The Guide to Certification within The Open Group Certified IT Specialist (Open CITS) Program

Copyright © 2002-2010 The Open Group

Issue 1.1 - September 22, 2010

1.  Introduction

1.1  Referenced Documents
1.2  Summary of Program Documents
1.3  Summary of Web References

2.1  Understanding the Program
2.2  Confidentiality
2.3  Preparing for Certification
2.4  Certification
2.5  The IT Specialist Trademark License for the Program Logo
2.6  The Certification Agreement
2.7  Submission of Supporting Evidence

3.1  Accessing the Web System
3.2  Submitting Initial Certification Information
3.3  Registering yourself for the Open CITS Program
3.4  Entering Supporting Information
3.5  Submitting your Materials for Audit
3.6  Completion of Certification
3.7  The Appeals Process

4.1 The Renewals Process
4.2 Certification Information Updates
4.3 Re-Certification

1. Introduction

The intended audience for this document are individuals who want to register themselves for direct certification (see Section 1.2) within The Open Group Certified IT Specialist (Open CITS) Program (referred to in the rest of this document as the Program or the Open CITS Program).

Note

This document is not intended for organizations who want to register their own Certification Programs for accreditation, or for contacts of accredited Certification Programs who want to register their IT Specialists for indirect certification (see Section 1.2). The Guide to Accreditation within the Open CITS Program should be consulted for such activities.

Certification within this Program occurs using an online web system (see Section 1.3). This document provides a roadmap to the steps required for certification.

Summary Overview

The Open CITS Program is designed to validate the existence of those qualities and skills in a professional that enable the effective development, implementation, and operation of IT solutions. The Program is skills and experience-based and goes beyond validating the mastery of any specific knowledge base.

The Program includes a framework for accreditation of third parties to establish IT Specialist certification programs affiliated to The Open Group. The framework of accreditation and certification is specifically intended to standardize the process and criteria for IT Specialist professional certification and establish a foundation for the required skills and experience necessary to achieve such a distinction. The Program has been designed to be flexible and extensible so that the framework may be adopted by any industry, country, or organization.

The Open Group supports two different routes to IT Specialist certification:

• The first route is direct certification by The Open Group.
• The second is indirect, through third-party programs accredited by The Open Group.

The Conformance Requirements for IT Specialist certification apply equally to the direct and indirect routes to certification.

The three certification levels currently supported in this program are as follows:

Level 1: Certified IT Specialist (able to perform with assistance/supervision with a wide range of appropriate skills as a contributing IT Specialist).

Level 2: Master Certified IT Specialist (able to perform independently and take responsibility for delivery of systems and solutions as a lead IT Specialist).

Level 3: Distinguished IT Specialist (has significant breadth and depth of impact on the buisness through the application of IT).

Key Documents

The Program is based upon four key documents:

1. The Certification Policy, which sets out the policies and processes by which an IT Specialist may achieve certification.
2. The Conformance Requirements, which documents the skills and experience that a Certified IT Specialist must possess.
3. The Accreditation Policy, which sets out the policies and processes by which an organization may achieve accreditation for its own certification program.
4. The Accreditation Requirements, which document the criteria that must be met by an Accredited Certification Program (ACP).

The latter two Accreditation documents are not applicable to the audience of this document. At the end of this document is a Checklist to help you make sure that your registration is complete.

Note

In the event of any conflicts, this informative guide defers to the normative Program documentation.

1.1 Referenced Documents

The documents currently referenced for certification within the Program are:

• Open CITS Program Documentation, February 2010, Open CITS Certification Policy, Version 2.0 (X073), published by The Open Group.
• Open CITS Certification Program Documentation, February 2010, Open CITS Conformance Requirements, Version 2.0 (X084), published by The Open Group.

You should be familiar with the above documents prior to commencing certification. See Section 1.3 for information on obtaining a copy of the documents.

1.2 Summary of Program Documents

This section includes a list of all the Program documents and their purpose.

To become familiar with this Program, you should read the following Program documents:

The Certification Policy
This document is the foundation of the Program, providing information on the policies and processes by which an IT Specialist can become certified, what it means to be certified, and how to remain certified. See Section 2.1.1 for further information.

The Conformance Requirements
The Conformance Requirements should then be read to understand the detailed requirements against which an IT Specialist can be certified. See Section 2.1.2 for further information.

The Certification Agreement
The Certification Agreement defines the certification service and the legal commitment to the conditions of the service for individuals applying for IT Specialist Certification through the direct route. See Section 2.6 for further information.

The Guide to The Open CITS Program (this document)
This document is a high level guide for individuals who want to register for direct certification within the IT Specialist Certification Program. It provides detailed information on the steps required to take to achieve certification.

