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Trusted Business Advisor Code Of Ethics
Why A Code Of Ethics
Resellers, Value Added Resellers, System Integrators, System Builders, Solution Providers and Managed Service Providers collectively are referred to as the IT Channel. For the IT Channel to flourish, the Trusted Business Advisor Association (TBA) has been formed with the mandate of adding more integrity and professionalism to the IT Channel.
Individual Channel Members are being encouraged to:
- Read the Code Of Ethics, answer the online questions, agree to adhere to the Ethics and become a Trusted Business Advisor.
- Complete the Services modules.
- Take the Business Education and Certification program and become a Certified Trusted Business Advisor.
Channel Member Organizations are being encouraged to:
- Ensure that sufficient number of their staff complete the entire TBA Certification program so that they can become a Trusted Business Partner.
The Trusted Business Advisor Program will support this by:
- Ensuring that every member pledges to abide by the Code's standards as a condition of admission and continuing membership.
- Providing Trusted Business Advisor with collaboration, marketing, sales and lead generation tools and vehicles.
- Making it easier for Trusted Business Advisors to differentiate themselves from resellers who are in the business to make "quick money" without care for ethics, integrity or the long-term health of their customers or the IT Channel.
- Promoting Certified Trusted Business Advisor and Trusted Business Partners through a SMB focused channel advocacy program.
- Providing on-going business education to members.
- Monitoring the IT Channel to ensure adherence to the Code Of Ethics.
The Code Of Ethics states the values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of the professionals within this Association. Without values, ethical dilemmas will occur, especially during times of rapid change and/or economic downturns. The Code speaks to both the members and end-users. It ensures that member will make no statements or promises that might mislead end user customers, vendor partners or other members or member companies.
The principles of the TBA Code Of Ethics are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision-making. These statements provide an overall framework for the industry, but do not and cannot be used to dictate conduct for a specific Member. Members are encouraged to seek professional advice in regards to their course of action in specific situations.
Objectives:
- To be a professional group that represents the interests of Resellers, Value Added Resellers, System Integrators, System Builders, Solution Providers and Managed Service Providers which collectively are referred to as Trusted Business Advisors (TBAs), the members of the association.
- Help raise the profile of TBAs, and to provide them with business education, differentiation, business certification and a code of ethics.
- To be the controlling body to ensure that the use of the Trusted Business Advisor and Trusted Business Partner branding is restricted to authorized people and organizations.
- To be a strong advocate for TBA and Trusted Business Partners (TBPs).
- To provide TBAs with vehicles and tools that will help them to market and grow their businesses.
- To help protect the interest of IT hardware suppliers and software developers who rely on TBAs to sell IT-centric business solutions to small and mid size businesses (SMBs), by developing, maintaining and enforcing standards for business training and the updating of business skills as well as a code of ethics.
- To assist SMBs who rely on these TBAs to provide, configure, service and support the IT-centric business solutions they require.
Need For A Code of Ethics
The U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines, amended in 2004 in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requires that all organizations establish and maintain an effective ethics and compliance program in order to prevent unethical and illegal conduct. Like all businesses, TBPs that follow an effective ethics and compliance program can greatly reduce potential fines and/or other penalties for their organization and for the individual TBAs that they employ. They can also use their adherence to a recognized code of ethics as a point of differentiation from all other solution providers that do not make a comparable commitment.
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines state: "The potential fine range for a criminal conviction can be significantly reduced -- in some cases up to 95 percent -- if an organization can demonstrate that it had put in place an effective compliance and ethics program and that the criminal violation represented an aberration within an otherwise law-abiding community." It went on to explicitly define seven minimally required elements of an effective compliance and ethics program:
- Establish standards and procedures to prevent and detect criminal conduct.
- Place responsibility with the organization's governing authority and high-level personnel to ensure that the organization's compliance and ethics program is effective.
- Preclude persons who have engaged in illegal or unethical actions from serving in high-ranking positions.
- Audit, monitor, and periodically evaluate the program's effectiveness, and provide a way for employees to report concerns about illegal behavior without fear of retaliation.
- Provide incentives to employees and agents to not act illegally or unethically, and discipline those who do.
- Take reasonable steps to respond to misconduct and to prevent future misconduct.
- Conduct effective training programs and otherwise disseminates information appropriate to such individuals' respective roles and responsibilities, overall mission, vision, and statement of principles.
TBA Code of Ethics
The Trusted Business Advisor/Partner Code of Ethics sets out baseline standards regarding how TBAs and TBPs should approach their occupation on a daily basis. Now more than ever, individual employees and the organizations that employ them are being held accountable for their business practices and social responsibilities. The TBA Code of Ethics helps define what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
A TBP needs to communicate periodically and in a practical manner with its owners and employees, the standards and ethics that the organization has agreed to uphold. The TBA program will assist in the education and dissemination of this information throughout the IT Channel via industry ePublications, communities, webinars, events, training modules and the TBA Business Certification Program. As a TBA and/or a TBP, you agree to exert best efforts to:
- Refrain from selling Grey or Counterfeit products. Provide clear and accurate communications of terms and conditions of each sale including warranties, available service, and return policies.
- Refrain from selling or giving away pirated software. Agree not to engage in or tolerate the unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of computer software under any circumstances, including without limitation: copying, distribution, or use of counterfeit, infringing and/or unauthorized software and related components; Certificates of Authenticity (COAs), End User License Agreements (EULAs), manuals and/or other component distributed with software programs; coping, distribution, or use of OEM software with PCs other than those for which they are intended; copying, distribution, or use of OEM, academic, beta, fulfillment, evaluation, Not for Resale (NFR), or other versions of software programs in a manner that is inconsistent with the applicable distribution and licensing terms authorized by the software publisher; and copying, distribution, or use of CD-ROMs, EULAs, COAs, manuals, or other software components in a manner that is inconsistent with the applicable distribution and licensing terms authorized by the software publisher.
- To respect and follow all right-to-privacy rules by using the appropriate procedures and processes to safeguard the information we collect to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure the appropriate use of the information.
- Refrain from the use of unethical and deceptive selling techniques and practices.
- Respect, without restriction, all agreements entered into with customers.
- Promptly settling all customer complaints using mediation and/or arbitration, if required.
- Take best efforts to implement energy-efficient CPUs, computers, servers and peripherals, as well as reduce resource consumption and proper disposal of electronic waste.
Got a comment, question or suggestion for Trusted Business Advisor News? Email us and let us know what's on your mind.
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Listen to an audio clip of W3 Business Network's Bill Osborne and his overview of the Trusted Business Advisor Program.
