With the certification of the first integrators according to SCS-0007, concerns arose regarding requests based on the exception rule:

• too many exceptions may undermine the quality perception of integrator certification
• no clear criteria how to rate exception references (no hard checkable facts)
• Forum members don't know requesting organization

There were several discussions about this in the SIG Standardization/Certification:

• https://github.com/SovereignCloudStack/minutes/blob/main/sig-standardization/20251002.md#scs-0007-integrator-exceptions
• https://github.com/SovereignCloudStack/minutes/blob/main/sig-standardization/20251014.md#scs-0007-integrator-exceptions
• https://github.com/SovereignCloudStack/minutes/blob/main/sig-standardization/20251111.md#scs-0007-integrator-exceptions

The following proposal has been developed:

Replace the exception rule by a one-year "Incubator status" certification with the goal to meet the criteria for the Integrator certification after that year.