What level of certification is required for ECC 6 upgrades?

Question

Hi everyone,
I'm already a ceritifed SAP technology consultant (up to NW2004), however need to update my certification for ECC 6 (netweaver 7).
What is the appropriate exam to sit (eg associate or professional) to be allowed to perform productive SAP ECC 6 upgrades?
Thanks
Shaun

Answer 1

Hi everyone,
Major update on the "do you need to be certified" topic ...
I finally got a reply from SAP Education regarding two queries I had regarding what level of certification was required as a basis "guy" to perform production SAP installations and upgrades.
SAP Education wrote:
You don't need to be certified to do installations. In reality, customers will have much more comfort having an install done by someone who is certified rather than someone who isnu2019t, but ultimately itu2019s the customeru2019s call.
I then asked if this was applicable for SAP upgrades also ...
SAP Education wrote:
Hi Shaun,
Indeed it is.
Best of luck!
I then went on to clarify that their is no support implications for customers who don't you certified Basis personel to perform their upgrades/installs:
Shaun wrote:
So your saying that although itu2019s preferable to be certified ... you donu2019t have to be, and there is no impact to the support provided by SAP?
SAP Education wrote:
Ultimately, SAP cannot mandate for individuals (excluding those employed by SAP) or SAP Partners to be certified to work on projects. However, customers and partners will employ the consultants to work on the projects, from what we have seen recently customers and partners are now asking for SAP certified consultants to work on implementation and upgrade projects.
Thus we suggest to have an advantage to be employed on future SAP projects that you are certified in the solution you will be working on, or upgrading to.
Example: If you are looking to work on an upgrade from CRM 5.0 to CRM 7.0 the customer would look for certified consultants in CRM 7.0
So it is solely up to you if you wish to certify yourself in the latest release of the solution you are working in.
I then rang SAP education and had a very pleasant discussion with one of the ladies there.  She went on to explain that the requirement for certification really became an optional thing a few years back.  SAP was no longer in a position not to support customers regardless of who they use to perform their upgrades/installs since a customer continues to pay their yearly maintenance costs - thus SAP is obligated to provide support.