I'm working as SAP Basis consultant for around 9 years already, but I have never really a chance to pass the main certification exam in my area. I am certified in HANA database and some other technologies, but missing the Netweaver certification bothered me a lot ๐ I remember I was studying to take the exam even in 2011, but there was always something more important. And on top, I always felt some sort of respect for this exam.
But when suddenly in March I received a mail from SAP saying there is a new Training Catalogue I thought it may be my chance! I have quickly logged in to SAP Training and Certification Shop to see what are the changes and I found out, that new exam is coming: SAP Netweaver 7.5 with HANA as the database.
How does the topic areas looks like now?
There is no big difference comparing to old Netweaver exam - I could identify new topic about Fiori Administration, the rest looks pretty similar.
Training materials
I'm lucky enough to have the SAP Learning Hub subscription, therefore I have access to all new releases of SAP manuals. I quickly checked new TADM training materials - and that was a big difference. Starting from the visual part - books are now following the new theme (which I like).
From the content point of view I also noticed major changes. Already in the first book there are two big chapters about UI technology and how to apply Fiori. In the second manual, there are additional four chapters about new UI (and I thought I know what is going to be the killer topic on the exam ๐ Third book focused on software logistics and finally the fourth one describes the installation topics.
The only problem with the manuals is that they look like beta release! In many places there is text missing or part of the chapter is repeated. I think I'd also prefer not to mix the topics, but rather keep books topic specific. For example first book could consist of all information about system landscape, starting and stopping SAP systems etc. Then, the second one could focus mainly on Fiori.
What were my main focus areas?
Now I wish I spent more time on HANA database.
How did I learn?
It took me around 1 month to be prepared. But please remember I'm working with SAP for quite a long time, so if SAP Basis administration is something new for you, please book more time. I read all books twice and some specific chapters even more. At the end of each chapter there is a short Learning Assessment, which I really found useful to check whether I understand the topic.
For each chapter you have also multiple exercises. I have to admit I didn't do all of them, but if you're just starting with BASIS, I think it's a must. Remember to firstly try to solve the puzzles on your own, before checking the solution.
Finally I did a lot of notes. All the information that was new to me, was re-typed to the notebook as well. I paid attention to gather all t-codes and profile parameters that were mentioned in the system.
Day before exam I focused to memorize the most important bits I had in my notes and re-read topics I previously found easy: background processing and printing. I can only say I'm glad I did that ๐
On each exam page at SAP Training website there is always few sample question published. I used those to check my knowledge around week before the exam - but I checked not only the questions valid for my certification, but also for other, where topic is anyhow related (like Gateway certification or for older releases of NW).
Where did I pass my exam?
Unlike my previous certifications, which I always took in SAP Training center, this time I decided to go for PearsonVUE. The main driver was that taking the exam at SAP would require me to travel to London, which I wanted to avoid.
When using Pearson you can also choose exact time slot. Don't worry when you see all appointments are booked! Based on my observation, people are usually booking the exams long time in advance.. but then re-schedule the appointment for other day. I took my exam on Saturday, and I signed up on Friday (it was fully booked day before).
How difficult is the exam?
I suspect I could have around 50% without touching the training materials. So I'm glad I did some preparation ๐
The most difficult part for me was HANA database. Some questions about authorizations were really specific and required memorizing of specific objects. I'm not a big fun of such challenges, as this is something you can quickly google when you need it!
To summarize I think the exam was not so difficult (in most areas I had 90% - 100% correct answers). I didn't find question that was incorrect or ambiguous.
Next steps!
Now it's the time to take a bit of rest from Netweaver and I chose to learn more about Azure. You can find first two blogs about this topic in my profile. Currently, there is really nice offer for Azure certification:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/learning/azure-certification-training.aspx
But when suddenly in March I received a mail from SAP saying there is a new Training Catalogue I thought it may be my chance! I have quickly logged in to SAP Training and Certification Shop to see what are the changes and I found out, that new exam is coming: SAP Netweaver 7.5 with HANA as the database.
