HTNG operates the only Branding and Certification Program for hotel technology.  The "HTNG Certified" logo on a technology product gives buyers the assurance that vendor promises of interoperability are backed up by specific conformance to industry-defined norms.  It allows conforming vendors to advertise this assurance to their customers while ensuring that non-conforming vendors cannot.

For full details the program, to find specifications for certification, to apply for certification for one of your products, or to see the register of certified products, visit the certification website.

In brief, the program works like this:

• HTNG Workgroups identify sets of product specifications that they think would benefit from certification.  As needed, they complete formal documentation of message definitions, assumptions, business rules, hardware specifications, network specifications, or other elements that would define conformity.  They also define which elements of a specification are "required" vs. "optional" for products that play specific roles within an interface.  You can view HTNG's available product specifications here.

• Vendors complete an application process to certify products against a set of specifications.  In general, this involves completing a Conformance Statement Questionnaire, which documents the environment in which the product will be certified, the roles the product plays in the interfaces, and the optional features that are supported.  It also may require results from testing procedures, documentation of actual implementations, and other information that may be useful to help a buyer evaluate the product.  You can view the Conformance Statement Questionnaires for HTNG product specifications here.

• HTNG's appointed Certification Authority reviews the application for completeness.  If all is in order, then the product becomes certified and listed in the Certification Register. 

• Hotel members of HTNG can consult the Certification Register, which includes links to the Conformance Statement Questionnaires of each certified product.  Hotels can use this register to determine which products meet a certain specification, and whether they address environments or optional features that are needed to meet their requirements.

• Vendors must enter into a Trademark License Agreement to use the "HTNG Certified" logo before their first product passes certification.  This gives them the right to use the logo and to describe their certified product as HTNG-certified. 

• A formal challenge process allows anyone to dispute a particular vendor's compliance claim, and ensures that challenges are appropriately resolved.  If a certified product is found not to be in compliance, then the vendor must correct the problem within a specified timeframe, or lose the rights to use the "HTNG Certified" trademark.  In general, it will be easier and less expensive for vendors to correct non-compliance problems rather than having to reprint all of their promotional literature.

• The program uses Trademark Law to ensure compliance.  Vendors who claim compliance without having met and maintained the certification requirements are subject to substantial legal penalties.  While HTNG provides a mechanism for hotels to determine what a vendor has claimed, and to adjudicate the accuracy of those claims, HTNG does not guarantee vendors' performance.  Therefore, hotels will still need to incorporate appropriate performance guarantees in their contracts with vendors.

Details of the process underlying this brief summary are provided in the Certification Policy.  Questions should be addressed to the HTNG Certification Administrator.