As you should already know, only Skype Certified Extras will be eligible for premium and featured placement in Extras Manager and Extras Gallery starting July 1st. This means that you all will have to get your Extras not only tested but also PASSED by that time.

Below, I'll highlight some aspects of the certification process.

All software certification requests must be submitted into the STS (SDP Technical Services) project on our public issue tracker, Jira. If you experience problems with Jira, feel free to seek me out; I'll be happy to help you. But please don't even try to submit your requests via email or Skype — you'd only be wasting your time and ours.

A request will only be queued for testing when it's complete. "Complete" means that it includes the installer (in case of Extras, the .sparc file) of the release candidate of your application AND a completed self-certification checklist. Unless an earlier version of your product is already Skype Certified, you will get an invoice via PayPal (€500) and your request will be queued for testing as soon as we receive your payment. If you need a retest (either because your product failed the first test or because you are trying to get a new version of an existing product Skype Certified) then each retest costs one support voucher. Support vouchers are available in packs of 1, 5, and 10 for €300, €1000, and €1500 respectively. To order support vouchers, submit a support request with the word "Vouchers" into the STS project on Jira and pay the PayPal-generated invoice as soon as you receive it.

A certification test takes about 2 business days, but there may be other products already in the queue when you submit. This means that if you need your application to become Skype Certified by a certain date, you must submit your certification request early enough.

Passing the first test is rather uncommon. A product will only get the "Skype Certified" label if it meets all applicable Priority 1 requirements. Failing even one would mean failing the entire test — and keep in mind that our testers are paid for being tough. So if you need your application to become Skype Certified by a certain date, you should really submit it early enough to be able to fix the causes for failing the test, submit a new certification request, and get tested again.

Sounds scary? Take a deep breath and relax — the reality is that getting Skype Certified is tough but not impossible. Just be sure to jump onto the train early enough, and you'll get there.