hen you walk into the large, open plan office that houses Bermuda-based IT security services company QuoVadis, the quiet, informal atmosphere is striking. Senior management sits alongside a high-level technical team, a variety of BlackBerrys and other portable digital devices bleep or chime at varying intervals and it's clear that everyone is focused on the work at hand: providing their clients with a series of managed security services that meet or exceed international standards.

s its fifth anniversary approaches QuoVadis has come a long way from its beginnings as Bermuda's first authorised digital certificate provider. It is now the Island's only internationally accredited digital certification provider. It is also currently one of only 50 providers in the world accepted by Microsoft to have their certificates distributed globally with Microsoft Windows, as well as by Apple for its operating system ? which means that pretty much any computer can work with QuoVadis certificates. It has also conquered wireless communications, successfully integrating its certificates in the ever-popular BlackBerry which allows encrypted messages to be received on the device. And recently the Bermuda Government retained the company to provide digital identity services as part of its massive on going e-Government Portal project.

As a start-up QuoVadis provided clients with the technology to identify users and ensure secure connections over the Internet, as well as enabling them to use legally binding digital signatures for online transactions, protect data integrity and encrypt information to maintain privacy.

"In most businesses today human capital and information are among the largest assets," says Tony Nagel, director of operations and finances for QuoVadis. "People now want to buy security for their information systems in the broadest sense and at a very high level. We responded to that and rolled out a range of services that look to protect the perimeter of the information systems as well as the content."

Digital certification or identity management remains a core part of the QuoVadis portfolio of services. However, the company and its service offerings have expanded in line with the growing recognition within international companies as well as local businesses that IT security is no longer just an issue for the IT department. Companies now routinely use technology in their daily operations and have progressively conducted more of their communications and transactions online since the advent of the Internet. Many also now have to comply with an international regulatory environment that places greater demands, and liabilities, on corporations to ensure companies are run ethically and customers are protected. Given this backdrop, systems security and protecting the integrity of information has become a management priority in companies large and small.

"When we started out we focused on the area of identity management but it became clear that customers needed help with managing security risks for their systems," says Stephen Davidson, who manages QuoVadis' service department and marketing activities. "And the way that most business is conducted today, any extended interruptions in online transactions or e-mail service just aren't acceptable."

Which is why the company's services now include providing automated tools to protect client e-mail, assess a company's online vulnerabilities and monitor networks against attack from hackers or other serious intrusions. They also provide what they describe as availability and continuity services for helping businesses to be up and running quickly after a disaster strikes: secure hosting for the most critical information on a client's network; system back-up and restoration tools; and facilities to recover key business operations.

"This has become a bottom line issue and you must protect your infrastructure if you want to be continuously available to your users or partners in your business," says Roman Brunner, who is CEO of the QuoVadis Group and responsible for group management and strategy.

e adds that the company offers availability solutions at different levels of service, from turnkey backup systems that are only activated subsequent to a network failure or breakdown through to an 'advanced availability' solution that is always live.

"This is the 'Rolls Royce' solution and means no downtime or business interruption," says Mr. Brunner. "More clients are taking up this level because for many of them having such advanced recovery solutions from both a people and systems standpoint is the only acceptable solution."

And the range of those clients has broadened, along with their changing security needs, as the company has developed, encompassing international companies mainly in the insurance and financial services sectors, local service providers and the public sector.

"I'd say our client base covers the breadth of local and international businesses in Bermuda," says Mr. Davidson. "And partly due to the international nature of the type of business done here we have clients overseas, although we've gone out and won business outside of here. We're at about 80 percent Bermuda clients, 20 percent overseas right now and some of our overseas clients don't even have a base in Bermuda."

They attribute this in part to Bermuda's foresight in developing the legislative and regulatory framework to support and govern e-business, such as the Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) 1999, which Mr. Davidson feels companies are only now seeing the benefits of as more of them move to conducting transactions, rather than simply providing information, online. The anticipated flood of overseas companies rushing to our shores to set up and conduct e-business from Bermuda has not materialised in the way both government and the private sector had hoped. However, the team feel the Island's regulatory regime, telecommunications infrastructure, technology service providers and consultants and existing client base certainly provided the best environment for building QuoVadis, and does help to attract overseas clients.

"When you are a company looking at Bermuda from outside there was in the past a tendency to think that Bermuda would not have sophisticated IT systems or the related international standards," says Mr. Brunner.

"But companies are realising they can use the Island as a base and use the ETA to do their online business, and they can do so with the highest levels of security supported right here. We have been able to prove that we ? QuoVadis and Bermuda ? can play on a global level."

fter almost five years in business and a $10 million investment in infrastructure the company is set to build business within its niche from overseas while ensuring it maintains a high level of service to locally-based clients.

"We now have a certification authority that has grown organically and met some of the standards of others with market capitalisation in the billions, like VeriSign," says Mr. Davidson. "We're proud of that and so we'll focus more in the next year on leveraging and taking advantage of that internationally, and we'll be selling the certification authority internationally.

"We'll continue to service the Bermuda market obviously, and continue to refine the availability and continuity offerings we have here," he adds. "QuoVadis has made significant investment here and we want to create and build on a world-class infrastructure in Bermuda for the future."