SAP HANA CERTIFICATION

HI all,

Kindly clarify on below my Below Queries,

1. Is Class room training mandatory for appearing SAP HANA

SAP Certified Application Associate - SAP HANA 1.0.

Or can we do our own preparation and appear to certification.

2. I have 5 + years of SAP BASIS Experience , is that a good idea to shift my career to SAP HANA.

    IS HANA more of BW and DB concepts?