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Since SAP C/4HANA was first announced at SAPPHIRE NOW 2018 in USA, there has been an overwhelming response to it - in terms of curiosity, excitement and at the same time anxiety - Is it end of SAP CRM On-Premise ? What it mean for SAP hybris Cloud for Customer ( popularly known as C4C) ? Where all new acquisitions come to play ? and many more such questions gathered in everyone's mind.
Its nearly 1.5 yrs since the C/4HANA term was first heard - and I find this Blog exceptionally well written giving answers to all questions around what & why. Therefore, I am not going to repeat the same info... in fact, it is also not the purpose of this blog... I am sure, all those reading this already have a good idea on what SAP C/4HANA really is & if not, I insist you check the blog link i shared above.
Although, C/4HANA is a new beginning in the AI and M/L powered Digital Era, it is not a new product really ! I see it as a powerful spell created by taking every best bit that was out there in the CRM market (Callidus, Coresystem,Gigya, Recast.ai) and blending it with SAP's existing, proven and time-tested (hybris) customer experience applications to unify entire front office that perfectly leverages the back-office processes to provide a mesmerizing & consistent customer experience - both for end-customer and for employees.
But as we know from Hogwarts , when a spell is applied without a proper knowledge, it can turn into a disaster ! Likewise, proper learning is very important for C/4HANA suite of applications & SAP C/4HANA certifications confirms you know all you need to know when implementing these products.
Why Certification is important ?
C/4HANA Knowledge Management can be enormous for a single person in terms of absorbing the 5 Cloud portfolios - for their detail understanding ! Mind it, just knowing the features and capabilities is not enough, but one need to know what is under the hood, what it takes to assembles all the pieces to solve a business challenge meaningfully. It is only then you can propose, advise and guide your customers in their customer experience and digital transformation journey, in right sense.
That is where I found doing C/4HANA certifications is the best way to (a) understand the new technologies and new offerings in terms of features and capabilities and (b) learn, in details, the configurations and integrations offered by each product. This is especially helpful on projects as you are already prepared, know what to do & how to do it and also know what is the best practice. C/4HANA projects are fast pace - we are talking few weeks to max 4 month long projects and therefore it matters that you are fully aware of the technology and product you are implementing.
How to Prepare ?
Recently, I acquired SAP Cloud certifications (with detail knowledge) on SAP Service Cloud, SAP Field Service Mgmt (fka coresystem), SAP Marketing Cloud & SAP Sales Cloud.
Therefore, I thought to share some thoughts on preparing for certification.
1) The very first thing is exploring and choosing the right Learning path for you -
SAP has a fantastic tool to help you find this. Check it here. Select the Product Category as CRM and Customer Experience. You can further narrow down by selecting a C/4HANA pillar (ie one of the 5 cloud offerings) . Next, filter based on your role. If you are after a detail learning then select the roles - Consultant & Administrator
And then follow the learning path provided on the journey. It points you to the right content.
To become competent, Learning Hub access is needed. Also if you have a demo/training system for the C/4HANA - Cloud product of interest, you will ace in your preparations and later in the projects. But if you don't have the access then there is an option to purchase 20 hour system access via SAP Live Access. More info on that is here. Some learning Hub subscriptions also provide access to training system.
However, if you don't have any of that, you can still build your knowledge using the various information guides offered for a product on help.sap.com & videos from enable.cx.sap.com , just that it will take a longer time than otherwise with learning hub.
2) Checking the Product material on help websites -
Even if you have learning hub access, I would still recommend to also check all the guides available (admin guide, Integration guide , help website and material from Callidus, Coresystem and Gigya) . This will provide you a solid understanding of the product ( especially the new acquired products such as CPQ, FSM etc.)
Here is the recently launched SAP Support Portal only for SAP C/4HANA, you can find here everything from getting started to going-live and many more stuff.
3) Join the Customer Experience Learning Room here . You will need a valid S-user to login
As you progress in your learning, you will have many questions - some will get answered on subsequent chapters/learning journeys while for some specific question, you feel like you need an expert to answer or guide you. This is where CX Learning Room is very helpful - to get answers for your question from SAP product team or fellow learning community.
4) Partner Edge
If you work for a SAP Implementation partner - Partner edge will provide you with a lot of stuff such as :
5) Check your readiness
On the learning journey you chose per point (3), you will find a link for related certification exam under "Be Competent" track.
Each certification exam has a link to sample questions. Below is an example of Service Cloud certification page showing where to find the sample question link .
I highly recommend solving these questions. This will help you understand where you stand and importantly, I have seen every exam had 2-3 questions from these sample questions means these from the real exam question pool. It's a very good self-readiness check.
6) Finally - book a date for your certification on certification hub.
There is a cost involved and you can subscribe here . The good thing is Cloud certification subscription provides you with 6 attempt meaning you can appear for 6 certification exams if you clear each in first attempt ( which you will if you prepare as advised on this blog) or you can get 2 certification max if you use all 3 attempts on 1 certification. Your subscription is valid for 12 months & thus gives you enough time to prepare.
7) Stay up to date
The technology world is changing at a super fast pace. Those who can't cope up has to leave the group - sadly, this is the truth and therefore its important to keep yourself up to date with what's happening in each C/4HANA piller - there are quarterly upgrades, new innovations and new integrations getting added through SAP's continuous improvement cycle.
Your best bet to keep yourself up to date is to subscribe SAP CX and SAP C/4HANA channels on twitter and youtube. Subscribe to learning room updates and keep following the SAP product team members & mentors on SAP Community.
All the very best in your SAP C/4HANA Certification Journey !
P.S. Although the blog is written in context of C/4HANA certifications , the tips provided are applicable to any such SAP Cloud certifications.