Certification Package
This document is provided by an IT Specialist to support registration within the Program. It is a detailed description of the skill levels attained and experience undergone, and provides the Certification Authority or Accredited Certification Program with sufficient information to determine whether an IT Specialist meets the Conformance Requirements. It is created by filling the Certification Package template provided by the Certification Authority.

There is a separate certification package template for each certification level.

IT Specialist Trademark License Agreement
To complete certification of an IT Specialist, each individual must enter the web system in order to accept the IT Specialist Trademark License Agreement. This sets out the usage terms and conditions for the IT Specialist Certification mark. See Section 2.5 for further information.

1.3 Summary of Web References

A summary of the external web references is given below:

2. How to Achieve Certification

This section of the guide details the conceptual steps you are required to take to achieve certification. It provides information on how to perform each of these steps.

The process involves:

• Understanding the certification program and the processes
• Preparing for certification
• Applying for certification
• Submission of Supporting Evidence
• A formal Certification Board Review
• Accepting the Trademark License Agreement

2.1 Understanding the Program

To become familiar with the Program, you should read the following documents:

• The Certification Policy
• The Conformance Requirements

2.1.1 The Certification Policy

It is best to start with the Certification Policy, which is the foundation of the Program. It provides information on the policies and processes by which an IT Specialist can become certified, what it means to be certified, and how to remain certified.

2.1.2 The Conformance Requirements

The Conformance Requirements should then be read to understand the detailed conformance requirements against which an IT Specialist can be certified. These contain a definition of the mandatory and optional criteria an IT Specialist must meet in order to be certified.

The three certification levels currently supported in this program are as follows:

Level 1: Certified IT Specialist (able to perform with assistance/supervision with a wide range of appropriate skills as a contributing IT Specialist).

Level 2: Master Certified IT Specialist (able to perform independently and take responsibility for delivery of systems and solutions as lead IT Specialist).

Level 3: Distinguished IT Specialist (has significant breadth and depth of impact on the buisness through the application of IT).

You should review Section 3, Conformance of the Certification Policy and the Conformance Requirements to check whether you understand the requirements.

2.2 Confidentiality

Your details when undergoing certification are confidential between you, the Certification Authority, and the Certification Board members. This is effective once you accept the Certification Agreement, which is a prerequisite to commencing the formal registration process for certification.

Upon achieving certification, the Certified IT Specialist will not be publicly visible in the Directory of Certified IT Specialists unless an explicit request has been made for visibility during the registration process. See Section 5 DIRECTORY OF CERTIFIED IT SPECIALISTS in the Certification Policy for information regarding the visibility of your entry. A number of options exist including no public visibility, listing by name only, or listing by name including full certification record, with or without contact details. In the case of no public visibility, each Certified IT Specialist has a personal confirmation code that they may pass to their customers and prospective customers to allow queries to the Directory of Certified IT Specialists. This becomes available upon completion of certification (see Section 3.6 below).

2.3 Preparing for Certification

You should read the applicable requirements in order to identify the requirements you will need to meet. For Open CITS Certification, this document is the Conformance Requirements.

2.3.1 Problems and Problem Reporting

If you have a problem but are certain that you meet the requirements, please check the Problem Report information database held at http://www.opengroup.org/opencits/cert/PR. The online Problem Report database contains known information on existing bugs and interpretations for the Program.  The issue may already be resolved by an existing Interpretation, by an existing Evaluation Process Deficiency, or by an agreed Certification System Deficiency.  If it is not, please raise a new Problem Report.

For general questions related to certification, but not related to the IT Specialist conformance requirements, you can email the Certification Authority at opencits-cert-auth@opengroup.org fully describing the problem. Please note that the Certification Authority only handles general questions and is not able to address interpretations of the Conformance Requirements.

2.4 Certification

Certification is a formal process.  By accepting the Certification Agreement terms, you (as an IT Specialist) warrant and represent that you meet all the conformance requirements for certification, and have the skills and experience claimed in the Certification Package.

The obligations, terms and conditions of certification are fully set out in the following documents:

• the Certification Policy
• the Certification Agreement
• the Certification Requirements

These documents are available at http://www.opengroup.org/opencits/cert/.

It is necessary to read these documents before you start the certification process in order to fully understand the policies and requirements.

2.5 Trademark License for the Program Logo

Once you have met the Conformance Requirements you will need to accept the IT Specialist Trademark License in order to become certified. The trademark license agreement states the terms and conditions for use of the Program Logo and Program name in relation to services you offer, and descriptions of yourself and your skills and experience.

This agreement is completed as the final step to certification and is a click-wrap agreement.

For information on obtaining a copy of the IT Specialist Trademark License Agreement see the links on the left panel of the web site.

2.6 The Certification Agreement

You are required to agree to the Certification Agreement when you commence your registration.

The Certification Agreement is between you and the Certification Authority. It defines the certification service and the legal commitment to the conditions of the service. This is also where you warrant conformance to the Conformance Requirements.

