Newsflash
ISO/IEC 15504 Upgrade Course is now available
The training material for the ISO/IEC 15504 Upgrade course to ISO/IEC 33xxx is now available. This training enables all certified ISO/IEC 15504 assessors to upgrade to the new standard of ISO/IEC 330xx. It builds on the existing assessor certification and focus on the following changes:
- Assessor Certification Rules
- Introduction to the ISO/IEC TS 33061 and ISO/IEC 33020 (compared to ISO/IEC 15504)
- Concept changes Capability Level 1 up to 5
- Significant changes regarding Process Dimension
- Significant changes regarding Quality Dimension
We will continue to inform you about the next steps on our training page.
New certification rules and training architecture from 01 October
Since the early 2000s, assessors and instructors have mainly been trained and certified to assess development organizations. There are currently more than 7,000 intacs® certified assessors worldwide.
Now we have implemented the new certification level Process Expert agreed with our partners. Training and certification are primarily aimed at colleagues who work in technical development projects. This helps to support the controllability, performance, and target achievement of development projects. The existing assessor levels remain unchanged - for assessors nothings changes.
Please note also the new certificaion rules and EE definitions published into out procedure documents. New rules for evaluating extensions - if extensions are assessed in an "official" assessment, have also been defined. For all details, please have a look to our latest information letter and here: Training Center | intacs.info.
NEW FAQ SITE FOR ASSESSOR CERTIFICATION
We have published a new FAQ page for you, based on your enquiries, where you can find current information on certification and re-certification, especially regarding the changeover from Automotive SPICE® version 3.1 to 4.0. Please find the link here: FAQ 2024 (intacs.info)
iNTACS Vision and Mission
We are an independent and legally registered not-for-profit association.
We have open and transparent operations in an honorary capacity and global and multilingual presence. iNTACS e.V. is a non-profit association.
We improve the assessment performance
We want to reduce variations in the quality of assessment results and to make results more comparable.
intacs® Certification Scheme was set up in response to requests from industry and international ISO/IEC 15504 experts. The main objective was to ensure high-quality assessor qualification in the worldwide community for process assessment according to ISO/IEC 33xxx series. INTACS e.V. is the owner of the Certification Scheme.
We respond to an industry demand
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Setting training and certification standards for ISO/IEC 15504 assessors
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Setting standards for maintaining assessor competence
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Promoting assessment models and community interactions
intacs® is the scheme accepted by the automotive industry and the VDA AK 13 (Working Group responsible for defining process requirements for car manufacturers and n-tier suppliers).
The new updated ISO/IEC 33000 standard series covers process assessment in general.
Certification Bodies
Looking for certification, renewal, or initially, very often your first contact is the Certification Body.
iNTACS is setting up the rules and regulations, but the Certification Body is the one to verify experience evidence and assessment log.
The automotive domain is managed by VDA QMC Berlin and
all other domains are managed by ECQA GmbH Krems
intacs® World Wide
The intacs® assessor certification scheme has been spread its service and support over many countries in the world. Any expert can be trained to become a assessor qualification and can be certified according to the intacs® scheme.
Trainings and exams are usually developed in English, but translation to local guide is available for many languages.
The non-automotive domain has in 2024 in total 46 certified Assessors for ISO/IEC 15504, and SPICE for IT Services.
You can find the worldwide distribution of Automotive SPICE® assessors here (status September 2024):
Recent News
Current rules for online activities (status as of November 11th, 2022)
iNTACS and VDA QMC accepted to perform assessments and trainings completely online.
To ensure the high-quality expectations of intacs®, the current rules apply until further notice:
For the following training courses, the online and onsite execution (including online and onsite exams) is allowed:
- intacs® certified Process Expert
- intacs® certified Provisional Assessor
- intacs® certified Competent Assessor *)
- intacs® Automotive SPICE® for Cybersecurity, Hardware SPICE and Machine Learning
For the following observations, the online and onsite execution is allowed:
- Competent Course Participant Observation
- Competent Assessor Candidate Observation (during an assessment) **)
- Instructor Observation ***)
For assessments, the online and onsite execution is allowed:
- The VDA Automotive SPICE® Guidelines v2.0 specify in chapter 10.3.2: "In some cases it could be appropriate to perform interviews for data collection only using phone and/or video conferences."
- intacs® recommends following the Guideline for Remote Process Assessments:
Guideline_for_Remote_Process_Assessments.pdf
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*) For the “intacs® certified Competent Assessor” training, there are mandatory rules for online performance:
- This training must be conducted via video conference, so the trainer is able to observe the participants (camera switched on).
- A tool must be used to allow working groups in separate sessions, between which the trainer can switch anytime.
**) For the “Competent Assessor Candidate Observation (during an assessment)”, there are mandatory rules for online performance:
- The observation must be conducted via video conference, so the observer is able to observe the behavior of the candidate as well as the reaction of the interviewees.
***) For the “Instructor Observation”, there are mandatory rules for online performance:
- This training must be conducted via video conference, so the observer is able to observe the Instructor candidate as well as the participants all the time.
- The latest Observation sheet must be filled-in by the Observer to document and maintain all necessary steps and results.
iNTACS is continuously working on updated procedures with additional requirements to ensure the quality of onsite and online activities also in the future. This includes the criteria for observers who have an important responsibility.
ISO33xxx/intacs® or VDA/intacs® rules for qualification
intacs® certified assessors are qualified for all passed PAM specific trainings, Extension trainings and exams; domain specific qualifications may apply.
If extensions are assessed in an "official" assessment, one of the assessment team member must be a certified assessor and have taken part in the extension training and passed the exam.
Personal with technical expertise is not a substitute for the additional qualification (extension) for a qualified assessor, and can not be part of the assessment team. They are interview participants, but are not assessor substitutes.
"Official" assessments are those that are carried out according to the valid ISO33xxx/intacs® or VDA/intacs® rules and for which EEs are awarded.
Grace Period for Assessor Certification
If an assessor is not able to collect all necessary Experience Evidence due to cancelled assessments or events because of the pandemic time period, the Certification Bodies will grant up to 6 additional months for collecting and providing the missing EEs.
But the additional time does not mean that the certification period will be extended! E.g. if the current period is from January 2018 to December 2020, and you use the first 6 months of 2021 to collect missing EEs, the new period will still be from January 2021 to December 2023.
And another procedure rule still applies: Already used EEs cannot be used twice! E.g. if you collect EEs within the first 6 months of 2021 in order to use them for the certification period from 2021 to 2023, you cannot use these EEs for the next certification period even if they are within the 36 months’ time frame.