SIF Certification Frequently Asked Questions
Please also see the Guide for a full overview of the SIF Certification Program.
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General Questions |
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| • | What is the SIF Certification Program? |
| • | Which documents should I read first to become familiar with the SIF Certification Program? |
| • | Where can I get the SIF Specifications from? |
| • | What specifications does SIF certification cover? |
| • | What test suites do I need and from where can they be obtained? |
| • | How do I get help running the test suite? |
| • | How do I certify my product? |
| • | I want to certify a SIF product which is based on a product previously certified by The Open Group. Is the procedure the same even though the software hasn't changed? |
| • | I want to certify my application and have my agent vendor perform the testing. How do I accomplish this? |
| • | Can we use "SIF" in the name of our product or agent? |
| • | How long does it take to get certified? |
| • | How long does certification last? |
| • | I'm not a SIFA member, can I certify my product? |
| • | I'm not a SIFA member, how do I get access to the test suite? |
| • | How much does certification cost? |
Contact Information |
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| • | Who do we contact for certification information? |
| • | Who do we contact regarding the Trademark License Agreement (TMLA)? |
| • | How do we get the SIF Certification Logo? |
Renewal |
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| • | What is the policy for certification renewals? |
| • | When can we renew certification for a product? |
| • | Can I use my existing CID for re-testing at renewal time? |
| • | How much does renewal cost? |
Issues during Certification |
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| • | I logged in but the system does not let me register products |
| • | How can we get the Certification Agreement and the Conformance Statements? |
| • | The product fails one or more of the tests. What happens now? |
| • | We have encountered some problems with the SIF Test Suites. What do we do? |
| • | We are using the SIF Runtime test suite and some of the tests are failing or hanging. Can you help? |
| • | We started certification testing for a product and while testing was taking place, we found there are product problems requiring some bug-fix modifications. Do we have to rerun the entire test suite? |
| • | What must I do if I have a problem with SIF Web Certification System? |
Problem Reporting |
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| • | Where do I report a bug in the specification/test suite? |
| • | What must I check before referencing a Problem Report in my certification submission? |
| • | How do I reference a Problem Report in my certification submission? |
| • | Where can I find out what has happened to the Problem Report I sent in a week ago? |
General Questions |
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What is the SIF Certification Program? |
The SIF Certification program is a voluntary program of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association, open to any product meeting the conformance requirements. The program is operated by The Open Group, acting as the SIF Certification Authority. SIF Certification is a formal process built around the SIF Certification Policy document. Suppliers of certified products warrant and represent that the product meets all the applicable conformance requirements. The key documents describing the obligations, terms, and conditions of SIF Certification are: Once a supplier has achieved certification for a product, the supplier
is permitted
to use the SIF Certification Logo in connection with that product. |
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Which documents should I read first to become familiar with the SIF Certification Program? |
| To become familiar with the SIF Certification program, you should read the following program documents: The SIF Certification Policy
The SIF Trademark License Agreement
The SIF Product Standards A Product Standard applies to a particular version of a specification and a specific set of functionality that products must implement. Each Product Standard defines the detailed conformance requirements against which a product may be certified and provides a mapping between certification, the specific SIF Specification, and the test suite needed to demonstrate conformance. The SIF Certification Agreement
The Guide to SIF Certification
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Where can I get the SIF Specifications from? |
| The specifications are located at
http://www.sifinfo.org/specification.asp. |
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What Specifications does SIF certification cover? |
| SIF certification currently covers versions 1.1, 1.5r1, and 2.0r1
of the Schools Interoperability Framework Implementation Specification.
SIF-enabled Application certification is available for all covered
versions of the SIF Implementation Specification whereas Zone Integration
Server testing is just available against 2.0r1. |
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What test suites do I need and from where can they be obtained? |
| The list of test suites currently authorized for use in the SIF Certification
Program, including information on where they can be obtained, is available
here. |
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How do I get help running the test suite? |
You need to contact the SIF Test Suite Maintenance Authority for assistance.
