BrazilProtiviti first accredited information security consultancy in Qatar
Protiviti’s member firm in Qatar has been awarded the country’s first certificate of accreditation for information security service providers.
The Qatar member of global consulting firm Protiviti has according to local reports received the first national certificate of accreditation from the local Ministry of Transport & Communications (MoTC) for information security advisory services, under a scheme devised to better defend against cyber-attack. Meanwhile, the man who helped to establish Protiviti in the region, Sanjeev Agarwal, has been named by Consulting magazine on its 2019 Global Leaders in Consulting list.
Launched by the Ministry earlier this year, the accreditation scheme falls under the National Information Security Compliance Framework (NISCF), which aims to ensure best practices and establish mechanisms for compliance with national standards in respect to technology that has been provided by international suppliers – with accreditation a mark that that an organisation “is competent to perform specific services, activities or tasks in a consistent, reliable and precise manner.”
“The ministry’s mission is to provide all the tools and knowledge that will help to ensure the safety of our country, but we have a responsibility to use those tools and knowledge to make sure that all our government systems are secure, and we fully understand the difficulty of compliance, but, as in all areas, many important things are difficult and require more effort and joint action,” said Transport and Communications minister Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti upon the NISCF launch.
Now, Protiviti has been the first local firm – among those who “deliver information security consultancy and implementation services to the public and private sectors” – to receive the tick of approval. “We are extremely pleased that we are able to recognise Protiviti Member Firm Qatar as the first accredited service provider within the advisory service area,” said Dana Yousif al-Abdulla, director for Cybersecurity Affairs at the MoTC’s Compliance and Data Protection Department.
Meanwhile, Protiviti’s Country Market Leader for member firms in the Middle East and India, Sanjeev Agarwal – who is credited as being instrumental in establishing Protiviti’s presence in the Middle East, initially in Kuwait in 2007 and then extending to Qatar along with Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE over the next six years – has been named among a select group of ‘Global Consulting Leaders’ for 2019 by industry publication Consulting magazine.
“Sanjeev has created a unique culture across operations in the Middle East and India, which emphasises the values of integrity, inclusion and innovation that are core to Protiviti,” said Protiviti’s president and CEO Joseph Tarantino of the honour. “This culture ensures that his teams deliver exceptional client service, experience and value to our global clients. Consulting magazine’s recognition for his outstanding efforts is very well-deserved.”
Based out of Kuwait – and, with the addition of an outlet in Cairo at the start of the year, now overseeing “the growth, innovation and client service” in eight location across MENA and South Asia – Agarwal was recognised by Consulting magazine with an ‘Excellence in Influence’ award. Last week, Protiviti’s parent, human resources consultancy Robert Half International, announced that its CEO Harold Messmer Jr. would step down after 33 years in the role.
