ERP certification worth pursuing without hands-on SAP or Oracle configuration experience?
I'm a business analyst with about 4 years of experience working adjacent to ERP implementations — I've done process documentation, requirements gathering, and UAT support, but I haven't been a primary configurator or implementation lead on any system. My company runs SAP but my direct interaction is mostly reporting and data extraction. I'm wondering if the ERP certification is achievable for someone in my position or whether the exam assumes deep hands-on configuration experience.
I've been researching prep materials for about a week and my initial practice attempts are coming in around 63-65%. The supply chain and procurement modules feel more familiar from my project involvement, but the financial accounting and controlling sections are definitely weaker for me. I'm planning to dedicate 8-9 weeks to prep at about 90 minutes per day, which would put me at roughly 80-85 hours of study time total.
My main concern is whether the exam content is platform-agnostic enough that general ERP knowledge covers it, or whether it's tilted toward specific system configurations that I won't know without hands-on SAP experience. The study guide I found seems to cover general ERP principles and frameworks, but the practice questions sometimes feel very specific. Would appreciate perspective from people who've passed without being deep in the technical implementation side.
One thing I'd watch out for is the change management and go-live preparation content. That section felt disproportionately large on the actual exam compared to my prep materials. If you've been in the room for UAT and cutover activities, lean into that experience when answering those questions.
The exam is more platform-agnostic than platform-specific. You're not going to be asked to configure a specific transaction code or walk through a technical implementation step. It's testing your understanding of ERP concepts, business processes, and implementation methodology, which your BA background positions you well for.
I passed without any direct SAP configuration experience — my background was project management on an Oracle implementation. The financial module questions were the hardest for me too, specifically around costing and reporting hierarchies. About 3-4 weeks of focused study on that domain specifically made a big difference.
Your UAT and process documentation work is more relevant than you might think. A lot of the exam is about the intersection between business processes and system design, not about knowing which menu path to click in a specific ERP. Your 63-65% starting point with 9 weeks ahead is a comfortable trajectory.