Podcast: Listen Now!
Vendor Podcast - The Unveiling of the First SAP BPX Certification: A BPX Community Podcast
with Mario Herger of SAP
Hosted by Jon Reed of JonERP.com
Podcast Interview Date: August 25, 2008
View Transcript
One of the most widely anticipated developments in the SAP BPX community is the rollout of the first-ever BPX Certifications. In this special community podcast, Jon Reed gets the inside scoop from Mario Herger, SAP Community Network Alchemist, on how the first SAP BPX certification came about.
During this twenty-one minute podcast, Jon asks Mario about how the first BPX certification came about, why this certification matters to the BPX community, and how BPX users can get more involved in the ongoing discussions about BPX certification.Due to be announced at TechEd 2008, the "BPM for BPX" certification is actually the first of five BPX certification tracks. Mario talks about the challenges those involved with BPX certification program design had to face while finalizing these five tracks, and how BPX community members have played an active role in the SAP BPX certification planning process.
Mario Herger, SAP Community Network Alchemist
Podcast Highlights
(:35) The latest news on SAP BPX certification.
(1:28) How the BPX certification mirrors the existing three-tiered SAP certification levels, with BPX certification now available at the Associate and Professional level, with the Master level to follow.
(2:25) The components of the current "BPM for BPX" certification, and some insight into the content of the four additional BPX certification tracks that will also be developed.
(4:00) How the BPX certification is unique for SAP because of the multiple "tracks" that make up the certification, and some detail on the additional tracks, including considerations around evaluating "soft skills, "leadership skills," and other relevant BPX competencies.
(5:05) Why the SAP ecosystem needs BPX certification. Mario cites some statistics: only 34 percent of all IT projects are successful, according to a recent survey. Certified BPXers can be the "marriage counselors" between IT and business users and help to ensure the success of IT projects.
(8:33) The process for finalizing the five tracks of the BPX certification and some insight into the discussions that took place on BPX about which of the many skills under consideration should become part of the final five BPX certification tracks.
(11:30): The special challenges posed by the BPX certification because some of the skills involved are outside of the scope of the areas that SAP traditionally certifies in (such as soft skills). SAP may outsource some content and testing to training partners that have expertise on those areas.
(13:00) Just as SAP customers have helped to assess the BPX skills needed on their projects by identifying "skills gaps," so can individual consultants take the next step in their own development, using this BPX curriculum to hone in on their own skills gaps. BPX is relevant to a wide range of SAP professionals with different competencies and skills development needs. BPX certification can help SAP folks get a better handle on what skills they need to pursue next.
(14:50) The particular issues that were addressed during the design of the "BPM for BPX" curriculum. There are so many BPM modeling tools out there ("Aris" from IDS Scheer, soon-to-arrive NetWeaver BPM, Visio, etc) - so how does one certification program cover all these? Mario explains that the focus of the BPM certification is on the methodology that informs the usage of these tools. Therefore, there are four parts to the BPM Certification: BPM Basics, Governance, Methodology, and Tools. Each of the four sections has one to three classes, depending on the skill level of the participant.
(17:40) How BPX members can get more involved in learning about BPX certification and participate in these discussions - at TechEd '08 and beyond.