Become an Acquia Practice Certified Partner
Elevate your business and take your expertise with Acquia to new heights.
Join Acquia's Practice Certification program (APC) to differentiate your business, enhance credibility, and gain exclusive access to resources that drive growth. As a practice certified partner, you'll benefit from increased visibility across Acquia’s community, a roadmap for long-term growth and team development, and enhanced collaboration within our solutions, marketing, and product teams.
Empowered Partnerships
Becoming an Acquia Practice Certified partner positions your business at the highest level of Acquia’s partner program, unlocking opportunities for enhanced co-selling and increased community visibility, while fostering a future-focused partnership for continuous growth.
Enhanced Visibility
Increase visibility within Acquia's partner network, amplifying your brand and opening doors to new business and co-selling opportunities.
Credibility and Trust
Validate your team's skills and capabilities, instilling confidence in customers and prospects seeking trusted partners with proven track records.
Market Differentiation
Set yourself apart from competitors, showcasing your expertise and commitment to delivering exceptional solutions and services.
Accelerated Growth
Get access to specialized training, executive sponsorship, and enhanced sales resources to help expand your skills, broaden market reach, and drive revenue growth.
Priority and Preference
Get early prioritization and incentivized deals on our latest offerings and product features.
Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
Gain exclusive access to a network of professionals, thought leaders, and product experts to advance innovation.
Practice Certification Requirements
While each certification has its own unique requirements, all partners must meet a minimum set of requirements for eligibility. Acquia has a defined set of metrics and data-driven decisions that form a proprietary partner benchmarking program called the Partner Aggregate Readiness (PAR) Score. PAR is used to determine a partner’s eligibility to become certified and is also used to determine the overall strength and health of their relationship with Acquia.
Requirements
- Project Experience: Partners must have completed at least four projects hosted on the Acquia platform in the 24 months prior to application.
- Acquia Certified Developers: Partner developer teams must include at least five individuals who have completed Acquia certifications in the previous year.
- Go-to-Market Activities: Contributing to Engage Awards and customer reference programs is critical to a partner's validation of successful projects. Partners who leverage the case study and go-to-market investment programs are prized for their innovation and thought leadership.
Join Our Growing List of Certified Partners
| Who is eligible? |
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Any partner who has completed at least four projects on the Acquia platform within the last 24 months may apply for certification. Partners meeting this minimum standard will be required to complete a self assessment, then pass a rigorous evaluation process led by Acquia subject matter experts.
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| When can partners apply for certification? |
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Acquia will accept applications during an open enrollment period at the start of each quarter. Partners are strongly advised to complete a partnership self-assessment and prepare for their certification review well in advance of open enrollment.
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| How long does certification last? |
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Partners are awarded certification for one year. Partners will be reevaluated annually to maintain their certifications. Partners who do not maintain their qualifications risk losing their certified status.
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| Does Acquia include projects older than 24 months when considering practice certification? |
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Yes and no. Just as the Drupal CMS changes, the technology used on the Acquia platform is frequently updated, evolving frequently over time. With that in mind, Practice Certification criteria are based on the most recent 24 months of project completion. However, we will make exceptions if a partner can demonstrate an active development process on older projects. (For example, a site may be redesigned; new Site Factory projects may be relaunched, etc.)
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| How long does the certification process take? |
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After returning the initial self-assessment, partner qualifications will be reviewed by Acquia teams and selected to advance to the interview stage of the process. At this stage, partners will be scheduled for an hour long team interview with Acquia SMEs. In all, the pre-certification review can take anywhere from two to six weeks, based on team availability.
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| What will be reviewed at the certification interview? |
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The purpose of the team interview is to gather information about the partner’s business and delivery processes as they relate to the Acquia platform, and help Acquia build a better understanding of overall best practices among our most valuable partners.
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| How much does certification cost? |
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Application to the program is free of charge, and partners who meet requirements are awarded certification without additional fees. Partners who don’t meet certification requirements may enroll in additional training. Special discounts for training may apply. Partners who are invited to participate won’t be required to make a monetary investment. Paid options for partners looking to earn certification more quickly will be made available after the Limited Availability period ends.
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| What if we don’t pass the certification process? |
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Partners who don’t qualify for certification will be provided with recommendations to strengthen their delivery capabilities. Partners may reapply for certification after meeting the certification criteria.
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| What’s the difference between Acquia Practice Certification and certifications for developers? |
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Acquia Practice Certification is awarded to partner organizations, and is a measurement of their ability to deliver transformative digital experiences on the Acquia platform. Individual certifications are awarded to developers who demonstrate their expertise within a particular product or skill set.
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| Where can I find out more about the program? |
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Partners seeking more information about practice certification are encouraged to discuss the program and its requirements with their partner managers. Partners can find further information on the partner helpdesk.
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| What is the difference between Drupal and DXP Practice Certifications? |
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Drupal Practice Certification is awarded to organizations who have achieved technical competency delivering products using Drupal on the Acquia platform. These typically include projects based on the Drupal CMS, Acquia Site Factory, Acquia Code Studio, and Acquia Site Studio. Partners qualify for DXP Certification when they have delivered projects that integrate the Drupal CMS with Acquia marketing technology products, including Campaign Studio, Acquia Personalization, Acquia DAM, and Acquia CDP.
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| Are CDP projects required for DXP Certification? |
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No. While CDPs are an incredibly powerful tool to use in any large data project, they are not a requirement for DXP Certification.
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| What is the PAR Score? |
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In order to objectively measure partner capabilities, Acquia uses a scoring system called the Partner Aggregate Readiness (PAR) score. This single metric calculates delivery capabilities based on project complexity, total Acquia Developer Certifications, and engagement in the Acquia Partner Program.
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| Can a partner see their own PAR score? |
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Yes! While Acquia doesn’t share PAR scores publicly, we encourage partners to work with their partner managers and the Acquia practice certification team to review their score frequently. This ensures that our information is both accurate and current. To learn more about PAR scoring, please visit our partner help desk.
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