Here’s something interesting you might try. Connect to the internet, open your favorite search engine, and type in “SAP Cloud Consulting.”
When I did it on Google this afternoon, I received 10,100,000 results.
Now granted, the vast majority of them aren’t relevant – but even 20 pages into the search results, I was still reading claims of SAP Cloud expertise from individuals and companies alike.
In writing this blog post I’m not suggesting that these claims aren’t accurate. But what I am saying is….how do you know? If your company, large or small, is going to invest in moving to SAP Cloud – and it’s certainly to your advantage to do so – you’re going to want to be sure whomever you hire to help you on the journey has the skills and experience necessary to meet your needs. You certainly aren’t looking to entrust your business to someone who’s just learning on the job.
Given the critical importance of SAP Cloud to our customers and, frankly, to the future of SAP itself, we’ve taken steps to ensure our customers can find consultants they can trust – consultants we certify as possessing the goods to get the job done right. We are excited to announce that the SAP Certification in the Cloud program begins at the end of March, 2015.
And by the way – SAP Certification in the Cloud isn’t one of those “pass-the-test-and-you’re-certified” programs that put minimally qualified people out on the street with a credential. As we do with all of our certification programs, we break certification into two steps.
In the first step, the “Associate” certification, aspiring holders of SAP Cloud certification need to take a core assessment exam to determine whether they have the basic qualifications. We don’t require that they take SAP classes to prepare themselves – certainly they can learn on their own or through on-the-job experience – but most will find signing up for a subscription to SAP Learning Hub is the best way to begin.
If they pass the challenging core exam, they’ll receive Associate Certification – indicating our conviction that they can serve as team members in a SAP Cloud implementation project. But we’re not saying they’re ready to lead or serve as principal consultant on a project just yet. And since the Cloud is always evolving, we also require that they take and pass Delta exams as we upgrade our product. Someone who wants to be a certified SAP Certification in the Cloud consultant needs to be up-to-date, and we’ll be checking on it.
As susan.martin, who heads up the SAP Certification in the Cloud program for SAP Education tells me, “It became evident to us very quickly that getting certified and then working on projects for several years and still being ‘pretty well up to date’ is a thing of the past in the Cloud world. The technology is changing so quickly and our customers need to be confident they’re supported by people with up-to-date knowledge – which makes SAP certification more important than it has ever been as a benchmark for making smart business decisions.”
Only when an Associate Consultant has successfully concluded a substantial amount of experience, documented that experience, and submitted that documentation to SAP for individual consideration will we grant Professional Certification: our highest ranking. It indicates that SAP has confidence in the consultant’s ability to lead a SAP Cloud project to a timely and successful conclusion. These folks are The Genuine Article.
So when your organization makes the decision to move to the SAP Cloud, and you’re searching for a reliable partner, do yourself a favor and ask if there are SAP Certification in the Cloud holders on staff – or whether the individuals you’re considering have that credential. You might be surprised that some partners you’ve worked with before haven’t kept up – and that others certainly have. In fact, you can always check for yourself on the SAP Consultant Registry site – it’ll always provide you with an up-to-date list of SAP Cloud certified partners and consultants – the people you can rely on to do the job right.
And we want that to happen as much as you do.
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