As part of the PartnerEdge program for Application Development, SAP is offering the application review in addition to the standard interface certification to help partners qualify their mobile app for listing on the SAP Store and ensure that customers receive high-quality, documented, and tested enterprise-class applications.
Since its release, there have been many questions from partners regarding the application review and its differences with the certification that many are already familiar with. The purpose of this blog is to provide a comparison of these two services so partners can have a better understanding of their options.
The comparison has been grouped into the following categories:
- Integration scenario
- Scope
- Benefits
Please note that while both services are offered to partners enlisted in the PartnerEdge program for Application Development, the application review is exclusive to members of that program (contrary to the certification). Third-party vendors can sign up with ICC for the mobile app certification which is available to any ISV even those who are not members of the aforementioned program (more here).
Integration Scenario
The main difference between a review and a certification lies in the supported integration scenarios. This is very important as the first order of business for partners when developing a mobile app on SMP is to decide which type of integration scenario they want to implement.
The diagram below (click to enlarge) provides an overview of the integration scenarios which are supported as part of a review or a certification. Please note that the certification covers a much broader scope and is required when developing custom ABAP code (add-on). If you are connecting SMP with a database, an external third-party system or using SAP delivered APIs such as BAPI or RFC as part of your integration scenario then the review will suffice.
Scope
The certification is definitely a more elaborate, thorough and comprehensive approach when compared to the review. The difference between what is covered in each approach can be summarized in the subsequent table (click to enlarge).
Benefits
Although the review can be seen as a lightweight certification, this is not exactly accurate as it does not offer the same benefits, nor level of service. The table below illustrates this (click to enlarge).
Conclusion
As you can see, the review is quite different from the certification and one cannot be easily substituted for the other as they are ultimately complementary offerings.
The review provides the simplest way to get partner applications released to the SAP Store while the certification offers a more thorough and comprehensive approach that provides value to the vendor and ensures that customers receive high-quality, documented, and tested enterprise-class applications. Certification comes with numerous benefits including the "SAP Certified" logo and certification documents (more here).
I hope you have found this comparison useful. I invite you to post your comments or questions below.
For questions related to certification or review, please contact us at cc@sap.com. If you have questions about the SAP PartnerEdge program for Application Development, please contact the partner center.
Thank you !
Related links
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