SAP Citizen Developer Certification - Is it for the Professional Developers too??

[Subhrangsu]

Who is this Blog for?

• SAP Professional Developers


• SAP Functional Consultants


• SAP Solution / Technical Architects


• SAP Business Users


• SAP Project, Program and Change Managers


• Aspiring SAP Professionals


• Should I just add, this blog is for everyone in the SAP ecosystem with 10 minutes to spare

Introduction

I am now a "SAP Certified Citizen Developer Associate". My blogs are usually Technical Articles, but for a change I thought of sharing some personal insights.

Here is a little bit about my own SAP background, purely to bring the context of this blog to life. I spent almost 15 years as hands-on SAP Development and Integration consultant, before changing roles to help our clients transition into S/4HANA and working with them on their diverse set of challenges, focusing primarily on data. In 2019, before transitioning into a different role, I validated my ABAP skills by getting certified as SAP Development Specialist  - ABAP for SAP HANA 2.0. Thus, most of my working life, I have been a "Professional Developer".

When I came across the "SAP Citizen Developer" or "SAP Low-Code / No-Code" curriculum, I was massively intrigued. I wanted to dive deeper and understand what it meant for our clients and their tech-savvy Business super-users, but equally importantly, what it meant for the massive ABAP Development Community.

Having gone through the learning journey myself, exploring the SAP Low-Code / No-Code SAP Products hands on and validating my recently acquired knowledge via the certification, I thought it might be a good idea to share my perspective on what this suite of SAP products means for the SAP Professional Developer community.

Please note, this is purely a personal point of view (#Disclaimer). If you agree or disagree, I would love to hear from you in the comments. The question I am trying to explore via this blog is as follows: "SAP Citizen Developer Certification - Is it for the Professional Developers too??". If you would rather not read through this entire blog and looking for a short answer, my answer is "Yes, most definitely". If you are an ABAP Developer, you might want to read on.

It is important to note that this blog is being published in August 2023. If you are reading this many months in the future, these Low-Code / No-Code tools might have seen themselves improved, discontinued, and more likely "renamed". 

Details

Let us explore the answers, shall we?

What is SAP Build – How does it link to SAP BTP?

Good cloud products are updated regularly. Some occasionally get rebranded, SAP Cloud Products a bit more often. But if Twitter can be rebranded as 'X', I am sure you will not be surprised that SAP Build, isn't what SAP Build was a few years ago. If you thought SAP Build is a UX Prototyping tool, that is now known as 'SAP Build Classic' and would be retired most likely by end of 2024.

This paves the way for an extremely interesting suite of SAP Cloud Low-Code / No-Code (LCNC) products, together known as SAP Build. These are:

• SAP Build Apps - formerly Appgyver


• SAP Build Process Automation - formerly SAP Process Automation


• SAP Build Work Zone: Standard Edition - formerly SAP Launchpad Service


• SAP Build Work Zone: Advanced Edition - formerly SAP Work Zone

rajaprasad.gupta has written a very detailed blog on SAP Build, which I would highly recommended.

All these three products are part of SAP Business Technology Platform, more popularly known as SAP BTP. These Low-Code / No-Code or WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) products form a part of SAP BTP's App Dev and Automation portfolio. As a Citizen Developer, you will build a good understanding of all these products. SAP Build Apps and SAP Build Process Automation are available as free boosters on a free-tier SAP BTP account, so no excuses for not getting your hands dirty as you familiarise yourself with these platforms.

Yet again, I can highly recommend rajaprasad.gupta's recent blog where he explains the overall learning journey for each component of SAP BTP. You can also refer to this document called "The Universe of SAP Business Technology Platform in a Nutshell". Check out the section on SAP Build and how it fits into the overall scheme of things in SAP BTP.

How does the Certification journey look like?

I must admit, I wasn't aware of these products until rather recently. But I am glad I am now.

My colleague ananda_niyogi introduced me to the SAP Build family during a lunch and learn session. I then found out about a Client use case from yanggongliang1982 where we have deployed SAP Build Work Zone. Coincidentally soon after, my colleague desaitrishul recommended registering for a Partner Certification Academy course on Low-Code/No-Code Applications and Automations.

