SAP Integrated Business Planning Stay Current with SAP Global Certification Program – changes to frequency of certification updates

This blog is an update to the Blog SAP Integrated Business Planning Stay Current with  SAP Global Certification Program published by Regina Gama on March 30th, 2021. Stay Current requirements for SAP IBP have now changed.

If you are a consultant certified in SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP), this blog is very important to you, especially the Q&A section below. If you do not follow the Stay Current program requirements re-launching with SAP IBP release 2211, you will lose your certification and badge validity, requiring that you re-certify (by passing the full core exam once again). Once you have been certified in SAP IBP 2211 (stay-current or core exam certification), you will only need to take the Stay Current Assessment two times per year in the future, rather than quarterly.

About the SAP IBP Stay Current with Global Certification Program

The ‘stay current’ delta content and assessment(s) for SAP IBP are available to you only via the SAP Learning Hub. If you are currently holding an SAP IBP certification, you must successfully complete the stay current content and the relevant assessment before each published deadline.

To maintain your certification credentials, you MUST hold a valid individual SAP Learning Hub subscription and complete all future stay-current assessments on time; this is especially important as every customer-facing consultant is expected to hold a current certification for SAP IBP.

• Staying current overview video

Completing your Self-Paced Stay Current Training and Assessment:

Subscribers of SAP Learning Hub (Professional edition or Edition for Supply Chain Management) can review “stay current” delta course(s) and complete the stay current assessment(s) by following the process below:

• Review the SAP IBP Learning Journey where you will find the core certification exam (C_IBP) in the ‘Become competent’ scenario. Under the Stay Current section of the learning journey, you will find a direct link to the SAP IBP stay current content and a link to the associated assessment.
• Alternatively, if you already know what stay current course and assessment are assigned to your exam, log in to SAP Learning Hub, navigate to ‘Learning Content’, and there you can search for “SAP IBP 2211” (or later release) and the relevant stay current programs will be shown. Please keep in mind that the last 4 digits will change quarter over quarter. Through the “Certify” tab in the SAP Learning Hub, you will find your current valid badge and the period that you have to take the Stay current assessment in the “Expire soon” section within the tab.
• From the 2211 release onwards, only every second release will be stay current relevant. For example:

Reminders from Global Certification:

• Reminder 1: SAP Global Certification will send you an announcement about the Stay Current program on the date when the stay current content and assessment of any given release are available, prompting you to start the stay current process.
• Reminder 2: Afterwards, Global Certification will follow up with an email reminder 4 weeks prior to your deadline to ensure that you do not miss it.

It’s that simple. Please find more information on the SAP IBP Stay Current & Delta Schedule and how to stay current with your certification pages on the training shop.

New to SAP IBP Certification?

It is necessary that you have an SAP Learning Hub subscription to maintain your certification quarter over quarter. If you have not yet subscribed to SAP Learning Hub, Edition for Supply Chain Management: navigate to the Professional, Partner or the Edition for Supply Chain Management in the SAP Training Shop and complete your purchase of either edition. All currently and future certified professionals MUST have a valid SAP Learning Hub user account to maintain certifications and badges for the SAP IBP exams with no exceptions.

Upon receipt of your SAP Learning Hub credentials…

• Log into SAP Learning Hub, professional edition or solution edition, and select the Learning Journeys navigation on the top left.
• Select ‘SAP IBP” using the Filter or type ‘SAP IBP’ to view the learning journey.
• Join the SAP Integrated Business Planning Learning Room for expert guidance and live sessions.
• Use the links in your learning journey course tiles to assign content to your learning plan and prepare for your core exam.
• When appropriate, select the “stay current” scenario and assign to your learning plan the delta content and assessment for the core exam you have passed and want to maintain.

