ABSTRACT
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of how a major U.S. government department set about establishing and implementing an effective certification and accreditation program. This case study illustrates the certification and accreditation concepts and principles described in this book. Because I was contracted by the department to serve as its onsite certification and accreditation program manager and oversaw its Fiscal Year 2003 and 2004 certification and accreditation efforts as project manager, I have an ideal perspective from which to describe the events recorded in this case study. In that capacity I was in a position to assess the advantages and disadvantages of courses of action taken, the costs and benefits of approaches used, and lessons learned from this experience.
