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Conditions

Approval indicates that the electronic records management system (ERMS) product has demonstrated the capability to meet the functional requirements for electronic records management as published by The National Archives, in a formal evaluation.

Approval does not guarantee that a product will in all circumstances be configured in compliance with these requirements, and it does not imply any liability relating to use of the product in any implementation.

Use of approval

Approval is given to a specific ERMS product set and product version, rather than the to the applicant which mounted the test environment. Approval for such a product set does not extend to:

  • Approval of the applicant [supplier] itself
  • Aproval of later, or earlier, versions of that product
  • Approval of product sets which contain one or more components of the approved product set; for example approval does not extend to an untested ERMS/EDMS product pairing where only the ERMS component is approved
  • Approval of the same product set from a different supplier, except where the approved product set is supplied to a third party as part of a wider systems integration project

An allocation of product approval does not imply any form of product endorsement; nor does it imply a preference for any one product over another within this scheme.

Promotional literature

All materials associated with the evaluation scheme are Crown copyright and are not to be copied, redistributed or otherwise used without acknowledgement nor in such a way as to misrepresent The National Archives. This includes (albeit not exclusively) the functional requirements, metadata standard and reference document, expression of interest, any subsequent submission documentation, test scripts, reports and formal letter of approval. Applicants may refer to The National Archives' approval (within the meaning described above) in product literature to indicate conformance with functional requirements; suppliers may not make any use of The National Archives' logo in product advertising in any circumstances.

The supplier may not use the outcome of conformance testing in a manner that may suggest or connote an endorsement of the product.

Approval listings and reports

The National Archives will list approved products on The National Archives' public website, and include a very brief description and a direct link to the applicant or a nominated representative by email or website address. Products will be added to the list as approval is confirmed.

In addition, The National Archives will publish a report on each tested product for distribution primarily within the UK government community (and to other national government organisations as appropriate). In accepting approval as offered for the tested product, applicants agree to the publication of this report. Applicants will have an opportunity to comment on the report prior to final publication; in all circumstances, the final editorial control of all product reports will always lie with The National Archives.

The National Archives will also seek to publicise the approved product list through a variety of other channels, and reserves the right to name and describe products as appropriate.

Length of approval

Approval is given to a defined product set for a period of two years from the date of approval.

Withdrawal of approval

In the circumstances that:

  • It emerges that The National Archives has been misled in the testing process
  • A significant functional problem with the product emerges which would have caused the product to fail the conformance testing process
  • And this problem can be demonstrated to have been known to the applicant at the time of testing
  • And the applicant did not explicitly draw attention to this problem and its significance during the testing process and ensure proper documentation

In these cases The National Archives reserves the right to withdraw approval from a product with immediate effect.

Where unanticipated functional problems emerge with an approved product, The National Archives will aim to work with the applicant or product developer to resolve problems without withdrawal of approval, and may then wish to conduct further evaluation to assure continued conformance.