Important Information Links:

To read more about Certification at SAP, Certification Hub, and the new Stay Current with SAP Global Certification Program for SAP IBP, please visit:

• General Certification and Certification Hub Information
• Stay Current Information
• SAP Learning Hub Professional Edition
• SAP Learning Hub, Edition for Supply Chain Management (comes with 60 hours of Live Access & 2 exam attempts with Certification Hub bundle for professionals focusing only on Digital Supply Chain topics)
• View our edition comparison grid or visit SAP Learning Hub
• Available Certification Digital Badges

Q&A Section

Q: When will the stay current delta content and assessments for the exams be available in the SAP Learning Hub for me to complete?

A: The Stay Current content and assessments will be available on the RTC date for Release cycle 05 and 11 which are now the mandatory bi-yearly cycles.

The Stay Current content will be available on every RTC date for every quarter – with the assessment – because IBP will deliver the content quarterly. That is, the mandatory assessment will be available for cycles 05 and 11, and the non-mandatory assessment will be available for Release cycle 02 and 08

Q: Will I receive any reminders or notifications from SAP Global Certification when these assessments are available?

A: Yes, you will receive an announcement via email that the latest Stay Current content and assessment is now available on the SAP Learning Hub, and then you will receive a reminder approximately 4 weeks prior to the deadline so that you do not miss the opportunity to keep your credential and badge.

Q: What happens if I do NOT complete the assessment during the stay current period, missing the deadline?

A: Your SAP IBP certification credential will expire, and your badge will show your status as expired. There is no grace period, so please mark your calendars accordingly to log onto the SAP Learning Hub and complete your stay current requirements. Once your certification credential expires, you will be required to re-book and re-take the Certification exam, to obtain a fresh Certificate / fresh Digital badge. This re-certification attempt will count towards your available certification attempts regardless of whether you are using the SAP Certification Hub or the free 2 takes that comes with the SAP Learning Hub Edition for Supply Chain Management.

Q: I don’t currently have a subscription/account for the SAP Learning Hub Professional or an Edition for Supply Chain Management but am already certified in SAP IBP. What happens if I do not purchase a valid subscription when SAP IBP 2211 releases, for example?

A: The assessments are tracked by SAP Learning Hub user subscription account, so you will not be able to maintain your certification starting with the 2211 release unless you personally log into SAP Learning Hub with a valid user account. This is the only way to access the ‘stay current’ materials and the assessments to maintain your certification credential bi-yearly.

Q: Will each one of the assessments count as an exam take with my Certification Hub subscription or with the bundled 2-exam takes in the SAP Learning Hub solution edition?

A: No. The stay current assessment uses SAP Learning Hub web assessments, and these are part of your SAP Learning Hub subscription.

Q: I just passed the SAP IBP exam on 2211. Do I need to pass the SAP IBP Stay Current assessment on 2211 (the same release as the exam) right away before the 2211 deadline?

A: No, you are already current. You will start your Stay Current journey with the 2305 release of the product, for example.

Q: I represent a partner company and am responsible for ensuring the SAP IBP Sell Authorizations remain valid for my company. Does the stay current program apply to my organization as well and my organization’s SAP IBP Sell Authorizations?

A:  Yes, the Solution Consultant requirement of the SAP IBP Sell Authorizations also requires your resource (that is maintained in the SAP PartnerEdge PRM tool who holds the Solution Consultant requirement) to also follow the Stay Current with SAP Global Certification Program approach.

Q: I am an SAP Partner organization. What happens if my Solution Consultant (maintained in the SAP PartnerEdge PRM tool) fails to “stay current” for any given semester?

A: During the Semi- annual PRM check, if your resource is indicated to have failed to stay current, your organization’s Sell Authorization will be demoted to “At Risk”. Ideally at this point, you must ensure to inform the consultant that he/she must re-certify if the time lapse is greater than 3 months or complete the missed “Stay Current: assessment, so that your organization’s Sell Authorization can revert back to “Authorized”. If your resource fails to complete the “Stay Current” assessment at this point, during the next round of PRM check, your organization will lose your SAP IBP Sell Authorization.

If you’d like to learn even more about SAP Integrated Business Planning, please follow the related topic page. You can also follow the blog feed for SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain and ask and answer questions about this topic.

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