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2021 marks the year, when the SAP Integration and Certification Center (SAP ICC) and our integration certification offering turn 25! Apart from the shock to the system that many of us ICC old timers received - didn’t we just celebrate 20 years!?! - where did the time go!?! (hint: it flies, when you are having fun) – this is a chance to reflect on this journey, that I have been part of for much of my own career as well.
What have we accomplished?
The sheer numbers are mind boggling – close to 14,000 certifications have been awarded to solutions coming from over 4,000 SAP partners over the last 25 years. As the world of software is ever changing, you can see the current set of approximately 1300 certified solutions in our directory.
I am also looking at my collection of business cards from our partners that I received at events and during meetings, and that I brought home with me, when we shifted to home-office mode. Each card represents not just a business contact, they all represent the wonderful connections I’ve made in this job over the years – sometimes reconnecting with people after they switched jobs and companies, or after acquisitions and mergers. Obviously, a shout out to LinkedIn is appropriate, as it makes staying in touch so much easier, but I do enjoy the old school “offline twins” and the close to 25 years of technology evolution and history that the people and companies behind these mementos stand for.
So, what have we accomplished through our work here at SAP ICC: we have ensured through countless versions of SAP solutions and partner software that our mutual customers can take advantage of pre-integrated and pre-tested adapters and APIs to ensure seamless data flows and connections. Think of the hours and budgets saved by not having to start from scratch with a custom-built integration every time! We have helped smaller partners find their technical footing in the SAP world with best practices and guidance, and together with great colleagues from SAP development, product management and SAP PartnerEdge teams we are able to promote the openness of SAP solutions and adoption of SAP Business Technology Platform (and its on-premise predecessor SAP NetWeaver – remember, this is a celebration of 25 years of SAP integration after all…) amongst the ISV and partner community to this day.
What will the future hold?
Over the next years we are looking towards certifying more and more cloud integrations, and partners moving their add-ons and extensions to SAP Business Technology Platform. Integration testing and alignment beyond system and company boundaries will remain as important as ever to make our customers’ lives easier. We will see the adoption of the Application Interface Register and increased opportunities for our partner applications with initiatives like Industry Cloud and the increasing importance of SAP Store for our customers and partners. Given the push towards resource conservation and climate goals, I also do hope that the combined ingenuity of SAP and our partners will help our customers not just to analyze their carbon footprint, but also transact in ways that help the world reach the necessary sustainability goals.
In all this the SAP ICC team hopes to continue our support for the wonderful SAP partner ecosystem consisting of partner companies, applications, and the great people behind it.
Please join us for a series of webinars, where we hope to connect with as many of our partners and colleagues who have worked over this time, or post your questions right here in the SAP Community.
What have we accomplished?
The sheer numbers are mind boggling – close to 14,000 certifications have been awarded to solutions coming from over 4,000 SAP partners over the last 25 years. As the world of software is ever changing, you can see the current set of approximately 1300 certified solutions in our directory.
I am also looking at my collection of business cards from our partners that I received at events and during meetings, and that I brought home with me, when we shifted to home-office mode. Each card represents not just a business contact, they all represent the wonderful connections I’ve made in this job over the years – sometimes reconnecting with people after they switched jobs and companies, or after acquisitions and mergers. Obviously, a shout out to LinkedIn is appropriate, as it makes staying in touch so much easier, but I do enjoy the old school “offline twins” and the close to 25 years of technology evolution and history that the people and companies behind these mementos stand for.
So, what have we accomplished through our work here at SAP ICC: we have ensured through countless versions of SAP solutions and partner software that our mutual customers can take advantage of pre-integrated and pre-tested adapters and APIs to ensure seamless data flows and connections. Think of the hours and budgets saved by not having to start from scratch with a custom-built integration every time! We have helped smaller partners find their technical footing in the SAP world with best practices and guidance, and together with great colleagues from SAP development, product management and SAP PartnerEdge teams we are able to promote the openness of SAP solutions and adoption of SAP Business Technology Platform (and its on-premise predecessor SAP NetWeaver – remember, this is a celebration of 25 years of SAP integration after all…) amongst the ISV and partner community to this day.
What will the future hold?
Over the next years we are looking towards certifying more and more cloud integrations, and partners moving their add-ons and extensions to SAP Business Technology Platform. Integration testing and alignment beyond system and company boundaries will remain as important as ever to make our customers’ lives easier. We will see the adoption of the Application Interface Register and increased opportunities for our partner applications with initiatives like Industry Cloud and the increasing importance of SAP Store for our customers and partners. Given the push towards resource conservation and climate goals, I also do hope that the combined ingenuity of SAP and our partners will help our customers not just to analyze their carbon footprint, but also transact in ways that help the world reach the necessary sustainability goals.
In all this the SAP ICC team hopes to continue our support for the wonderful SAP partner ecosystem consisting of partner companies, applications, and the great people behind it.
Please join us for a series of webinars, where we hope to connect with as many of our partners and colleagues who have worked over this time, or post your questions right here in the SAP Community.
