3 Gigs, 3 References, 3 Years: The Elite SAP-SuccessFactors Professional Certification Demystified

[former_member17965]

The SAP-SuccessFactors certification program was created with one goal in mind: Driving Customer Success.  Consequently, achieving ‘Professional Certification’ is purposefully challenging, as we want the best for our customers.  A consultant must first pass a certification exam demonstrating foundational understanding of a given product area within the SAP-SF suite.  Passing of the exam gives the consultant the designation of ‘Associate Consultant.’  Associate consultants must continually take and pass quarterly delta assessments, delivered in conjunction with each SAP-SF release, to demonstrate understanding of the new features and functionality.

To attain the ‘Professional Certification’ designation, an ‘Associate Consultant’ must successfully lead three distinct implementations within three years of one another and submit three written letters of reference from the customers to whom the implementation services were delivered.  Professionally certified consultants have demonstrated a critical level of competency in their area of expertise by applying the information they mastered through study, and delivering so well that their customers felt strongly enough about their performance to write a letter of recommendation - not once, not twice, but three times within a three year period.  This requires a level of mastery and delivery excellence that can only be attained after years of consulting experience.  The rigor required to achieve ‘Professional Certification’ means the majority of consultants within our partner ecosystem choose to focus in a given area.  In fact many partner firms also choose to specialize so it is not unexpected that we have many partner consultants who are certified in Employee Central but not in Succession, for example.  ‘Professional Certification’ denotes true expertise.

SAP SuccessFactors has always been driven by a culture of innovation and customer success.  We routinely seek opportunities to ensure we are being responsive to the needs and expectations of our customers and our partner ecosystem.  Our current certification program was introduced about two years ago and we are holistically assessing its impact.  A ‘Certification Transformation’ initiative sponsored by our president, Greg Tomb, and led by our Strategic Program Execution Office, under the leadership of our chief operations officer, Robin Manherz, was kicked off earlier this quarter to examine all aspects of our certification program.  We are focused on ensuring the program strengthens the importance of our certification program, while promoting the service delivery excellence we expect from our partners, and driving customer success through all that we do. We look forward to sharing the results of this initiative in early 2018. 

Professionally certified consultants are sought after.  They are dedicated to maintaining and expanding their knowledge.  They are committed to service delivery excellence.  They are the elite within the SAP-SF partner ecosystem and we applaud them for their commitment to the success of our customers.

Kerri L. Brown, PHR, SHRM-CP
Global Vice President, SAP-SuccessFactors, Adoption & Empowerment

Bruce Hillier
Global Vice President SAP-SuccessFactors, Partner Delivery Management