To ensure that both SAP and its partners realize optimal returns on investments, partnerships are evaluated regularly against a common set of targets and metrics.

As part of the initial application and the regular re-certification process, both business criteria and SAP IT Excellence quality criteria (included in the SAP Adaptive IT Provider audit) need to be fulfilled.

SAP Hosting Partner Program Criteria

Hosting partners must meet the following business criteria:

Business Criteria
Evaluation of planned goals
Participation in knowledge transfer
Development of partner's SAP business
Status meetings
Customer satisfaction

Hosting partners must also meet SAP IT Excellence quality criteria, found in the SAP Adaptive IT Provider audit, in the following areas:

SAP IT Excellence Quality Criteria Area	Sub-Area
SAP Services portfolio	Number of hosted SAP systems/customers SAP product experience
Data Centers	Building and environment security and access control Fire detection, suppression, and prevention Infrastructure redundancy and failover testing (power and cooling) Regular audits and certifications
Network and connectivity	Telecommunication provider setup Network topology (customer landscapes, administration network, and customer DMZs), network security, and connectivity
Managed backup and disaster recovery	Backup concept and infrastructure Disaster recovery concept and infrastructure
IT service management processes	ITIL skills Service desk and incident management (implementation, tool support, and system monitoring integration) Problem management (implementation and integration) Change management (process, integration, workflow, risk analysis, and tool support) Configuration management (concept, CMDB, and impact analysis) Service level management (implementation and reporting) Customer relationship management
Application hosting	Operations manual and system documentation Standards, checklists, and procedures for SAP operation System monitoring (ping, hard disk, CPU, and basic network monitoring) SAP system monitoring (update tasks, table spaces, short dumps, etc.)
Security	Company security policy SAP security guidelines User management and system access Security audits and vulnerability tests
Administration skills	Certified skills in the areas of SAP Basis, SAP technology, SAP NetWeaver, etc.
Project management	Project management guidelines/methodology Standards, checklists, and procedures Technical and application consulting skills for SAP applications