate controls and processes in place.  Federal regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Health Insurance Profitability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) require corporations to audit the internal controls of their suppliers, including those that provide technology services.  

About Independence IT

Independence IT is a leading provider of application hosting and infrastructure management solutions enabling small and mid-sized businesses to leverage enterprise-class availability, security and agility.  Serving as a virtual IT department rivaling most Fortune 500 companies, Independence IT shoulders its clients' IT management burdens – from application hosting, server management and software maintenance;  to help desk, security, disaster recovery,  backup and archiving.  Based in Allentown, Pa., Independence IT offers reliable solutions hosted at a best-in-class data center and backed by top quality customer support empowering clients to run and grow their businesses more efficiently and cost-effectively.  For more information on the company, visit www.independenceIT.com.  

SOURCE Independence IT