A friend of mine wants to do SAP certification. He said the course is very expensive. He wanted to know whether it is possible to prepare for SAP without taking any course, or are there any cheaper/affordable ways to prepare for it?
If you have any suggestions and/or resources, i’d appreciate if you share it.
Thanks 
Re: SAP Certification
I did the SAP Business Integration certification... and also coordinated the SAP program at my University.
At the time when I completed it... SAP only used to have the exams administered at the end of their authorized courses - so the answer to your question is No, I don't think its possible to self-study and write the exam because SAP exams are still not offered through Prometric or VUE.
Re: SAP Certification
^ Thanks Umar bhai .... i was going to pm u first, but then decided to open up thread so that others can put their suggestions too...... anyway, i'll tell him the bad news :D
Re: SAP Certification
Umar bhai, can you kindly explain, how many exams are there in this certification, & is there an expiry period...??? Thanks
Re: SAP Certification
theres those consulting/recruiting companies that might be able to give you free training as long as you work for them for a year
Re: SAP Certification
I don't believe that there is any consulting/recruiting firm that will pay for your SAP certification.
Re: SAP Certification
Muzna I disagree.
all major consulting companies will pay for training and certification. if u join as a rangroot then they will pay for your training. they do need entry level analysts with SAP knowledge. they dont do it out of the goodness of their hearts but because it is far economical for them to get junior analysts on projects and then train them.
The salary + training of entry level folks as compared to the project billing rates is still a bargain.
But these positions are hard to come by. pretty much any major consulting company will train you, as long as you can get your foot in the door.
you may not be an SAP guy, but for example join IBM global service's financial services practice if you have finance and I/T background, they will proably put you on projects where you are digging up dat aand doing number crunching for this or hat, but that is where you then have opportunities to get SAP, or Oracle training.
Re: SAP Certification
Kamal...I was talking about recruiting firms.
Sorry...I should have been more clear.
Re: SAP Certification
haaan..be more clear in future..mera itna sara time waste kar diya.
Re: SAP Certification
all major consulting companies will pay for training and certification. if u join as a rangroot then they will pay for your training. they do need entry level analysts with SAP knowledge. they dont do it out of the goodness of their hearts but because it is far economical for them to get junior analysts on projects and then train them.
In Canada, Accenture is perhaps the principal outsourcing boutique that provides a range of SAP consulting and technology implementation services… I know three people who got hired as a Junior Analyst at Accenture after graduating from their B.Coms – they were provided free training on SAP but they had some initial experience on the SAP IDES (Internet Demonstration and Evaluation System) system which was available in their University computer labs. Furthermore, using SAP was part of their regular course assignments in Ops Mgmt, Finance, and HR.
Mal1k, SAP offers different certifications for the Solution Consultant or Development Consultant designations. First, the candidate needs to follow a specific business process track – say CRM or SCM etc. and then within each track, there are a multitude of ERP modules (e.g. in SCM, there’s procurement, manufacturing, order fulfillment etc.). Classes for each of the modules is offered through the SAP Academy and once all the modules are completed, then the candidate can register for an exam.
Re: SAP Certification
Short answer to your question, No. The thing is, you can prepare for a certain certification using books and what not... but with SAP, if you havent actually played with the system, you'll be clueless when the time comes... I am sure its quite possible passing a certification exam... and I believe its not a pre-requisite for you to first attend the SAP delivered training courses before doing an exam (I could be wrong).
I mean, if someones not certified, but has worked on a particular module for a couple of years or whatever and knows his stuff, he can probably go and clear the exam ... i dont think he'd be made to sit in the training courses first to be eligible to do the exam. But then again, I am not sure, maybe Umar Talib is right when he says the only way to do a certification is to actually sit in the classes first.
If your friend has access to an SAP system with the desired modules and can log on and has the right authorizations, YES, books can help learn a few things, if he practices and plays around with the system.
Umar Talib is right and I might add that SAP certifications and training courses are based on IDES as well.
Your friend's best bet would be to try and get his foot in the door somewhere and learn the ropes. For a start, to get the taste of the system, enroll in a uni with SAP alliance and do a few subjects there, put it on your resume and try your luck to get into a consultancy/company because of your basic SAP exposure and they might end up paying for your training and certification.
OK, so it wasnt a short answer afterall. :)
Re: SAP Certification
Woah, heavy stuff. Thanks umar.
Re: SAP Certification
Thanks KAKA-ATOM-BUM for nice details :)