This is conflicting. I have had one experience with Honeycomb when I referred (now an ex) client to them. The director of Honeycomb, a Mrs Mitchell, referred her husband to the client as a BEE consultant, whilst copying me. The email itself to the client was very damning of me and I was the one who referred them. These aren't the kind of people I want to do business with. There are lines and it seems that the Mitchells (and there a number of them in that business) aren't bothered by those lines. You're not going to get an endorsement from me for any of their businesses within the BEE space, or any space for that matter, including outerspace.
The fact that SANAS has suspended Honeycomb is a problem. It couldn't happen to nicer people, but I don't like the ridiculousness of SANAS' evaluation process. It's this process that needs to be fixed up. Verification agencies are on tenterhooks because they don't know what Catastrophes is going to throw at them after the fact. As a result the consultants (which includes Mr Mitchell of Honeycomb fame), the companies and everybody else has no idea what will be acceptable in a years' time.
For those who don't understand the process. You do a number of things within your measurement period (god I hate that term). If you know what's going on then you probably have done all the correct things according to the last verification and the relevant code of good practice. Your verification then happens after that fact. You submit a file thinking that everything you've done is acceptable. SANAS might arrive at your VA before the your verification is completed and hand out a number of non-conformances that the verification agency (and their clients) thought were legitimate at the time. The verification agency is then in a difficult position because if they recognise something that the client thought was legitimate at the time, they will be handed a non-conformance the next year and will probably lose their licence.
Of course it would help if SANAS actually listed the non-conformances on their website every year so that we know what is acceptable. They haven't done it yet, and I doubt they ever will.
Back to Honeycomb. In principle, I don't like the fact that they have been suspended. I don't know the reasoning behind this - maybe this time SANAS has a legitimate case to do so. But it would be really nice to know why they've been suspended, so that we can all know what the rules may now be.
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