SAP Certification - worth it?

[milanbenes]

well I think you are ready then, forget modules,

go to interviews and tell them all about R/4

you'll be straight in and won't look back

Milan.

[rootsnall]

Hi all,

I am in a situation, where I could be able to take a SAP certification exam, but I am questioning is it worth it? I have approximately 3 yrs SAP implementation experience (within PP and MM) and at the moment I am working as an employee at a non-Big5-SAP partner company. My goal is to gather at least a year of extra experience "under my belt", and go into full-time contracting after that.
What I am asking is, that is it easier to get contracts as a certified vis-à-vis non-certified contractor? And how does certification affect the hourly or daily contract rates? I have taken some SAP courses listed as prerequisites for certification, but I know it will take some time and effort to pass the exam.
Any answers/experiences will be appreciated, thanks!

It can't do you any harm but it won't increase your hourly rate. It might help in getting work, in a good contract market it won't make any difference, in hard times it may just help push you ahead of other contractors with similar levels of experience. I doubt it'll get you any gigs up against long experienced functional people who don't have certification. If you want to get into contracting then I'd get on with it now while the market is good !

[milanbenes]

roots,

morning,

he's only got one module, pp/mm

he'll need more than one module to go contracting

like you say though, how long will it last ?

maybe he should move to .Net, plenty of room
on the (toot-toot) .Net gravy train

all aboard,

Milan.

[Pondlife]

My $0.02

Personally don't think that certification will add that much to your hourly rate and I have never seen a decent consultant who only sells themselves as being certified. Full project lifecycles is what you want and I would say at least 3 before considering contracting.

Problem is that PP/MM is old SAP and so there are many people who've been doing it for 10+ years now. Have you considered trying to get some APO experience? Also, the courses aren't worth anything if you don't use the knowledge for practical application and to be honest you can work most of it out for yourself.

HTH

Edit: Or follow milans advise and learn .Net

[Zorba]

1) As previously stated, certification might move your CV up the pile for some clients but it rarely gets a better rate.

2) The SAP market has got little steam left in it - .net is where you want to be.

3) If you have a choice between leaving early and going on a certification course (as opposed to proper training) - leave early and land a contract instead.

4) Personal opinion - take training only when you need it as some of the hotter skills (e.g. .net ) go through different versions very quickly, and you can go 'out of date' if you don't use those skills.

5) Did I mention .net ?

[milanbenes]

Zorba and Pondlife,

I couldn't have put it better if I'd tried, the SAP market is on the edge of fizzling out and the biggest opportunities for the future are .Net

These days it's .Net all the way, everybodies talking about it.

All the best,

Milan.

[Zorba]

Milan - thanks for reminding me. I forgot to mention that there's no future in SAP. Apparently offshore 'consultancies' are no longer even trained in it, and most of their SAPpers are begging in the streets knee-deep in torn up SAP manuals. The ones that refused to retrain into .net, that is.

[Pondlife]

Good point.

I have had to sell my house since the downturn and I'm now living under a huge pile of SAP training manuals supported on all the free pens. Fortunately the binders are quite thick so we're still kept warm. Just wish they were edible.

[Zorba]

Pondlife - you should have stocked up on the boiled sweets, packets of biscuits and all-you-can-eat lunches at the old training centre. In the olden days of course, when it was worth taking any training in it. Of course.

[milanbenes]

good on you

Milan.