Oracle Primavera P6  is one of the most powerful project management tools available today. It allows users full control over every aspect of their project. P6 offers control and collaboration tools that give your entire team access to the project schedule. These tools are available for everything from cost and resource loading to planning management. With more and more organizations using Primavera P6, the demand for professionals with P6 skills has grown rapidly. Getting certified in Primavera P6 can help professionals showcase their skills on their resume. 

WHAT IS PRIMAVERA P6 CERTIFICATION?

Primavera P6 certification often comes in the form of a digital certificate. This certificate shows that a user has the skills needed to use the program. A P6 certificate is awarded after a user has completed P6 training courses or passed an exam. Primavera P6 certification is extremely valuable on a resume or job application. The certificate can provide proof to employers that the applicant is qualified to use P6. 

WHERE CAN YOU GET PRIMAVERA P6 CERTIFICATION?

There are several options to get a Primavera P6 certification, both officially and unofficially. Many companies offering Primavera P6 training will provide certification as proof that the course was completed. 

Here at Taradigm, we offer certificates of completion for all of our P6 training courses, including Primavera P6 Basics and Primavera P6 Advanced. This certification would be considered unofficial, or in-house, as it is provided by an outside company, rather than by Oracle. 

For some users, a certification from a Primavera P6 training course may be all they need- it shows that they have been taught in a professional environment by experienced P6 trainers. This type of certification often doesn’t require the completion of an exam, and can be a much more efficient way of getting certified. For employers, this certification shows that a user can already use the P6 program, and can begin managing projects without additional training. 

If you are required to get an official certification in Primavera P6, Oracle offers one certification option from their Oracle University network: Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Implementation Certified Professional. While this certification does not require users to take a training course, it does require them to complete and pass an online exam. 

HOW CAN I EARN THE ORACLE PRIMAVERA P6 EPPM IMPLEMENTATION CERTIFICATION?

To receive the Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM certification, you will need to take and pass an online exam. This 90 minute, multiple choice exam will test your knowledge of planning and scheduling methods and techniques, along with how to properly implement them within Primavera P6 EPPM.

Ideally, to pass this exam, you will want to have some real-world experience with scheduling and planning. You will need to be able to perform each of the necessary  functions within Primavera P6 EPPM accurately. 

The Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM Implementation certification exam is a multiple-choice, computer-based exam that is taken in a proctored environment. There are 55 questions and you will need to get a score of 64% or higher in order to pass and obtain the certification. At the time of writing this article, the exam costs $245 and can be purchased on Oracle’s website.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TO PASS THIS EXAM?

To pass this exam, you will want to know how to do the following within Primavera P6 EPPM:

Navigate through the program

You will need to know how to login to Primavera P6 EPPM and successfully navigate through it. This includes using the P6 title bar and context menu, adjusting activity views on the activities page, and navigating the activity and WBS detail windows.

Develop a new project

You will need to be able to create a new project within the program by adding activities and tying them together with relationships. You will also be tested on creating and assigning activity details, such as activity codes and calendars.

Create and use the work breakdown structure (WBS)

You will need to understand what the work breakdown structure is and how to create it by adding new WBS layers within Primavera P6 EPPM.

Schedule a project

You will need to know how to schedule the project and use the schedule check report to identify and correct any scheduling errors. This includes missed activities and loops in logic. 

Understand and use constraints

You will need to understand what constraints are, how to apply them to a project, and how the added constraint will affect the overall project schedule.

Create and adjust activity views

You will need to know how to create new activity views by adjusting page configuration options. This includes the activity columns, the sort order, and the Gantt Chart’s timescale. Once created, you will also need to know how to save an activity view and make it available to other users. 

Cost load with resources and roles

You will need to know how to perform basic cost loading on a project schedule through assigning resources to activities and roles. You will also need to know how to create resource and role teams, view resource allocations, and use the open request for resource portlet.

Optimize and summarize the project

You will need to know how to summarize the project. This can be done by filtering for critical activities, analyzing resource allocation and team usage, and comparing a project’s finish date with its’ “Must Finish By” date.

Baseline a project

You will need to know how to baseline a project by creating and assigning baselines. You will also need to know how to progress the project by statusing activities and labor units and updating actuals.

