The following table lists certification guidelines for AMS providers certified by SAP.

AMS Certification Guidelines	SAP-Certified Application Management Provider	SAP-Certified Global Application Management Provider
SAP nomination process	Country SAP alliance management or SAP outsourcing partner engagement	SAP outsourcing partner engagement
SAP approval process	Country SAP alliance management	SAP outsourcing partner engagement
Experience with AMS Offerings for SAP solutions	Required	Required
Sales and marketing activities	Supportive role	Supportive role
Geographical presence (customers, operations)	Country-specific, regional	Two SAP regions out of EMEA, Americas, and Asia Pacific Japan – productive customers in all three regions
Organizational structure (process consistency: service management)	Local	Global
Understanding of country-specific markets and regulations	Required	Required
Certification of partner operation, with certificate from SAP	Required	Required
Certification timeframe	Recertification every 2 years	Initial certification – two regions within 6 months; recertification every 2 years
Reference customers for AMS	Local reference customers	Global reference customers
Multi-time zone support	Not applicable	Required 24/7; own or through partner network, with multilingual service

In addition to adhering to the partnership guidelines described here, hosting partners must satisfy various technical requirements, depending on the type of service or solution they offer. For more information, contact the SAP hosting partner infoline or have a look at the targets and metrics of the program.