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NWM 04.2001

November 27, 2000

MEMORANDUM TO AGENCY RECORDS OFFICERS AND INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGERS: NARA Endorsement of JITC 5015.2-STD Software Certification Testing Program.

We are pleased to announce that on November 13, 2000, the Archivist of the United States sent a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence), stating that NARA endorses the Joint Interoperability Test Command's [JITC] software certification testing program for 5015.2-STD, Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications. A copy of that letter is attached, and there is a link to the DoD standard.

NARA's endorsement of the JITC certification testing program means that the procedures employed adequately test for those mandatory functions specified in the 5015.2 standard. In our previous endorsement of 5015.2-STD (see NWM 03.99), NARA stated that the functional requirements specified in 5015.2-STD represent 'one approach to managing electronic records.' Based on NARA's review of the testing procedures, NARA now can say that software that has been certified by JITC represents 'one approach to managing electronic records.' Similar to JITC, while NARA endorses the testing process, NARA does not endorse specific commercial products that have been certified as 5015.2-STD compliant.

We encourage each agency to address their specific requirements separately when evaluating all commercial automated records management products, including those with a JITC 5015.2 certification. The JITC functional testing does not, and is not intended to, evaluate a broad range of other important technical and business requirements that must be considered when automating records management. Some additional technical and business concerns that should be addressed before choosing to automate records management include human factors, ease of integration, scalability, system performance, reliability, and provider stability. There may well be further requirements that affect specific agencies.

Portions of Fast Track Guidance Development products 6a, 6b, 7, and 8 do attempt to address some of these additional concerns. These four products have been posted for public comments due by December 15, 2000. We would appreciate any comments and suggestions as to how these products might be improved.

MICHAEL L. MILLER
Director
Modern Records Programs