Its nearly 1.5 yrs since the C/4HANA term was first heard - and I find this Blog exceptionally well written giving answers to all questions around what & why. Therefore, I am not going to repeat the same info... in fact, it is also not the purpose of this blog... I am sure, all those reading this already have a good idea on what SAP C/4HANA really is & if not, I insist you check the blog link i shared above.
Although, C/4HANA is a new beginning in the AI and M/L powered Digital Era, it is not a new product really ! I see it as a powerful spell created by taking every best bit that was out there in the CRM market (Callidus, Coresystem,Gigya, Recast.ai) and blending it with SAP's existing, proven and time-tested (hybris) customer experience applications to unify entire front office that perfectly leverages the back-office processes to provide a mesmerizing & consistent customer experience - both for end-customer and for employees.
But as we know from Hogwarts , when a spell is applied without a proper knowledge, it can turn into a disaster ! Likewise, proper learning is very important for C/4HANA suite of applications & SAP C/4HANA certifications confirms you know all you need to know when implementing these products.
Why Certification is important ?
C/4HANA Knowledge Management can be enormous for a single person in terms of absorbing the 5 Cloud portfolios - for their detail understanding ! Mind it, just knowing the features and capabilities is not enough, but one need to know what is under the hood, what it takes to assembles all the pieces to solve a business challenge meaningfully. It is only then you can propose, advise and guide your customers in their customer experience and digital transformation journey, in right sense.
That is where I found doing C/4HANA certifications is the best way to (a) understand the new technologies and new offerings in terms of features and capabilities and (b) learn, in details, the configurations and integrations offered by each product. This is especially helpful on projects as you are already prepared, know what to do & how to do it and also know what is the best practice. C/4HANA projects are fast pace - we are talking few weeks to max 4 month long projects and therefore it matters that you are fully aware of the technology and product you are implementing.
How to Prepare ?
Recently, I acquired SAP Cloud certifications (with detail knowledge) on SAP Service Cloud, SAP Field Service Mgmt (fka coresystem), SAP Marketing Cloud & SAP Sales Cloud.
Therefore, I thought to share some thoughts on preparing for certification.
1) The very first thing is exploring and choosing the right Learning path for you -
SAP has a fantastic tool to help you find this. Check it here. Select the Product Category as CRM and Customer Experience. You can further narrow down by selecting a C/4HANA pillar (ie one of the 5 cloud offerings) . Next, filter based on your role. If you are after a detail learning then select the roles - Consultant & Administrator
Learning Journeys
And then follow the learning path provided on the journey. It points you to the right content.
To become competent, Learning Hub access is needed. Also if you have a demo/training system for the C/4HANA - Cloud product of interest, you will ace in your preparations and later in the projects. But if you don't have the access then there is an option to purchase 20 hour system access via SAP Live Access. More info on that is here. Some learning Hub subscriptions also provide access to training system.
However, if you don't have any of that, you can still build your knowledge using the various information guides offered for a product on help.sap.com & videos from enable.cx.sap.com , just that it will take a longer time than otherwise with learning hub.
2) Checking the Product material on help websites -
Even if you have learning hub access, I would still recommend to also check all the guides available (admin guide, Integration guide , help website and material from Callidus, Coresystem and Gigya) . This will provide you a solid understanding of the product ( especially the new acquired products such as CPQ, FSM etc.)
Here is the recently launched SAP Support Portal only for SAP C/4HANA, you can find here everything from getting started to going-live and many more stuff.
3) Join the Customer Experience Learning Room here . You will need a valid S-user to login
As you progress in your learning, you will have many questions - some will get answered on subsequent chapters/learning journeys while for some specific question, you feel like you need an expert to answer or guide you. This is where CX Learning Room is very helpful - to get answers for your question from SAP product team or fellow learning community.
4) Partner Edge
If you work for a SAP Implementation partner - Partner edge will provide you with a lot of stuff such as :
- L0 to L3 presentations
- Webinars and event - Live & replays - covering specific topics that are generally not available in detail on learning materials
- Boot Camps and related materials
- Partner Enablement events and workshops - SAP conducts the enablement workshops on-site at their offices in many cities around the world which are most of the time Free to attend to partners. It's worth checking this and planning to attend one.
5) Check your readiness
On the learning journey you chose per point (3), you will find a link for related certification exam under "Be Competent" track.
Each certification exam has a link to sample questions. Below is an example of Service Cloud certification page showing where to find the sample question link .
Sample Questions
I highly recommend solving these questions. This will help you understand where you stand and importantly, I have seen every exam had 2-3 questions from these sample questions means these from the real exam question pool. It's a very good self-readiness check.
6) Finally - book a date for your certification on certification hub.
There is a cost involved and you can subscribe here . The good thing is Cloud certification subscription provides you with 6 attempt meaning you can appear for 6 certification exams if you clear each in first attempt ( which you will if you prepare as advised on this blog) or you can get 2 certification max if you use all 3 attempts on 1 certification. Your subscription is valid for 12 months & thus gives you enough time to prepare.
7) Stay up to date
The technology world is changing at a super fast pace. Those who can't cope up has to leave the group - sadly, this is the truth and therefore its important to keep yourself up to date with what's happening in each C/4HANA piller - there are quarterly upgrades, new innovations and new integrations getting added through SAP's continuous improvement cycle.
Your best bet to keep yourself up to date is to subscribe SAP CX and SAP C/4HANA channels on twitter and youtube. Subscribe to learning room updates and keep following the SAP product team members & mentors on SAP Community.
All the very best in your SAP C/4HANA Certification Journey !
P.S. Although the blog is written in context of C/4HANA certifications , the tips provided are applicable to any such SAP Cloud certifications.
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