No matter whether you have been part of the SAP community for some time or your career is just about to kick off, you should consider becoming SAP certified. SAP certifications help you not only to gain knowledge on the newest technology and products, they also validate that you are a skilled professional and send a signal to potential customers that you can be trusted when it comes to SAP implementation.

SAP decided to transform its certification program by shifting to role-based certifications. This means that instead of checking the knowledge of a one single product or technology, the certification exam rather validates the skills needed for a certain job role. With that a certification will help you to get exactly the skills you need for your designated tasks and responsibilities by providing you with a tailored learning path.

This transition has started in 2023. The first role-based certification was targeted at enterprise architects. After that, SAP has announced the role-based certification for backend developer with ABAP cloud, which I have described in my previous blog post. In December 2023, the next role-based certification for backend developers working with SAP Cloud Application Programming (CAP) has been launched. In this blog post, I want to describe the exam topics and explain what skills are covered. Some major changes have been associated with the launch of this role-based certification, such as retirements. I want to address these as well.

Exam page

Let’s start with SAP’s definition of a backend developer – CAP. In a nutshell, backend developers working with CAP play a key role in extending and customizing SAP solutions to meet specific business needs. This role involves leveraging SAP Cloud Application Programming Model to design and implement extension applications to existing SAP applications like SAP S/4HANA Cloud using the side-by-side extensibility concept on SAP BTP. Backend developers can use CAP with Node.js/JavaScript or CAP with Java as well as Core Data Services (CDS) for building cloud-native extensions and Fiori Elements to create UIs. To develop clean and secure cloud extensions on SAP BTP or custom CAP applications, backend developers need to know different tools and methods, for example, Business Application Studio or SAP Cloud SDK. They also have to know how and where CAP applications can be deployed. On SAP BTP, it can be the Cloud Foundry runtime, which is the most popular one, or it can be Kyma, which provides a Kubernetes-based application runtime. Last but not least: We expect backend developers to be familiar with SAP’s low-code/now-code offering – SAP Build, especially SAP Build Process Automation to build powerful workflows and automate tasks.

All the topics I have described have been covered in several different SAP certifications. This is what we call “product-based” certifications that focus on one single product or technology. Since we want to prepare learners for a role of a backend developer working with CAP, support them in obtaining a holistic, future-proof, and more sustainable skillset, and provide them with a clear learning path, we have decided to combine the topics in one single certification exam!

The role-based certification for backend developers – CAP is based on the newest version of the C_CPE exam that has been reworked and enhanced. It now comprises the following topics:

Exam topics

To prepare for the role-based certification, you need to complete the following learning journeys:

• Building side-by-side extensions on SAP BTP
• Develop Advanced Extensions with SAP Cloud SDK
• Deliver Side-by-Side Extensibility based on SAP BTP, Kyma Runtime
• Develop Full-Stack Applications Using Productivity Tools in SAP Business Application Studio
• Creating Processes and Automations with SAP Build Process Automation

These learning journeys are self-paced and free of charge. You will find them on the SAP Learning Site.

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The various product-based certification exams are soon to be retired (March 28^th 2024):

• SAP Certified Development Associate – SAP Cloud SDK Extensibility Developer (C_S4CDK)
• SAP Certified Development Associate – SAP HANA Cloud 1.0 (C_HCDEV)
• SAP Certified Development Associate – SAP HANA 2.0 SPS06 (C_HANADEV)
• SAP Certified Citizen Developer Associate – SAP Build Low-code/No-code Applications and Automations (C_LCNC)
• SAP Certified Development Associate – Side-by-Side Extensibility based on SAP BTP, Kyma runtime (C_KYMD)
• SAP Certified Development Associate – Low-code applications based on SAP Business Application Studio (C_BASD)

For all retirement-related question, please refer to this FAQ.

If you were about to take one these exams and you are a backend developer working with CAP, I would recommend that you take a look at the new role-based certification.

If you are a developer but working rather on the frontend side with different SAP UI technologies, or you are more focused on standardized integrations, don’t be worried! There are more role-based certifications to come this year. So stay tuned!