The Catena-X Association invites consulting firms to show other organizations the advantages of Catena-X, create an individual onboarding plan for them and help them implement it. The association supports the acquisition of knowledge about Catena-X with the Consultant Qualification Basic Training and provides reading material, interactive modules and videos that can be completed on the Catena-X Campus in self-study and at flexible times. To demonstrate adequate support and consulting expertise, you will be asked questions about the learning content after each learning unit.

Target group

The training course will provide you with comprehensive knowledge of Catena-X, which, if completed successfully, should enable you to provide qualified advice to organisations wishing to join Catena-X or benefit from Catena-X.

However, you can also complete the training course even if you do not intend to offer Catena-X consultancy services, but simply want to test your knowledge of Catena-X out of curiosity, for example.

Target and costs

After successful completion of the training (step 1), you can apply for a qualification as a Catena-X Qualified Advisor (step 2).

Please note: in relation to consulting services, the term used is “qualification” and not “certification”. The application for the qualification costs €480.00 per person.

Members of the Catena-X association receive a discount of €100.00 per person. The qualification is personalized and valid for 1 year and will be awarded to you in digital form upon receipt of your positive result in the training course and your payment. You may only call yourself a Catena-X Qualified Advisor and use the label once you have received the qualification.

Rules regarding company-related qualifications

Companies with more than 5 employees with this qualification may refer to their entire company as “Catena-X qualified”. For companies with fewer than 10 employees in total, the following rule applies: if more than 50% of the company's staff is qualified, it may refer to their entire company as “Catena-X qualified. 

Nevertheless, only those employees of a Catena-X-qualified company are authorized to provide Catena-X-qualified consulting services who can prove their personal Catena-X qualification and thus also a successfully completed Consultant Qualification Basic Training.

The Catena-X Association does not issue a written qualification for companies as it does for individuals. A company can be recognized as Catena-X-qualified if it is listed as Catena-X Qualified Advisory Service Provider in a marketplace where Catena-X-certified services and apps are offered. When listing, all Catena-X qualified consultants, who are working for the respective company at the time of providing proof of the number of Catena-X qualified consultants to the Operating Company, must be named. For listed companies, the number of employees is documented to the operating company by means of the most recent annual report. For unlisted companies, the number of employees is verified by a document that is publicly accessible, suitable for this purpose, reputable and submitted to the operating company by the respective company. This document, which may also be a website entry, must credibly state the current number of employees. The number of permanent employees at the time of its notification to the operating company is decisive for the listing. Even if the number of employees should change later, the entry at the operating company does not have to be corrected within a period of one year. A correction is only necessary in the case of a requalification after one year. However, it is desirable that Catena-X qualified companies publicly disclose the names of their Catena-X qualified consultants and always keep them up to date. 

When counting no distinction is made between full-time and part-time employment or between countries in which the respective company operates. Legally independent companies are counted as a single unit. Subsidiaries of a group of companies to which this applies are therefore counted as separate companies.

Access

The Catena-X Consultant Qualification Basic Training is provided on the Catena-X Campus.

In order to save your learning progress, you must first register on the Catena-X Campus.

Content and journey

In the Consultant Qualification Basic Training you will find various information materials on the following topics:

• Catena-X Basics and Principles
• Catena-X Use Cases and Benefits
  • Traceability
  • Circular Economy
  • Quality Management
  • Business Partner Data Management
  • PCF
• Catena-X Dataspace Governance
• Catena-X Development Area
• Catena-X Technical Basics and Implementation
• Catena-X Operating Area
• Onboarding to the Catena-X Data Ecosystem
• Catena-X Association
• Catena-X Releases

The training course is divided into several learning units (lessons and topics), which are organised in the form of text, video or exploration tasks. After each lesson there is a knowledge test in the form of quizzes, multiple choice questions with one or more correct answers, a sorting, a matching or sentence completion task.

Valuation

In the case of multiple-choice questions with several correct answers, the tasks are only evaluated as correct if all answers have been ticked correctly. After solving one quiz or answering a question, you will immediately be shown the resolution.

If you have answered all questions correctly, solved all quizzes successfully and reached the end of the basic training, you can apply for a consultant qualification.

Language

The basic language of the training course is English.

Effort

To help you plan your time: the course currently comprises 48 learning units, most of which take 5-10 minutesto complete. However, there is also a more extensive learning unit that can take up to 60 minutes to complete, depending on your absorption capacity, reading speed and previous knowledge.

You do not have to complete the course in one go but can also take breaks in between and continue at a later time. Your learning progress is saved and displayed in the column on the left.

Continuous development of the training

As Catena-X currently has several releases per year and is constantly evolving for the better, the training material will also need to be updated by us on an ongoing basis. Your qualification document will show the date on which you applied for it. The topics covered by your training are also listed. Even if the training content changes, the qualification awarded to you will remain valid until the date stated on your qualification document.

Highly recommended for consulting companies

Finally, a note for all those who are not yet members of the Association:

As Catena-X is constantly evolving and offers you the opportunity to gain a great deal of expertise and establish contacts, we strongly recommend that consulting firms become members of the Catena-X Association. One of the benefits for you is that you will be informed, for example, about new standards and developments, at a very early stage, before non-members have access. The more in touch you are with Catena-X, the better you will understand the complexity of data ecosystems and the better you will be able to advise on them. As an association member, you can be among the pioneers in developing data spaces, which is also helpful in the exchange with other industries that are currently building data ecosystems. An additional benefit is that Catena-X association members receive a €100.00 discount per person on the Consultant Qualification Basic Training.

You can find more information on the benefits of a membership in the Catena-X Automotive Network e.V. and the application documents in the category "Become a member".