How does the topic areas looks like now?
There is no big difference comparing to old Netweaver exam - I could identify new topic about Fiori Administration, the rest looks pretty similar.
Training materials
I'm lucky enough to have the SAP Learning Hub subscription, therefore I have access to all new releases of SAP manuals. I quickly checked new TADM training materials - and that was a big difference. Starting from the visual part - books are now following the new theme (which I like).
From the content point of view I also noticed major changes. Already in the first book there are two big chapters about UI technology and how to apply Fiori. In the second manual, there are additional four chapters about new UI (and I thought I know what is going to be the killer topic on the exam ๐ Third book focused on software logistics and finally the fourth one describes the installation topics.
The only problem with the manuals is that they look like beta release! In many places there is text missing or part of the chapter is repeated. I think I'd also prefer not to mix the topics, but rather keep books topic specific. For example first book could consist of all information about system landscape, starting and stopping SAP systems etc. Then, the second one could focus mainly on Fiori.
What were my main focus areas?
- SAP Fiori Landscape - initial configuration and creating tiles for various scenarios. The exam covers two scenarios: when implementing Fiori on S/4 systems, but also when the backend system is ERP 6.0.
- SAP System Kernel - I think I went a bit too much into details, spending time to understand how work processes are designed.
- SAP Users and Groups - for both ABAP and JAVA stacks
- Software Logistics - this was really helpful, especially I have learned new things ๐
- Installation and Patching - I have used my Azure subscription to deploy few systems. But I recommend to focus on Solution Manager, as it has both stacks (and you can run SAP Gateway there as well). Don't forget about Web Dispatcher!
Now I wish I spent more time on HANA database.
How did I learn?
It took me around 1 month to be prepared. But please remember I'm working with SAP for quite a long time, so if SAP Basis administration is something new for you, please book more time. I read all books twice and some specific chapters even more. At the end of each chapter there is a short Learning Assessment, which I really found useful to check whether I understand the topic.
For each chapter you have also multiple exercises. I have to admit I didn't do all of them, but if you're just starting with BASIS, I think it's a must. Remember to firstly try to solve the puzzles on your own, before checking the solution.
Finally I did a lot of notes. All the information that was new to me, was re-typed to the notebook as well. I paid attention to gather all t-codes and profile parameters that were mentioned in the system.
Day before exam I focused to memorize the most important bits I had in my notes and re-read topics I previously found easy: background processing and printing. I can only say I'm glad I did that ๐
On each exam page at SAP Training website there is always few sample question published. I used those to check my knowledge around week before the exam - but I checked not only the questions valid for my certification, but also for other, where topic is anyhow related (like Gateway certification or for older releases of NW).
Where did I pass my exam?
Unlike my previous certifications, which I always took in SAP Training center, this time I decided to go for PearsonVUE. The main driver was that taking the exam at SAP would require me to travel to London, which I wanted to avoid.
When using Pearson you can also choose exact time slot. Don't worry when you see all appointments are booked! Based on my observation, people are usually booking the exams long time in advance.. but then re-schedule the appointment for other day. I took my exam on Saturday, and I signed up on Friday (it was fully booked day before).
How difficult is the exam?
I suspect I could have around 50% without touching the training materials. So I'm glad I did some preparation ๐
The most difficult part for me was HANA database. Some questions about authorizations were really specific and required memorizing of specific objects. I'm not a big fun of such challenges, as this is something you can quickly google when you need it!
To summarize I think the exam was not so difficult (in most areas I had 90% - 100% correct answers). I didn't find question that was incorrect or ambiguous.
Next steps!
Now it's the time to take a bit of rest from Netweaver and I chose to learn more about Azure. You can find first two blogs about this topic in my profile. Currently, there is really nice offer for Azure certification:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/learning/azure-certification-training.aspx
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