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In this client success feature, we talk to Alan Chang, founder and Managing Director of OA International Group of Companies.
Within the group, OA Assurance PAC and Singapore Corporate Services are Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) certified businesses. In this story, Alan shares the organisation’s journey with Straits Interactive to attain the distinguished DPTM and the motivation behind the move.
Tell us more about your companies and why you decided to get them Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) certified.
OA Assurance PAC provides assurance services and they have a different group of clientele and teams that they manage their client portfolio. On the other hand, Singapore Corporate Services Pte Ltd, the non-assurance services arm of the business, provides non-assurance services like company secretary, tax, outsource accounting and business advisory.
During the course of our business, we will need to have access to confidential information including contracts and staff payroll. It came to the point that in order for us to be in the compliance business, give confidence to our clients and to prove why we can handle their highly confidential data, my team and I need to understand the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and have evidence for it.
Hence, I was the person who made the decision to embark on the DPTM certification journey regardless of how hard it might be. Now, we have become the first CPA firm to achieve DPTM.
Click here to watch the video where Alan describes his DPTM journey with Straits Interactive.
How did your company’s data protection plans change on the DPTM journey?
I would say that the “before” and “after” process is not distinctively different. Prior to engaging Straits Interactive, we had pockets of practices and policies in place and embedded into our business processes. However, these practices and policies were not placed in a structure that documents all our policies through a detailed certification process that included checklists and questions.
By engaging Straits Interactive and receiving their guidance, all employees went through data protection training courses conducted by Straits Interactive and SMU Academy. I must say that there is a lot more structure to the policies and they have helped us connect the points to ensure that everything is properly indexed and tabled.
Why did you choose Straits Interactive for your data protection needs, with regards to DPTM and training?
We were in the market searching for the right service provider and I had actually spoken to a few. I found Straits Interactive very engaging and the company was able to provide assurance and walk us through the process because at that point, we didn’t know what we didn’t know.
In fact, I found Straits Interactive very forthcoming in addressing my concerns and questions, they gave me the assurance to a certain extent that they would walk through the whole journey with us.