12 weeks · intensive
For whoever has a deadline
About 8 hours a week, in 1 cycle focused on the gaps that weigh most.
Career in 2026 and 2027
SAP BASIS Administrator
An SAP BASIS administrator keeps SAP systems running, secure and changeable: instances, databases, transports, users, backups and availability. The work moves from watching system health to designing landscapes that survive failures and refreshes.
Content reviewed on October 21, 2026
- Levels
- 4
- Skills mapped at Mid-level
- 10
What each level must prove
Mid-level
Runs day-to-day operations independently: diagnoses incidents, moves changes through the landscape and manages access and database basics.
The day is incident analysis, transport imports, user and role requests and checking that backups completed. Compared with junior level, you decide on your own how to resolve a routine incident and are on call for it. Larger design questions still go to a senior.
Average score required: 67%
SAP NetWeaver & S/4HANA Architecture
Why: Lets you reason about how a change to one instance, client or logical system affects the others, for instance before a client copy or a new application server.
Instances, Work Processes & Dispatcher
Why: Lets you adjust the work process split and limits for an instance when batch jobs starve dialog users, and explain the trade-off to the business.
Work Process Monitoring (SM50/SM66)
Why: Lets you decide whether to cancel a long-running work process or wait, based on its status and the user impact, and document the call for the incident record.
System Log & Short Dumps (SM21/ST22)
Why: Lets you trace a spike of dumps in ST22 back to the system log entry that preceded it, and tell developers whether the cause is code or infrastructure.
TMS Configuration (STMS)
Why: Lets you add a system and its transport routes in STMS and repair a broken RFC link, so a new QAS system can receive transports.
Transport Landscape (DEV/QAS/PRD)
Why: Lets you route a transport correctly through DEV, QAS and PRD and explain why a change reached one system but not the next.
User Administration (SU01)
Why: Lets you create, lock and correct users and choose the right user type, such as a system user for an interface, without opening a dialog login by mistake.
Roles & Authorizations (PFCG)
Why: Lets you build and transport a role in PFCG and use derived roles for each plant, so a new team gets the access it needs and nothing beyond it.
HANA Administration (HANA Cockpit & Studio)
Why: Lets you read HANA Cockpit alerts and memory usage and adjust a parameter, so you can respond to a database warning before it becomes an outage.
Backup & Recovery (BR*Tools / HANA Backup)
Why: Lets you verify that data and log backups succeeded and are in the catalog, and support a restore request knowing the RPO the business agreed to.
Study for SAP BASIS Administrator: trails and practice exams
Each level of this career maps to a study trail. Read the full topic map for free, then measure your level.
Two ways to move up one level
40 weeks · regular
Alongside work
About 4 hours a week, in 3 cycles. Each cycle carries what was left from the previous one.
Frequently asked questions
What is SAP BASIS Administrator?
An SAP BASIS administrator keeps SAP systems running, secure and changeable: instances, databases, transports, users, backups and availability. The work moves from watching system health to designing landscapes that survive failures and refreshes.
What must each level of SAP BASIS Administrator prove?
SAP BASIS Administrator is mapped in 4 levels: Junior, Mid-level, Senior, and Expert. Open each level above to see the skills it must prove.
How long does the SAP BASIS Administrator plan take?
The plan has 2 paces: 12 weeks per level at about 8 hours a week (intensive) and 40 weeks per level at about 4 hours a week (regular).
How the plan works
AI tutor
A study session on each new topic, at your level.
AI school
Hands-on lessons on using AI in your career's daily work.
Assessments
Each requirement is proven by measurement, not by a checkbox.
Stage review
At the end of each cycle you see what moved and what carries over.
Find out which level you are at
A short diagnostic measures the skills you already have. The journey starts from there.