Note

The Certification Agreement is a web-based agreement. When you click the "I accept" button you are indicating that you accept the terms and conditions.

2.7 Submission of Supporting Evidence

To support your registration for certification you need to prepare and submit supporting evidence. This includes completion of a Certification Package in accordance with the template, and completion of a number of online forms giving information about yourself which comprise your Certification Record (see Section 3.2 Certification Record of the Certification Policy).

Note

A number of supporting documents must be uploaded into the system. Acceptable upload formats are Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. Other formats are not acceptable in the system. If high resolution graphics are included in the submission please choose a resolution of 150dpi to reduce the overall size of the upload.

2.7.1 The Certification Package Template

You must complete a Certification Package in accordance with the template to support your registration. This is a detailed description of the skill levels attained and experience you have, and will be examined by the Certification Board to determine whether you meet the Conformance Requirements. To aid preparation of the Certification Package a completed example is provided on the web site.

Note

Separate templates are supplied for each Conformance Level. Please ensure you choose the correct template.

It is important that you follow the instructions within the template, which are very specific on the level of detail required. For example, your submission must not exceed the maximum page limit defined for the particular package and must include a certain number of projects in each section. If you do not complete the document correctly, it will need to be updated and resubmitted before you can be scheduled for a Board Review.

2.7.2 The Certification Record

You must complete a number of online forms within the web system to define your Certification Record. This includes giving information about yourself, your contact details and optionally about your employer. The web system allows you to change parts of your Certification Record as defined in Section 3.2 Certification Record of the Certification Policy.

3. Registration

3.1 Accessing the Web Certification System

The Certification Authority provides a web-based certification system through which an individual can register themselves for certification. This is a workflow system that will guide you through the necessary steps for completing a registration. The entry point to the system is at https://www.opengroup.org/opencits/cert/ (this is a secure server).

If you enter the system via http://www.opengroup.org/opencits/cert (non-secure server), you will need to first select "Enter" and then "Proceed to Secure Web Site".

3.2 Submitting Initial Certification Information

To log into the web certification 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 certification web site 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, select "Login" from the secure web site.

3.3 Registering yourself for the Open CITS Program

Once you have successfully logged in, to register for the Program select "follow this link" under the Direct Certification Route, or if you have previously created a registration, select the "Home Page" link and then "Start a New Registration".

Note

The IT Specialist Certification Program recognizes different levels of certification. You will be prompted to select the applicable certification level at this point in the registration process. The certification levels currently supported in this program are as follows: Level 1: Certified IT Specialist (able to perform with assistance/supervision, with a wide range of appropriate skills, as a contributing IT Specialist). Level 2: Master Certified IT Specialist (able to perform independently and take responsibility for delivery of systems and solutions as a lead IT Specialist). Level 3: Distinguished IT Specialist (has significant breadth and depth of impact on the business through the application of IT).

You are then presented with an online application form to complete. The form is used to produce your initial Certification Record. This includes providing your contact information and optionally information about your employer. For Level 1 or Level 2, you must also specify the Client Focus Area, Technical Focus Area, and Stream in which you would like to be certified. You also given the option to specify the initial visibility of your entry in the Directory of Certified Specialists, and if visible, whether you want your contact details displayed in the public Directory.

You must also indicate whether you wish to cite any granted problem reports in support of your submission. A scrollable selection allows you to select one or more references from the available granted problem reports.

You can also set the initial value for your personal confirmation code. This is the code that you can give out to third parties who wish to obtain information on your certification, if you select not to have a publicly visible entry.

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 should use this field to specify any preferences for scheduling for the Board Review meeting.

After you select the "Submit registration" button, you are then presented with the the Certification Agreement (which must be accepted in order to proceed with this registration), followed by the Payment Screen.

3.3.1 Payment

Payment is required to complete the initial submission for registration. Payment should be made by credit card. Fees are non-refundable and net of all taxes.

Note

You will not be able to proceed beyond this point in your registration until payment has been received. Fees are non-refundable. If you choose to pay by a method other than the credit card, then your registration is placed on hold status. When the fees have been collected by the Certification Authority, your registration will be released from hold status and you will be alerted via email.

See http://www.opengroup.org/opencits/cert/docs/OpenCITS_Fee_Schedule.html for the fee schedule.

3.4 Upload your Certification Package

When alerted that payment has been accepted, return to the site and Login. The screen will now prompt for you to upload the Certification Package documentation. This must be in Microsoft Word format file. A template is supplied on the certification web site that must be completed in order to generate the Certification Package.

Note

If you submit a draft or incomplete Certification Package, your submission will be put on hold and not scheduled for a Review Board until you complete the submission and it has been audited by the Certification Authority and deemed acceptable. The Certification Authority will notify you and request you re-load a completed document.

