The Certified Technology Services & Support Standards Board

To ensure a broad and diverse applicability for the standard, the SSPA formed a wide-ranging Standards Board comprised of representatives from across the technology industry. The Standards Board includes about 50 service and support executives, representing consumer vendors and business-to-business vendors, and from a variety of technology segments, including computer hardware, software, networking and peripherals. Also represented are companies in the office segments, internet services and consumer products and retail segments. In total, the Standards Board represents over 750 years of collective experience in providing technology service and support.

The Role of the Standards Board
The Standards Board is now focused on maintaining the standard and developing new versions of it each year.

The Standards Board reviews any questions or issues requiring clarification that arise out of the certification process. In addition, the Standards Board meets regularly to review and select new criteria and other enhancements that will be included in the next version of the program. The Standards board meets in-person twice a year to formally agree on the release of a new version. In addition, a select group of Standards Board members serves as an Appeals Committee to resolve objections over the outcome of the certification process.

The Standard Definition Process
The first version of the standard was defined in mid-2 005 and initially published in September, 2005. The Standards board played a primary role in this effort, first agreeing on the scope and structure of the standard, and then developing and refining the criteria for each component. The following objectives were used to guide the development of the criteria in the program:

• Comprehensive –thoroughly addresses the relevant areas of policy, procedure and performance.
• Challenging –sets a high benchmark of performance for the technology service and support industry.
• Adaptable –fits a diverse range of technology service and support business models.
• Forward-Looking –updates criteria frequently and incorporates emerging best practices in the industry.

Standards Board Members
The SSPA is grateful to the many individuals and companies who contributed significant effort and attention to creating and validating the certification criteria and guiding the certification program to a successful launch. The CTSS Standards Board member companies and their representatives are listed below:

The road to certified technology service and support excellence begins with a call to the SSPA at 858.674.5491 or email ctss@thesspa.com.