This document is a guide to the steps for an organization wishing to achieve accreditation for their Candidate Certification
Program within The Open Group's IT Architect Certification Program.
This document is not applicable to individuals seeking to become certified with The Open Group's IT
Architect Certification Program. Such individuals should consult the other guides on the Certification web site.
Applying for accreditation requires you to submit some initial information via the web to the Certification Authority. Prior to applying for accreditation, you should become familiar with the accreditation
program and ensure that all the applicable requirements are met. To accomplish this, you should review the Accreditation Policy,
Certification Policy document, the Conformance Requirements, the agreements that are part of the program, and other related
information such as the Certification Program Guide and FAQ. All information and documents related to the program are
available on the Certification Authority web site.
3. Registration
3.1 Accessing the Web Certification System
The Certification Authority provides a web system through which an organization can apply for accreditation.
This is a workflow system that will guide you through the necessary steps for completing the process. The entry point to the system
is at https://www.opengroup.org/itac/cert/ (this is a secure server).
3.2 Submitting Initial Accreditation Information
To log into the web system you need a valid username and password on the Certification Authority's web server.
If you don't yet have an account, you may obtain one from the web system by selecting "New User" to create your
username and password. It takes approximately thirty minutes for a new account to become activated.
Once you have your username, from the secure web site, select "Login".
3.3 Applying to become an Accredited Certification Program
In order to apply to become an accredited certification program you
need to register information about your organization and its contacts
(including the Certification Program Manager), and give payment
details.
Please take the following steps to register your organization and its contacts:
You will need a username and password on the The Open Group's web server for identification purposes. If you don't yet have an
account, you may obtain one from the web site by selecting "New User" to create your username and password. Once
you have received a confirmation email indicating that you are a registered user, you may return to the web system
and proceed with the next step.
Select "New Organization Account". Enter your organization or part of the name, which will then try and match that to organizations within the web system database.
To register your organization, you need to provide information about your organization, including a web URL for the accredited
program, and specify the name and contact information for the following contacts:
The Authorized Signatory who has authorized your organization's registration. The Authorized Signatory must be someone
who is authorized to enter into legal commitments on behalf of the organization.
This should be the same person who signed the Accreditation Certification Program Agreement.
The Certification Program Manager Contact
who will be the primary contact for all accreditation-related issues.
An optional Alternate Contact, who will be the back-up for the Certification Program Manager Contact and also have access to the
web system.
The Financial Contact, who will be the contact for any payment and/or invoicing issues.
An optional Marketing Contact, who will be the contact for any marketing-related issues.
The Certification Program Manager Contact and
the Alternate Contact, if specified, are the only users who will have the ability to enter the web system.
You will be able to indicate whether you wish your accreditation to be held confidential.
Accreditation fees are due at this stage. Payment may be either by credit card, or by purchase order, check, or wire transfer.
We recommend that you send a purchase order with the hardcopy Accreditation Agreement.
The Accreditation Agreement contains the applicable fee schedule for Accredited Certification Programs.
Please note that if you use a payment method other than credit card, your registration cannot be processed until
payment has been received by the Certification Authority. Please enter the requested payment information to complete the product
registration.
At this point the web system will place your registration
on hold pending action by the Certification Authority .
3.4 Completing Registration
When the above steps are complete and the payment terms
have been confirmed, the Certification Authority will respond
to your designated Authorized Signatory with
notification that your registration has been accepted. Your Certification Program Manager and Alternate contacts will receive confirmation by
electronic mail from the web system that your company account has been activated.
At this point, your Certification Program Manager and Alternate contacts will be able to progress to the next stage which is accessing the web certification system to complete the registration for accreditation.
The next set of screens will then prompt for you to upload the Accreditation
Package documentation, which consists of a Conformance Statement, a
Checklist and Supporting Documentation. Template documents are supplied
on the web site that can be referenced to see the format of the
documents to be completed within the web system.
You should then login to the certification system and select the Home logo.
select "follow this link" under the Accredited Certification Program Route,
or if you have previously created a registration select the "Home Page" link and then "Start a New Registration".
You are then presented with
a form.
If you wish to send any notes to the Certification Authority about this registration you may do so on this form. Such notes are held confidential between you and the Certification Authority. You may also enter a URL for your ACP which would be presented on the Accreditation Register.
After you select the "Submit for Registration" button, you are then returned
to your home page where the ACP Registration status is displayed, which
includes status information on whether the document uploads have
occurred. You
should then select the Next link below the Registration ID field.
A form is then displayed for the User Submissions.
You need to complete and submit a Conformance Statement and
a Checklist. These are completed using an online document system, that
allows you to produce the document. If you are unable
to complete the documents in a single session,
you are able to save any edits in the document within the system, and resume editing at a later date.
Once you are satisfied you can select the Submit button
to submit the document to the web certification system.
You may also optionally select to upload one or more supporting
documents. These are recommended to be in html or pdf. You should
provide a document reference with each upload. This reference should
be referred to in the Checklist. You should select the button
to declare that your document uploads are complete.
If there are no supporting documents you should also declare the fact,
in the same way.
Once the above steps are complete the onus is then passed back
to the Certification Authority as noted in the next section.
3.5 Checking your Registration Status
The process to become an Accredited Certification Program takes place outside of the web system. Designated
contacts can log in at any time to the system to check on status. Once payment details are confirmed, the status will become
"Pending".
An initial review will occur to ensure the submission is complete and correct. If any errors or inconsistencies are found you
will be notified and have to correct them prior to the audit. A telephone assessment will be scheduled, and following that a face
to face assessment.
3.6 Completion of Accreditation
If for any reason the submission was not complete, you will be notified within 10 business days so that any corrections
can be made and resubmitted. Such a resubmission needs to be done within one month unless an extension has been granted by
the Certification Authority. The initial fee covers one set of corrective actions.
You will be informed of the outcome of the Audit by electronic mail. If successful, the details of your accreditation will then
be put on the Accreditation Register, which is a public document, unless you have requested that it remains confidential. To keep
the accreditation confidential, this option must be selected in the web system at the time your registration is submitted.
Once you have become accredited your web account will have some some additional features activated:
You will be able to alter the default visibility levels for Certified Architects that you register.
You will be able to batch upload Certification Records.
You will be able to download the IT Architect Program Accreditation logos.
You will be able to access a management backend that allows you to track progress on submitted candidates and billing
status.
You will be able to renew your accreditation within the defined period prior to expiry of the accreditation period.
You should note that accreditation is valid for a defined period as stated in Section 8, Renewal of the Accreditation
Policy. At the end of that period if you wish to remain accredited you need to renew.
3.7 Appeals Process
You may appeal decisions made by The Open Group Certification Authority as stated in Section 10, Appeals Process of the
Accreditation Policy. Any request for appeal should be sent by electronic mail to itac-cert@opengroup.org . Receipt of such
a request will be acknowledged within 6 working days by the Certification Authority and the appeals process invoked.
