Partners and Alliances
Univate Global is an independent governance, risk and compliance consultancy. We prepare organisations for certification, appraisal and attestation, but we do not issue the certificate ourselves. Keeping those two roles apart is what makes the result credible, and it is the reason our partner relationships are structured the way they are.
Certification bodies
An ISO management system certificate is issued by an accredited certification body after a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 audit. The consultant who built the system cannot also award the certificate. Certification bodies are themselves accredited by national accreditation bodies, for example EIAC in the United Arab Emirates and SAAC in Saudi Arabia, and that accreditation is what gives a certificate weight with regulators and procurement teams.
We stay neutral on which body you appoint. You choose, and we prepare the management system, the documentation, the evidence and the people who will be interviewed. An ISO certificate is valid for three years subject to annual surveillance audits, so the relationship with your certification body is a long one and it is worth choosing on scope and sector experience rather than on fee alone.
Appraisal and attestation partners
Not every framework follows the ISO certification model, and the partner network changes accordingly:
- A CMMI Benchmark Appraisal is conducted by a Lead Appraiser certified by ISACA. There is no Stage 1 or Stage 2 audit and no surveillance cycle. The maturity level rating is valid for three years and is published in ISACA's Published Appraisal Results System.
- A SOC 2 report is an attestation issued by a licensed CPA firm under AICPA standards, not a certificate.
- HIPAA is United States federal law and carries no certification scheme at all, so the work is evidenced compliance rather than a certificate.
We coordinate with appraisers and attesting firms on scope, readiness and evidence. We do not stand in for them, and we say so early, because getting this wrong is a common cause of wasted budget.
Technology and delivery partners
Most organisations already own the tooling they need. We work with what is in place, covering areas such as policy and GRC platforms, vulnerability management, log and event monitoring, and privacy tooling. Where a gap analysis shows that a control genuinely cannot be evidenced with the current stack, we set out the options and the client decides.
Channel and referral relationships
Managed service providers, systems integrators, law firms and accounting practices often reach a point where a client faces a certification requirement that sits outside their own remit. We take on that scope under a clear split of responsibilities, and the introducing firm keeps its client relationship intact.
Working with us
If your organisation advises, audits, hosts or builds for clients who face compliance obligations, we are open to a conversation about how the two roles fit together.
Talk to our team