This may be done by via email. |
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How do I certify my product? |
See the
Guide
to SIF Certification, Section 3. |
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I want to certify a SIF product which is based on a product previously certified by The Open Group. Is the procedure the same even though the software hasn't changed? |
No, the SIF Certification Policy allows for an existing certified product to be renamed
without the need for further testing. You will be required
to provide a written statement to the Certification Authority indicating that there have been
no material changes to the certified product. If there are changes then
the procedure depends on the nature of the changes. See the SIF
Certification Policy, Section 7. |
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I want to certify my SIF-enabled application and have my agent vendor perform the testing. How do I accomplish this? |
First, your organization needs to register with the SIF Certification Authority. See the section in the Guide to SIF Certification on Registering your Organization within the Web Certification System for further information. Your organization then needs to register your product for certification by completing the registration form in the web certification system, accepting the terms and conditions of the program, and making payment. Your organization will then receive a CID that is required for testing. You have two options for enabling a third-party perform your testing:
If the agent vendor or other third-party is to complete the Conformance Statement on your behalf, please indicate such on the Conformance
Statement (i.e., Organization = <Agent Vendor Organization name> on behalf of
<Application Vendor Organization name>). |
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Can we use "SIF" in the name of our product or agent? |
"SIF" is a registered trademark of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association and may not be used in your product name. However, "SIF" may be used in the name of your agent,
provided that it is an entirely separate word and that no hyphens or other
characters join it to any other text in the agent name. |
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How long does it take to get certified? |
Your organization should allow 2-3 weeks to achieve certification and get your product listed on the Certification Register. However, the overall time to achieve certification varies depending on the situation. Factors impacting the time include whether or not your organization has performed testing prior to registration for certification, the completeness and accuracy of the information provided during the certification process, the responsiveness of your certification contacts to queries from the Certification Authority, and the Certification Authority's workload at the time you register for certification and progress through the process. There are several steps in the certification process in which certification information is provided by your organization and corresponding reviews and approvals or other processing are performed by the Certification Authority. The Certification Authority typically responds within 1 business day - and sometimes within the hour - depending upon what other certifications they're working on at the time, but on some occasions may require a couple of days to perform their review and provide a response. The Certification Authority will confirm your certification and
enter your product on the Certification Register within 6 business days of
receiving your completed submission, including a correct Conformance
Statement, passing test results, payment, and signature on the TMLA. |
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How long does certification last ? |
Certification is valid for a period of 12 months from the date you are notified that your product has been certified. This notification occurs after
you have tested your product, submitted you results and conformance statement, and they have been audited and approved by the Certification Authority.
If you have OEM'd another company's product,
then your product will have the same renewal date as the original certified
product on which it is based. |
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I'm not a SIFA member, can I certify my product? |
| Yes. However, certification is currently only available to authorized organizations, which includes all SIFA member organizations and any non-member organizations that have paid a certification surcharge to SIFA. Prior to commencing certification activity, non-SIFA members desiring SIF certification must pay an annual
surcharge to SIFA, equal to the corresponding annual SIFA membership
dues based on the type of supplier and revenue level. For more information on this surcharge or to
inquire about membership, please contact membership@sifinfo.org.
Vendors may also find additional information at http://www.sifinfo.org/vendor-get-started.asp. |
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I'm not a SIFA member, how do I get access to the test suite? |
| The SIF test suite is only available to SIFA members and SIF certification customers. If you are not a SIFA member, you will need to contact SIFA to
receive authorization for certification, as indicated above. Once you receive authorization, you may register your product for
certification and pay the certification fee. You will then be granted
access to the test suite to perform your testing. Alternatively, you may
become a member of SIF, in which case you will be granted unlimited access
to the test suite for pre-certification testing. You will still need to
register and pay for certification when you are ready. |
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How much does certification cost? |
Please see the fee schedule by clicking here.
Note that the fee for certification is distinct from and in addition to
your SIFA membership fee. |
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Contact Information |
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Who do we contact for certification information? |
| SIF Certification Authority |
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Who do we contact regarding the Trademark License Agreement (TMLA)? |
| Any questions about the TMLA should be addressed to: Lisa Marks, Community Development Manager, at the Schools Interoperability Framework Association, Inc.
via phone at 202-276-2572 or email. |
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How do we get the SIF Certification Logo? |
| Once your product has been certified, you may contact SIFA via email
to get access to the SIF Certification Logo to use in association with your certified product. |
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Renewal |
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What is the policy for certification renewals? |
Around 60 days prior to the renewal date, the Certification Authority will contact you to commence the process. The process for renewal is handled through the web-based SIF certification system by selecting the "Renew a Certified Product or see your Renewal Summary" link under "Available Options" on your organization's home web page. This will display the status of all your products due for renewal or in the process of being renewed, and those you have chosen not to renew. Renewal may require that you re-test your product, as per section 8.2 of the SIF Certification Policy.
After completing the initial renewal registration step, you will be informed whether or not re-test is required.
If re-testing is required, you will need to use the CID assigned to your
renewal registration for the testing. |
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When can we renew certification for a product? |
Renewal can occur within the 60 days prior to the renewal date. Once you complete the renewal, your product, your certification will be extended
for another 12 months. Your product will be reflected on the certification
register with a new renewal date that is one year from your prior renewal date
(not one year from when you complete the renewal process). For example, if your renewal is due on June 6 2004, and
you complete the renewal process on May 30 2004, your certification will be extend for another twelve months, to June 6 2005. |
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Can I use my existing CID for re-testing at renewal time? |
No. To start the renewal process, you must first register in the certification system for renewal and pay the renewal fee. You will then be issued a new CID that you may use for your testing. A CID is associated with a single certification transaction (e.g.,
initial certification, renewal, or product update). |
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How much does renewal cost? |
Please see the fee schedule by clicking here. |
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Issues during Certification |
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I logged in but the system does not let me register products. |
| You need a username and password on the The Open Group's web server in order to login to the certification system. This is different than your SIFA membership or SIF Community username and password. If your organization has already been registered in the system - and your registration was accepted by the Certification Authority - then the reason you cannot register products is because you are presently not designated as a certification contact for your organization. You can find out who the designated certification contacts are for your organization by contacting the SIF Certification Authority. If you have not registered your organization, you will need to do so via the 'Register organization for
certification' link on the left-hand navigation bar. Your Authorized Signatory must confirm the
registration and the Certification Authority must accept your registration
before you will be able to register a product for certification. |
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How can we get the Certification Agreement and the Conformance Statements? |
All documents required for certification are accessible on the SIF Certification website at http://certification.sifinfo.org. From this URL, you can view the SIF Certification Agreement and the Conformance Statements. You will not be asked to agree to the terms of the Certification
Agreement until you register a product within the web certification
system. To create a Conformance Statement for submission, you should use
the CSQ Editor available from the Test Suite pages at: http://compliance.sifinfo.org. |
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The product fails one or more of the tests. What happens now? |
Please check the Problem Report Database first, which can be accessed
from the certification web pages under Problem Reporting. If your
non-passing test results are covered by an agreed Test Suite Deficiency
(TSD) or an agreed Interpretation (INT) for the
version of the test suite and specification used, then certification may be able to proceed.
If you have submitted your test results for certification and you have
unresolved fail results, your certification fee will cover a second
attempt to
certify. |
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We have encountered some problems with the SIF Test Suites. What do we do? |
If you believe there is a bug in the test suite, the certification
system, or a specification, please raise a Problem Report at http://certification.sifinfo.org
giving enough detail to enable the problem to be reproduced. This will enable
any fault with the test suite and the particular version to be dealt with
satisfactorily. If you are having difficulty running tests or operating
the test suite, please report the problem to the SIF Test Suite Maintenance
Authority.
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We are using the SIF Runtime test suite and some of the tests are failing or hanging. Can you help? |
The SIF Certification Authority does not provide support for the test
suite and is unable to provide help in debugging products. Please contact
the SIF Test Suite Maintenance Authority (as noted above) and provide
sufficient information for them to determine what the problem is.
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We started certification testing for a product and while testing was taking place, we found there are product problems requiring some bug-fix modifications. Do we have to rerun the entire test suite? |
Yes. If your product
requires bug fixing during the test cycle, the fixes should be made and
the product re-tested from the beginning if you want to certify the latest
release of your product. After certification, if more product changes
are required, the directions in 7.1 of the SIF Certification
Policy apply. This describes the scope of re-testing products that are
already certified. |
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What must I do if I have a problem with SIF Web Certification System? |
If you are certain that the logic in the SIF Web Certification System pages disagrees with the SIF Certification documents, you should use the Problem Reporting System at http://certification.sifinfo.org and select "Problem with Certification System". Otherwise, please send a description of your problem to the SIF
Certification Authority. |
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Problem Reporting |
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Where do I report a bug in the specification/test suite? |
| If the bug is preventing you from certifying a product, it should be reported via the SIF Certification Authority Problem Reporting and Interpretations system at http://certification.sifinfo.org/PR If the problem is is with the test suite and does not concern SIF
Certification or is related to running or using the test suite, it should be reported
directly to the SIF Test Suite Maintenance
Authority.
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What must I check before referencing a Problem Report in my certification submission? |
Please check that you are referencing a Problem Report that has been resolved and has a "Resolution" of Interpretation (INT), Test Suite Deficiency (TSD), or Certification System Deficiency (CSD). A status of Rejected (REJ) means the problem was not agreed to and therefore the Problem Report may not be referenced.. A Problem Report applies to a specific release of the specification,
test suite, or certification system. Thus, you also need
to check that the Problem Report applies to the certification release of
the test suite that you are using. |
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How do I reference a Problem Report in my certification submission? |
| In order to reference a Problem Report to explain a problem with your
certification submission, you must specify the "Resolution Id" of the
Problem Report when prompted for a problem report identifier by the
web-based certification system. If the Problem Report does not have a
"Resolution Id", then it is not a valid Problem Report to reference.
Resolution Ids have the format of TYPE.NUMBER where TYPE
has the value INT, TSD, or CSD (Interpretation, Test Suite Deficiency, or
Certification System Deficiency) and NUMBER is a four digit decimal number. |
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Where can I find out what has happened to the Problem Report I sent in a week ago? |
You can track problem report status on the SIF
certification web site
at http://certification.sifinfo.org
under Problem Reporting. |
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