The Partner Certification Academy course lay the foundation for me, thereafter I got hooked into it. Any spare time I could find between projects and delivering for our clients, I spent browsing through the learning journey while working on the hands-on exercises. Please see the details of the Learning Journey later in this blog.

As a reward for having attended the Partner Certification Academy course, some of us were awarded with a free Certification Attempt (CER001). This was motivation enough not only to complete the learning journey, but to get certified on this subject as well. Please see below my certification timelines.

What is a Fusion Team? How is it relevant?

Now this is where it gets interesting. The concept of Fusion Team is not restricted to the world of SAP alone. In this Gartner article, I found an apt quote from Janelle Hill, VP Analyst at Gartner. It reads, “The rise of fusion teams is evidence that the boundaries between IT and the rest of the business are blurring at an accelerated rate — and that business leaders have a growing appetite for planning, running and managing their own digital initiatives,”

Does that resonate with you in your existing projects or programs? "Business users and experienced developers can collaborate on projects using the development solutions that best fit their respective skills – these are called fusion teams."

The three main personas in the Fusion Team are A. Business Users; B. Professional / Experience Developers and C. IT Administrators. Thus, Professional Developers are an integral part of this world of LCNC and should feel included and empowered.

 

I am a Professional SAP Developer. Should I bother?

Based on the definition of the Fusion Team, hopefully it is now evident that the Professional Developers play an extremely crucial part in the adoption of the LCNC platforms. In my humble opinion, SAP Professional Developers (and may I add, even the Functional Consultants) have little option but to familiarise themselves with the potential of these tools.

If you are an ABAP Developer, you would have used Transaction SE11 at some point to create or modify a Database Table. I like to think of it as an early onset of No-Code in SAP where you could generate a Database Table without writing a single line of code.

Imagine a situation, where you add a Workflow custom development object in your WRICEF catalogue and write a detailed Specification. Or you are contemplating a Report based custom development object in your WRICEF catalogue to meet a client requirement. If you are not familiar with the SAP Build products and their capabilities, and the client asks you why you would rather not build the workflow using SAP Build Process Automation, or produce the report via SAP Build Apps, it would be quite an awkward conversation. On the other hand, if you were acquainted with the features and limitations of these tools, you would have been able to make a more nuanced decision around "To code or not to code".

The digital world is currently extremely disruptive. Changes are constant and arrive at a pace that wasn't known before. The professional developers have the duty of care towards their business users and clients to advice the best way forward. "Fit to Standard" and "Keep the Core Clean" are no longer new concepts. But the Core can only be kept clean if every professional developer, working in the SAP ecosystem, is aware of the overall development landscape, beyond just ABAP or CAP. There are two key reasons why I think SAP Professional Developers should get up to speed with the Citizen Developer offerings:

A. To assess when NOT to code and recommend these tools to your clients instead. Assess your clients' appetite for adoption of LCNC tools.

B. To expand your knowledge base and at times deliver no-code rather than pro-code solutions for your clients.

matt.steiner had written this interesting blog a couple of years ago. I think it is still relevant to debunk the myths around LCNC Tools.

In the image below I have tried to list down some scenarios where, I think, comprehensive knowledge of the LCNC offerings can yield a lot of benefit and help the professional developers. You can never take coding away from the Developer, but, when possible, you can take the Developer away from coding.

How should I go about learning and certification?

If you have read this far, I am guessing you are keen to get onboard. The Certification isn't mandatory to start using the SAP Build Products, neither it is the end of the learning journey. However, it is a good milestone to work towards, and who doesn't like getting their skills and knowledge validated. Here is a quick cheat sheet on how your journey can look like.

Step 1: Learning Journey at learning.sap.com

• Login to learning.sap.com - It is free, unlike learninghub.sap.com where you may need a paid subscription


• To use learning.sap.com you will need your SAP Universal ID. If you don't have one, why not sign up for it at account.sap.com. Need I say it, it is free 🙂


• The Learning Journey that you will need is called 'Utilizing SAP Build for Low-Code/No-Code Applications and Automations for Citizen Developers'.


• Put on your learning shoes.