3.5 Submitting your Materials for Audit

Once you have completed input of all the required information, you must select "Proceed to final registration" from your Next Steps page in order to confirm your the details of your registration. This is the final step required to submit your registration to the Program and covers confirmation of the following:

• Candidate Information - review the information in this section, make any corrections using the Edit link, and select the box to confirm your Certification Record
• Certification Package - you may view the submitted Certification Package using the View/Edit link and then "Display it?". If you wish to make a change to your Certification Package, you may do so at this time. To upload the revised document into the certification system, you must first select "Delete it?" to remove the original document, then re-upload the revised Certification Package. After doing so, you will need to select "Proceed to final registration" again.
• Terms and Conditions - re-affirm your commitment to the terms and conditions of the program as stated in the Certification Policy and Certification Agreement.

Once you have confirmed your Certification Record and Certification Package and reviewed the terms and conditions, select "Submit final registration". At this point, your certification submission is frozen until your registration is accepted or rejected.

3.6 Completion of Certification

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.

Note

In order to be scheduled for a Certification Review Board, candidates must have submitted their materials and had them accepted by the Certification Authority at least 45 days in advance of the meeting. Acceptance by the Certification Authority takes the form of explicit messages to denote acceptance of the Certification Package.

The Certification Authority will assign you to the next available Certification Board for evaluation. Certification Boards meet at a time and place of the Certification Authority's choosing according to demand.

The type of meeting is defined in the conformance requirements.

Where a face-to-face interview is required these are normally convened quarterly. Where attendance is required in person (Level 2: Master Certified IT Specialist or Level 3: Distinguished IT Specialist) it should be noted that the Certification Authority will not provide you with any monetary or other assistance with travel, subsistence or other expenses incurred, or any compensation for loss of earnings or revenues, in connection with attendance at the Certification Board.

Where a telephone interview is required (Level 1: Certified IT Specialist, or a re-certification) this will be scheduled within the 45 to 60 days of your submission being audited as acceptable by the Certification Authority. In this case your details will be passed to Board Members and they will contact you directly.

After assignment to a Certification Board, you may, with no less than 30 days notice, request a postponement to the next available Certification Board. Failure to attend the assigned Certification Board with less than 30 days notice will result in the application being terminated without any refund of fees.

You will be informed of the outcome of the Certification Board Evaluation of your submission by electronic mail. Upon success, you should proceed to log in to the certification web site using your existing user name and password. You will then be given the opportunity to enter into the trademark license agreement. You need to complete this step in order to become certified.

Your certification will then be entered onto the Directory of Certified Specialists, with your visibility based on the selection you made during registration time (though it can be altered once you are certified).

Once you are certified, additional features are available within your account. You will be able to:

• Download a certificate.
• Alter your visibility level within the Directory of Certified Specialists.
• Download the IT Specialist Certification Program logos applicable to the level of certification.
• Amend certain fields of your Certification Record.
• Set or amend the personal confirmation code that you can give out to third parties  who wish to obtain information on your certification, if you select not to have a publicly visible entry.
• Re-confirm your participation in the program (this is done annually).
• Re-certify within the defined period of time.

You should note that certification is valid for a defined period as stated in Section 9, Re-Certification of the Certification Policy. At the end of that period if you wish to remain certified you need to re-certify.

If, for any reason you wish to be removed from the register entirely please contact the Certification Authority directly.

3.7 Appeals Process

You may appeal decisions made by The Open Group Certification Authority as stated in Section 11, Appeals Process of the Certification Policy. Any request for appeal should be sent by electronic mail to opencits-cert-auth@opengroup.org . Receipt of such a request will be acknowledged within 6 working days by the Certification Authority and the appeals process invoked.

4. Renewals and Updating your Certification Information

4.1 The Renewals Process

An IT Specialist is certified for a period of three years. During this period, a Certified IT Specialist is required to re-confirm their participation in the program annually to ensure that the Directory of Certified IT Specialists is kept up-to-date. After the three years, re-certification is required (see Section 4.3 below).

4.2 Certification Information Updates

You can enter the web system to update key information about yourself as defined in Section 3.2 Certification Record of the Certification Policy. This includes some contact information.

The web system restricts changes to certain types information, such your name. If the system does not allow you to make a change, please contact the Certification Authority. In the instance of a name change, you would be required to provide proof.

4.3 Re-certification

At the end of your three year certification period you are required to re-certify as defined in Section 8 of the Certification Policy.

When a re-certification is due the Certification Authority will notify you around four months in advance and again two months in advance using electronic mail (so it is important to maintain your contact information). You are required to submit a fully revised and current Certification Package together with an updated Certification Record.

You may begin the process of re-certification in the web system once you have received the reminder. For re-certifications that take place in the four-month renewal period, the new three-year term starts at the end of the previous term.

 5. Checklist

The following checklist is provided to assist with completion of your registration:

Revision History: