3 Appendix 1 - The Site Certification Process - New

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3.1 Application for Site Certification

45. Any Eligible Agency may perform Site Certification by completing SMARTS (SEEMail Automated Reference Test  Server) testing. (See SEEMail Tests)

3.2 Instructions for new applicants

46. Before starting tests Applicants must have (a) arranged the supply and installation of accredited software from an accredited vendor and (b) acquired a suitable Digital Certificate. The Digital Certificate (jargon name : cert) is normally supplied by the SEEMail Manager at no charge. There are no charges or time constraints involved in SMARTS testing apart from the requirement that all tests be completed in one working day . (An experienced user would expect to take less than 30 minutes).

3.3 Contact

47. Upon completion of SMARTS testing the applicants should forward The SMARTS results,and the names, titles, and contact details of the person(s) who is authorised to act on behalf of their organisation in th ecare and maintenance of the agency's SEEMail gateway. This contact dat (normally a Manager and Support person are nominated) will be placed on a secure Membership Web-page.

3.4 Requirements for Agency to Agency Secure E-mail

48. Only Accredited Software installed and configured by the associated Accredited Vendor on the Applicant's mail gateway may be submitted for site certification. Any major re-configuration of the email gateway should be followed by re-certification. 

3.5 Interoperation testing

49. Successful Product Accreditation and Site Certification using SMARTS is taken as confirming the Interoperablity Requirement is met by the software. If an interoperability problem arises after these tests (i.e. on an operational gateway) then the SEEMail Manager may (in consultation with vendors) direct that new tests be met to re-establish inter-operability.

50. Failure to demonstrate interoperability will result in the withdrawal of Site Certification by the S.E.E. Manager. ( This implies that the concerned site is no longer part of SEEMail.)

3.6 Interim and Full Site Certification

51. Successful completion of interoperation testing will result in the agency being granted an interim Site Certification. Interim Site Certification gives the Applicant the right to establish links with each Participating Agency. Normally this is performed by adding the agency's details to the SEEMail LDAP for automatic upload by the rest of the community. This is a fully automated process.

On rare occasions larger agencies have requested a staged implementation. In such cases Full Site Certification is granted on completion of all connections.