Step 2: Subscribe to SAP Build Apps and SAP Build Process Automation

• The Learning Journey provides these details inside the first section, called 'Previewing the Course and Setting Up Prerequisite Tools'.


• If you don't already have access to a paid or free-tier SAP BTP account, the best way to get started is by creating a free-tier SAP BTP account. It is free if you don't accidentally subscribe to any paid services. Please note, a BTP Trial account will not work in this case, and you will need at least the free-tier account.


• Follow this tutorial on developers.sap.com to get started with your free-tier BTP account. You will need your Credit Card to subscribe, but don't worry, you will not have to pay anything as long as you only consume the free functionalities.


• Once your account is activated (might take up to a day), you will receive a dedicated URL via email. This will be your SAP BTP Cockpit. Create a subaccount and get started.


• Use the Boosters for SAP Build Apps and SAP Build Process Automation (Free) to activate these tools for your BTP Sub-account.


• To complete the assignments on automating SAP Build Process Automation to read data from an Excel stored in your computer, you will also need to install the Desktop Agent.


• If you have come this far, you have all the pre-requisites sorted.

Step 3: Build with SAP Build

• Follow the Learning Journey, note down the key aspects of the Low-Code / No-Code world and how Citizen Developers fit in the grand scheme of ERP implementation and maintenance.


• Citizen Developer is a persona, not a role, so no matter what your role is, it is highly recommended that you complete the hands-on exercises. Please remember, all these tools rely on the principle of WYSIWYG, i.e. What You See Is What You Get. These drag and drop functionalities and no-code approach is easy to get acquainted with.


• Please do explore the content in the STORE to familiarise yourself with the hundreds of free (and some paid) templates which are already there for you to use for your business problem or use case.

Step 4: Purchase your Certification Attempt

• Once you are half-way through the Learning Journey, it is a suitable time to decide if you would want to get yourself certified and explore SAP Build further.


• Please note, by October 2023, C_LCNC_02 Certification might get restructured into more specific qualifications around each of the three SAP Build Tools. But if you can still access the link, book yourself an exam.


• There are two options. CER001 buys you a single attempt. That might be as many as you need to get certified. However, CER006 buys you 6 attempts that you can use towards any other SAP Certification. The list is exhaustive so have a look. But you only get a maximum of 3 attempts per certification.


• If you work for an SAP Partner, you might want to check with your employer on options. Also, keep an eye out for discounted rates which are, at times, released around SAP TechEd.

Step 5: Schedule an Exam - Get Certified

• You have done everything right, so you now deserve to be called an SAP Certified Citizen Developer (sounds cool right?).


• Login to the SAP Certification Hub and schedule an exam on your preferred date and time. You will be surprised how many slots are available around the clock and including weekends.


• Upon scheduling, you will receive an email with instructions on what software you need installed ahead of the exam (Questionmark Secure Browser). Read the instructions carefully.


• You can reschedule the exam if you can no longer make it.


• On the day of the exam, log in 15 minutes prior to the agreed date and time with two photo IDs. Your ID is verified, and your room is assessed via your camera ahead of the exam. Please make sure you use a laptop with a working camera and microphone as you need to keep them switched on.


• Once you have completed your exam and secured 64%+ success rate, you will be sent a digital badge and certificate via credly.com.


• Please note - Your learning journey doesn't end here. Rather, as the cliché goes, this is just the beginning. There are loads of learning materials on Youtube, missions on developer.sap.com and further learning materials on learning.sap.com for you to explore.

Conclusion

LCNC platforms are now here to stay. The most recent SAP Developers Insight Survey result also indicate that there is increased interest among the developers to learn more about such platforms. Moreover, LCNC platforms are developed by Professional Developers and have no inherent compromises or disadvantages compared to apps built with traditional pro-code development environments. It is thus important that the Professional Developer community are well informed about all these tools, especially if they are on the SAP ecosystem and hosted on SAP BTP.

Working for SAP's Platinum Partner, at PwC UK, we like to stay up to speed and contribute towards SAP's innovations. In this blog, I have tried to highlight my personal views on how I see Developers leveraging the LCNC platforms to maximise the ROI for their clients. If you are a fellow developer, a functional consultant or an SAP end user, I would love to know your views.