Ternium : “Un ejemplo en la región”

The certification involved the review of the services provided by the Technology and Operations department of the Argentina and Mexico IT area, which include the operation and availability of the technological platform for the systems that support the business. The services provided by the Ternium Helpdesk, On Site Support, Operations, and Infrastructure Technical support, as well as technology projects, were considered.

Compliance with this regulation not only ensures that the processes are in line with an international standard, but it also enhances IT services' daily operations. The Standard will be re-certified for the first time in 2018, and will have a periodically renewing every two years.

The certification process

The certification is the result of different initiatives that have been undertaken by the IT Division for the past two years.

The project started with the alignment of the existing processes with the good practices defined under ITIL (a set of concepts and good practices used in information technology services management). 'In order to ensure the implementation of these practices we made the decision to move towards a third-party processes certification,' explains Patricio Flynn, Ternium IT and Operations Manager.

'We found that there was no significant gap, so we decided to do it in four stages. Out of fourteen defined processes, we addressed six on the first stage, the remaining eight next, along with an internal audit of the project, and finally we submitted for the certification,' details Flynn.

Osvaldo Gamardo, Project Leader, states that 'the certification was the result of the development of the improvements we had implemented on the processes for the past few years, which are consolidated through this important step.' And he adds: 'being in contact with the Quality area and its expertise in certifications added value to the project's main stages.'

'The certification requires that you define the service you will be providing and which are the service level expectations your client will have,' continues Gamardo. In this sense, he mentions the Ternium IT centers response times to an internal requirement or the change control process as examples.

The auditors form the certifying body, TÜV Rheinland, specially highlighted the processes governance and the quality of the documentation submitted to comply with the standard. On the other hand, there were no 'non-conformities' during the certification process; the auditors suggested some improvement points such as the implementation of an online services catalog for the customers, something the area is already working on in order to keep improving and strengthening the service.

'Virtually the entire IT area was involved and motivated to reach the goal. It was very important for the team to feel a part of the certification process,' says Flynn.