Trustwave Trusted News Latin America/CariBbean Spotlight Telvista
Telvista is one of the leading call center outsourcers in North America, delivering inbound contact center services to customers. Focusing on customer care solutions, the company provides a variety of services, including contact management, interactive voice response, web-based support and others.
Operating since 1997, Telvista has grown into a multinational organization with state-of-the-art call centers in the United States and Mexico. Many companies are able to take advantage of Telvista's strong bilingual capabilities and deep understanding of the culture of both countries.
Recently, Telvista selected Trustwave for its solutions that help organizations achieve compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Trustwave is also assisting Telvista with security initiatives by providing managed security services such as intrusion prevention, network monitoring, and internal and external penetration tests.
What follows is an interview with Gary Mansker, Telvista Director Information Technology.
Trustwave: How do you make information security a priority in Telvista's daily business operations?
Gary Mansker: The Telvista leadership team made information security a critical prioritiy in our day-to-day business operations. We were able to develop a detailed process manual and communciation strategy with complete support from the top when we began our pursuit of PCI DSS compliance. Our communication strategy included multiple channels with formal and informal communication from leadership and training conducted by IT subject matter experts. Today, every team member is part of the data security team supporting the company's goals and objectives.
Our commitment to the PCI DSS is communicated continually via monthly newsletters, presentations, posters and live updates displayed on the monitors in all Telvista contact centers.
TW: Why does the partnership between Telvista and Trustwave work?
GM: Our partnership works because Trustwave has been an extension of our team since we began the process. We value the expertise Trustwave has brought to the partnership and its focus on helping us build the best data security program. We also apprecaite the way Trustwave helps identify and address key areas of concern while keeping us abreast of changes and updates to PCI DSS.
TW: What are the prevailing security information challenges your customers are facing today?
GM: Some of the greatest challenges our customers are facing today include:
- Providing adequate access while maintaining appropriate security
- Managing demand for more data to be recorded and stored to drive process improvement
- Balancing the amount of data stored with access and maintenance of that data - inherent risk increases as the amount and level of data increase
TW: How are you making PCI security a more visible priority tfor you and your clients?
GM: Announcing certification was the first step in ongoing communication with our clients about our commitment to PCI DSS. Telvista clients recognize that our data security program gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. We have integrated PCI DSS language and philosophy into every facet of oru business. For example, we have begun to add PCI DSS to our client agreements and communicate on a regular basis to keep them as well as our Telvista team members focused on our PCI DSS commitment.
TW: What is one piece of advice you'd offer to your clients about infromation security and becoming compliant?
GM: Achieving PCI DSS compliance is a process. Perform a risk analysis. Develop and document security policies and procedures. Identify areas of concern and remediate them.
Compliance takes a high level of effort and commitment. To be successful, PCI DSS must become part of your business culture. The process will challenge your people, technology and business processes but the end result will be worth it.