5 SAP S/4HANA certification and training courses to consider
Online training from LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare, Udemy and SAP may be the fastest route to S/4HANA proficiency -- and higher levels of mastery including certification.
While adoption of SAP S/4HANA slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises are once again taking on implementation and migration projects to meet the 2030 support sunset deadline for SAP ERP Central Component (ECC), according to a report by Information Services Group, a research and advisory firm. As more organizations adopt S/4HANA as their ERP system of record, they'll need employees trained in S/4HANA basics, administration, programming and other aspects of the software to get the most out of their investments.
Organizations that provide training see a lot more value from their software. According to an IDC report, companies with well-trained end users, administrators and implementation teams are 72% more likely to be satisfied with their SAP software deployments. When they provide 10% more ongoing training, they double the improvement in key value drivers from the implementation. When it comes to SAP S/4HANA, the biggest value from training comes from reduced audit costs and cash-forecast error rates, according to the report.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of SAP S/4HANA certification and training available. From courses published by SAP to IT training and certification consultancies, Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and peer-to-peer education platforms like Udemy, SAP professionals have their pick of courses.
Here is a breakdown of some of the best SAP S/4HANA certification and training courses, along with providers.
1. SAP-created S/4HANA training courses
For some people, going straight to the source for SAP S/4HANA training may prove to be the most effective. SAP offers an official training portal with over 50 certifications that deal with S/4HANA, including the SAP Certified Application Associate, SAP Certified Application Specialist and SAP Certified Application Professional designations.
The associate certification covers the most basic knowledge needed, while the specialist certification covers more specific roles or components of the software. The professional certification is an advanced certification that requires students to have project experience and know business processes, as well as a very detailed understanding of how the SAP product works.
All of SAP's certifications require students to pass an exam. Students have the option of taking online or on-site courses, self-paced training or a hybrid of the two. For those who need guidance on what courses to take and certifications to aspire to, the vendor offers SAP Learning Journey guides in its SAP Learning Hub.
However, for those who need to know the basics of S/4HANA, SAP has published an S/4HANA Overview course that can be taken in a physical classroom or a virtual live classroom. It includes modules for navigating the software, system-wide concepts, accounting, logistics, embedded analytics, and human capital management and SAP SuccessFactors, among other lessons. It is a three-day course that does not require previous SAP knowledge and is suitable for trainers, users, technology consultants, project managers, enterprise architects, change managers and business process owners.
2. S/4HANA Financial Accounting Overview (LinkedIn Learning)
For organizations or professionals with LinkedIn Learning subscriptions, the platform offers several SAP S/4HANA courses. The most popular of these is the SAP S/4HANA Financial Accounting Overview, taught by Michael Management, an independent online SAP training provider. This course has been well received -- 71% of reviewers give it five stars, and 24% rate it four stars -- and covers financial accounting, general ledger and core subledger. It also includes a short section on additional SAP S/4HANA modules that may be of interest. Students write that it is great for beginners and provides a basic understanding of the software.
3. SAP S/4HANA Essential Training for SAP Beginners (Skillshare)
Another overview course that SAP professionals may find helpful is SAP S/4HANA Essential Training for Beginners via Skillshare. The course is taught by George Boyle, a project manager at Accenture with over 20 years of SAP experience. It includes 36 lessons that provide instruction on building a business case for S/4HANA, creating logins, understanding key aspects, navigating the latest GUI, working with the SAP command field and handling transition scenarios, among others.
4. SAP S/4HANA Training -- in Plain English (Udemy)
One of the top-rated and best-selling S/4HANA courses on Udemy, SAP S/4HANA Training -- in Plain English is taught by Siva Prasad, a consultant with 12 years of experience. The course requires some level of SAP experience and is geared toward functional or technical consultants who want to know what S/4HANA is, what the new business processes and major changes from ECC are and ways to implement S/4HANA. According to students, the course could go deeper with Basis and FICO, but the examples are real and relatable. The instructor is also easy to follow, according to reviews.
5. SAP S/4HANA -- Learn ABAP Programming model for SAP S/4HANA (Udemy)
For those who need to learn how to use the ABAP programming language in S/4HANA, Anshuman Singh, a development architect with 20 years of ABAP experience, created Learn ABAP Programming model for SAP S/4HANA. The course includes 46 lectures, broken down into seven sections that cover installing ABAP Development Tool and creating artifacts, ABAP core data services, Odata, business object processing framework and creating an end-to-end S/4HANA application from scratch. While reviews say that the course could use some more detailed explanations, it is good for those with prior ABAP programming backgrounds and provides a basic overview of programming in S/4HANA.
