news Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Online has passed Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) certification to host unclassified but sensitive government data.
Carried out via the Independent Registered Assessors Program (IRAP), the certification provides an assurance that any government agency can “confidently adopt our cloud services, knowing that the security protections in place reach the high bar set by the Australian Signals Directorate”, according to a statement by James Kavanagh, CTO, Microsoft Australia.
The certification has been granted for the handling of unclassified but sensitive Australian Government data, known as Unclassified (DML), where DML stands for ‘dissemination limiting marker’. This encompasses the majority of state and federal government data, including private and personally identifiable information.
Unclassified (DML) must only be used on unclassified information, when its compromise may cause limited damage to national security, Australian Government agencies, commercial entities or members of the public, according to guidelines.
The IRAP program says on its website: “While ASD Certification will assist agencies to understand the information security risks when contracting cloud computing services, agencies are urged to perform due diligence reviews of the financial, privacy, data ownership, data sovereignty and legal risks associated with contracting cloud computing services.”
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is the “first customer relationship management solution able to provide this level of assurance in Australia, complementing the tech giant’s existing certification of Office 365 and Microsoft Azure under the same programme”, according to Kavanagh.
Additionally, he claims, Microsoft is the only cloud provider in Australia delivering a complete set of trusted cloud services covering infrastructure-as-a-service for computing, storage, database services and identity management; platform-as-a-service for modern applications; software-as-a-service for productivity and customer relationship management.
A list of other ASD-certified cloud providers can be found here.
Kavanagh also pointed out that professional services firm KPMG has recently confirmed it is rolling out Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Online to its 5000 Australian employees. The firm is also becoming a Microsoft Dynamics partner in Australia.
For KPMG Australia, the question of trust was a critical one. Simon Benson, Partner, Technology Advisory, KPMG Australia, said in comments associated with Kavanagh’s statement that the company was impressed with Microsoft’s approach to the security and privacy of data.
“We went through an extensive and competitive process in choosing our own CRM system and Dynamics came out on top through its ability to harness business intelligence, deliver a highly connected enterprise sales model all on top of a trusted cloud foundation. The privacy of data is vital to us and to our customers,” he said. “Today’s announcement regarding the IRAP assessment for CRM Online is just another demonstration of Microsoft’s commitment to protecting its customers.”
Delimiter is attending the Ignite conference on the Gold Coast as a guest of Microsoft.
You are correct that it is the “dissemination limiting marker” – but it is DLM not DML.
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