Compare schedules

You will need to know how to compare a current, updated schedule with its baseline version. This is done in order to analyze the different start and finish dates and activity durations.

Use portfolios and dashboards

You will need to know how to view portlets, adjust portlet layouts, and filter portlet data. You will also need to know how to utilize dashboards, including how to create new dashboards and how to manage their settings.

Perform status updates using timesheets

Along with being able to perform standard status updates, you will also need to know how to view timesheets and use their data to apply actuals to the project.

Manage resource allocation

You will need to know how to use the Analysis page and adjust spreadsheet views, and use the Assignments page to view and filter data.

Level resources

You will need to know how to use the leveler tool to level resources and ease overallocation. It will be important to know which situations the leveler tool should be used in.

Manage portfolios

You will need to know how to open portfolios, edit portfolio data, and create new portfolio views to better view portfolio performance data.

Use advanced scheduling tools

You will need to know how to use advanced scheduling options, such as setting multiple float paths and using different predecessor and successor calendar options.

Manage multiple projects

You will need to know how to open multiple projects simultaneously and schedule them appropriately according to their dependencies.

Manage risks and issues

You will need to know how to use risks, thresholds and issues to track potential project concerns. This includes creating risks and performing risk analysis, assigning risks and thresholds to activities, and creating project issues.

Use duration types

You will need to understand the different duration types that can be applied to activities and how these duration types will affect calculating percent completion.

You can learn most of this information by attending a Primavera P6 EPPM training course. These courses are offered by a variety of outside organizations. Oracle also offers training within their Construction and Engineering Learning Subscription. Along with attending a training course, it is also recommended that you get some hands-on practice with the program. 

IS THERE CERTIFICATION FOR PRIMAVERA P6 PROFESSIONAL OR PRIMAVERA CONTRACTOR?

You may have noticed that Oracle’s official Primavera P6 certification program is specifically for Primavera P6 EPP.  Are there certifications for other Primavera Program, such as P6 Professional or Contractor?

At this time, Oracle only offers certification for P6 EPPM. There is no official certification for Primavera P6 and Primavera Contractor. This is because P6 EPPM combines features from both Professional and Contractor. P6 EPPM is considered the most rigorous of the three programs.  

It is important to note that being proficient in Primavera P6 Professional or Primavera Contractor alone will NOT be enough to pass the Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM Implementation Certification exam. Primavera P6 EPPM includes several features missing from other Primavera versions, such as dashboards and portfolio management. Accurate usage of these tools will be necessary to pass the exam.

However, as mentioned earlier, many organizations will offer in-house certifications after a training course has been completed. Here at Taradigm, we offer Primavera P6 certification after the completion of our Primavera P6 Professional training courses.

WHAT TYPE OF CERTIFICATION DO I NEED?

Now, you may be wondering what type of certification you should obtain. Although having an official certification from Oracle may seem prestigious, it may not be necessary. If you are a CPM scheduler or a project manager, having the official EPPM certification may not be a real benefit to your organization. This especially is true if you mostly use Primavera P6 Professional,

or just the scheduling side of EPPM. In these circumstances, it would probably be a better idea to attend a training course for the Primavera application your organization is using. In that case, you’d receive an in-house certification. 

However, if you are working as the implementation specialist for your organization and are finding yourself continuously implementing Primavera P6 EPPM, the official Oracle certification may be ideal for you. Additionally, if you want to learn more about Primavera P6 as a whole, aiming for the Oracle certification can show your dedication to learning and utilizing every aspect of the program.

Although many job postings ask for users to be “certified,” it is important to be aware that most companies don’t know the actual certification process for Oracle. If a job requires certification, this may not mean “official” certification from Oracle. This is especially true if the posting asks for certification in a particular program like Primavera P6 Professional, which does not have any official certification options. Often, having in-house certification, especially from an Oracle Partner, is enough to indicate that an applicant has the necessary program skills. 

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please use the comment section on the bottom of this page, and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog to get more Oracle Primavera Cloud tips & tricks directly in your inbox!

Lauren Hecker is a Primavera P6 Professional Instructor and teaches onsite and virtual Primavera P6 Fundamentals and Advanced courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!