When the external auditors first arrived to assess aytm for the ISO 20252 certification, they were skeptical.
In fact, they were blunt. In a landscape flooded with "agile" tech platforms making big promises about quality, they rarely see the infrastructure to back it up. They admitted later that they walked in doubting whether a tech-forward platform like ours could truly meet the stringent, methodical demands of a certification designed for rigorous market research.
They expected to find gaps. They didn't. Instead, they walked out blown away.
We are proud to announce that aytm has officially achieved ISO 20252 certification, joining an elite group of providers globally to meet this rigorous international standard.
What is ISO 20252?
ISO 20252 is the international quality standard written specifically for the market, opinion, and social research industry. It doesn't just look at the output; it scrutinizes the entire process.
The certification process rigorously evaluates how we manage sample quality, vendor oversight, participant consent, data traceability, and operational workflows from end to end. Think of it as the backbone that upholds the data quality and credibility of both the aytm platform and our proprietary panel, PaidViewpoint. From how we manage research projects and train our teams to how we handle data processing and reporting, every workflow is audited to ensure it meets the highest global standards.
We’re joining an elite group
The path to this certification is steep. It requires a level of transparency and rigorous process management that many platforms simply aren't built to sustain.
By achieving ISO 20252, aytm joins an exclusive group of organizations that have met these stringent criteria. While other certifications focus on general security or management, this is a niche certification dedicated specifically to the integrity of Market Research. Achieving it alongside our existing security and privacy certifications places us in a rare category of comprehensive compliance.
We didn't do this because it was easy. We did it because researchers need to know their methodology is respected, and decision makers need to know their data are defensible.
Why doesn't everyone do this?
If these standards are so important, why do so few companies achieve them? The answer isn't just the cost—though the investment is significant, easily reaching six figures annually for maintenance and audits.
The real barrier is readiness.
An auditor can’t certify a process that doesn't exist. Many platforms can’t pass these audits because they are building the plane while flying it. They lack the historical infrastructure to support this level of scrutiny.
aytm isn't a day-one startup. We have spent 15+ years building these processes. We didn't have to invent a methodology to pass the audit; we simply had to open our doors and show them how we work every single day.
More than a checklist: The IMS framework
In the insights industry, "compliance" is often treated as a hurdle to clear once a year. At aytm, we view it differently. It isn't a department; it's the oxygen of our operation.
We don't just have a security team; we have an Information Management System (IMS) Committee. This isn't a small subset of people ticking boxes. It is an operational framework that touches every single team member—from how our contracts are written to the software development lifecycle, down to how a developer submits a product request.
ISO 20252 is the newest pillar in a compliance ecosystem that now includes four major certifications:
- ISO 27001 (InfoSec): The infrastructure security that allows us to operate safely in the cloud.
- ISO 27701 (PIMS): The privacy governance that ensures we respect the rights of the human beings behind the data.
- ISO 42001 (AI): The systems that ensure you aren't getting "junk" AI outputs or exposing data to the wrong models.
- ISO 20252 (Market Research): The methodology and process rigor that validates your insights.
What this means for your data
For the rigorous researcher and the brand leader alike, this certification is the ultimate form of risk mitigation. It moves "trust" from a feeling to a verified fact.
Here is what the ISO 20252 stamp actually verifies about the data you use to make decisions:
- No "copy-paste" research: The audit specifically tests our ability to treat every project as unique. It verifies that we have quality assurance measures in place for every proposal and that we aren't just recycling work.
- Field management & sampling integrity: It scrutinizes how we source panels, how we vet respondents, and how data moves between systems. It’s the difference between a verified respondent and a bot.
- A unified standard: Whether you are running a quick pulse survey or a complex global tracker, our operational framework ensures a consistent, high-quality experience every time.
A foundation for the future
We are navigating an industry inflection point. The "data quality crisis" is real, and the threat of sophisticated fraud is growing. In this environment, you cannot afford to guess about the quality of your data source.
Achieving ISO 20252 is our way of saying that we are ready for the future. We have built a fortress of quality around your insights so that you can explore, innovate, and act with absolute confidence.
To our partners: Thank you for trusting us. We have the certificate to prove you made the right choice.
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