In a consultation exercise with our CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ we asked them for suggestions of ways in which they could renew their accreditation annually, without having to pay a fee. In these times of austerity, many organisations have stopped funding the professional fees of their employees.

As a result of the consultation, there are five options for CTPrac™ and CTArcs™  to renew their annual membership by contributing to the Shared Service Architecture body of knowledge, or practitioner numbers, as an alternative to paying an annual fee:

Option 1: Submitting an annual article to the Collaborative Transformation Magazine:

Our CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ have excellent examples of good practice that they should be sharing with others. Therefore in order to retain your recognition you can submit an annual article to the Collaborative Transformation Magazine. Many of our practitioners are already taking up this option. You will be fully credited with writing the article.

Instead of paying a renewal fee for your continued CTPrac™ and CTArc™ recognition, the copyright of the article will transfer to Shared Service Architecture Ltd. We will use that article, still credited to you, in any further print or online publications. The article must be of an adequate standard and length (500-800 words) to be acceptable, and be judged by SSAfs as contributing to the body of knowledge.

An example of submitting an annual article to the Collaborative Transformation Magazine (formerly Shared Service Architecture Magazine): Whilst working on a collaborative project in the last couple of years, you (or your team) encountered a number of difficulties that you had to overcome. They could be tangible (ICT, Process) or people, power or politics. You feel especially pleased about how you overcame the problems and would like to share that knowledge with others. You approach SSA to write an article about it, as your contribution to the body of knowledge, so that other CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ can learn from your experience. The article will be reviewed by and SSAf/CTArcf and if appropriate it will be published and your recognition renewed.

Option 2: Submitting a new collaboration tool for publication:

The purpose of the SSA Toolboxes is to inspire users to develop new and better tools. Therefore you can put forward a tool, template or technique you have developed, to be included in the online toolkit, or in future published toolkits.

Full acknowledgement for the tool will go to you, the copyright of the tool, template or technique will transfer to Shared Service Architecture Ltd, as an alternative to you paying your annual recognition fee. The tool will be subject to peer assessment by SSAfs to test that it is of an adequate standard to contribute to the body of knowledge.

An example of submitting a new collaboration tool for publication: As part of working on a collaborative project in a particular sector (local government, police, housing, FE, etc.) you have created a checklist of questions that cover a particular technical area.

This checklist could be valuable to others who may step into a similar project in the same sector. With appropriate permissions, you provide a 500 word explanation of the tool and also the checklist. We help you develop it into the 4 page style of an SSA tool and it is put forward for review by an SSAf/CTArcf. If appropriate it will be published, and credited to you, in the online toolkit and your CTPrac™ and CTArc™  recognition will be renewed.

Option 3: Submitting two documents to the SSA library for the benefit of others:

You can annually submit to the online library, at least two collaborative working documents related to projects you are working on. They must be helpful to the community and add to the body of knowledge. The documents must either already be in the public domain, or be provided with the permission of the owning organisation or partnership. The documents can be submitted together or across a year. They will be subject to peer assessment by an SSAf/CTArcf to test that it is of an adequate standard to contribute to the body of knowledge.

An example of submitting two documents to the SSA library: A collaboration you have worked on produced a vision document and a business case about 18 months ago. Things have moved on since then, but you feel that there are sections of both that could be valuable to other CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ starting out on a similar journey.The documents are not in the public domain, but you ask at a senior level if they can be released into the SSA library if you remove sensitive material – for example names and contact details of people and some financial data.

You forward the redacted documents in an email to us asking for it to be considered as your contribution to the body of knowledge. An SSAf/CTArcf will consider your submission and if it is appropriate your CTPrac™ and CTArc™ recognition will be renewed.

Option 4: Attending at least one SSA paid event or seminar:

If you attend an SSA seminar or programme in the year prior to renewal, that will count towards renewing your accreditation.

An example of attending at least one SSA paid event or seminar: You have attended all the Collaborative Transformation Practitioner seminars to gain CTPrac™ and CTArc™ recognition, however you are interested in attending one of the three Collaborative Leadership seminars. You pay to attend a seminar and ask that the attendance be applied to renew your recognition.

Option 5: Send a colleague to attend one or more Shared Service Architecture paid events or seminars:

If you introduce a colleague to the Shared Service Architecture community through a paid event, that will count towards renewal of your accreditation. It must be clear that your colleague is attending through your recommendation and you must make a claim to that effect before they attend.

An example of sending a colleague to attend one or more Shared Service Architecture paid events or seminars: A new colleague is to become engaged in collaborative working with you. You feel it would be helpful if they attended one or more of the Collaborative Transformation Practitioner or Collaborative Leadership seminars. Before they register for the event, you can ask that your recommendation that they attend be applied to renew your recognition. Recognition cannot be applied retrospectively.

Option 6: Pay a fee of £199+vat per annum:

This is an option for CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ who would prefer to pay a renewal fee because they do not have the time, or are not in a role, to contribute to the body of knowledge. This is the most likely choice if you only want to benefit from the added magazine articles, tools and library documents that other CTPrac™ and CTArcs™ are submitting.