Sap Certification - What It Takes

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SAP is the industry leading ERP software and to get certified as a Consultant or an Associate is highly desirable. This article explores facts about SAP certification and gives you a clear picture on what it involves and what it fetches you.

What is Certification

There are many forms of 70-640 Exam
(Like Vendor Certification, product certification), but for the purposes of this article we will explore more about Consultant (now split into Associate and Professional).

Recommended Exam Topics

There are recommended topics for weightage for each of the exams that it conducts. An example of can be obtained here. You can also find the exam pattern (number of questions, weightage, time etc), locations, requirements etc at this location.

Where do I take the test

You can take the test at any of the authorized testing centers (Pearson Vue, Prometric, etc). Please visit the education website by country to learn more. When applying for Pearson, you will be asked for an id (called s-id). You can call the SAP and ask for the same. A number will be dispatched ...
... to you by snail mail from Germany within a couple of days if you are in the US. You can use this number to apply at Pearson.

Which exam should I take?

SAP has provided an easy Certification finder tool (provided at the bottom) where you can filter out the exams based on a number of criteria like the product you are writing for, the type of Certification and by the type of solution. If you are already training with the Academy they will guide you. Otherwise, you can call up the education services to learn more.

Getting SAP exam can be quite hard in one place. You will have to forage through Forums. Or click on the link above to find some sample questions.

Cost

To get certified costs money (around $ 500). If you are new to ERP, add additional training costs, traveling costs(to attend the Academy),Comptia Security
hotel costs etc. In fact, there is already a new e-learning training program from the academy in place since the last 3 years where you can just do remote training. That will considerably reduce the costs(It is roughly 50% of the actual classroom training). If you have already been working in the US there are ways you can avoid going to the training without even showing work experience. In countries like India, it is currently mandatory to go through Academy training to just qualify for the examination (once again if you show relevant work experience you are waived from this requirement).

Types of SAP Certification

There are two types of exams with the third one being under development.

1. Associate
2. Professional

Professional is the more advanced among the two. All of these exams will be held on the latest product versions and any older style certificates will still hold their value depending on their validity.

Word of Caution

Please do not consider SAP Certification as your license to get rich. In spite of its merits, nothing beats

1. Quality Training
2. Project Experience.

Employers typically look at a combination of interview results, extensive project experience, referrals and certification in that order of priority. Just being certified alone will definitely not fetch you a job, but in conjunction with these other factors, a certified consultant will definitely be given a priority all else being equal.