SAP is the world leader in the ERP business and is known as the first real ERP on the market. It holds major market share and has been the leader forever.

SAP now has both On Premise editions (Inhouse installation) or on Cloud (SaaS model). High success of SAP as a product is due to packaging of all the functionalities to address the business requirements in almost all countries including local taxation requirements. Customers/ clients need to alter the product to suit their needs which is called customizing the Product.

So there are no dearth of jobs in SAP job market if one has the right domain experience in Product skills. SAP career didn’t see any downfall during Dot com burst in 2001 or during global melt down in 2008

SAP has more than 20 functional modules in terms of Business functions in an organization.

Those who are specialized in SAP Configurations and functionalities are broadly classified are Functional and Technical Consultants

A functional consultant is the one who interacts with the client and understands the client requirements. He configures the system according to the client needs. Functional consultant should have the domain experience like Sales, Purchasing, Finance etc., so that client/ customer’s business requirements are well understood, while providing the solution. Deliverables of the functional consultant are providing acceptable & scalable solution to the client/ customer through standard SAP configuration or customization without any system conflicts

A technical consultant is a programmer (ABAP, JAVA) who helps the functional consultant to alter the system in few areas to meet the specific client business needs. Technical consultant works on the program logic based on the inputs from functional consultant. SAP Technical consultant should be competent in writing ABAP code utilizing various standard modules within SAP and also custom functions and objects

 

Within SAP Consulting, there are plenty of roles which you can choose for professional growth. Be a

1. Functional Consultant, if you have business acumen,
2. Technical Consultant, if you love the algorithm,
3. Technology Consultant, if you are comfortable using devices,
4. Support Consultant, if you have good interpersonal skills,
5. Training Consultant, if you like to educate people,

Each of the above roles has growth opportunities, from being a Consultant to a Lead and ultimately Project Manager.

Learning Options for SAP:

There are several training options available for individuals who are interested in learning SAP, including:

1. SAP Training Courses – SAP offers various training courses through its SAP Training and Certification program. These courses are available online or in-person and cover topics such as SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA, and more.
2. SAP Learning Hub – SAP Learning Hub is an online learning platform that provides access to a variety of SAP training courses and resources, including e-learning courses, handbooks, and certification exams.
3. SAP Partner Academy – SAP Partner Academy is a training program designed for individuals who want to become certified SAP consultants. The program is offered by SAP partners and covers various SAP modules, such as finance, logistics, and more.
4. Online Training Providers – There are many online training providers that offer SAP training courses, including Udemy, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning.
5. In-person Training Providers – There are also in-person training providers that offer SAP training courses, including local colleges and universities, as well as private training centers.

Before selecting a training option, it’s important to determine which SAP module(s) you are interested in learning and what your learning goals are. Additionally, you should consider the cost, duration, and quality of the training program before making a decision.

SN	SAP ERP Component/ Module	Description of the SAP Module	Functionalities of the Module
1	FI-CO	Finance and Controling	SAP FICO (Financial Accounting and Controlling) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used for managing financial transactions, accounting, and controlling processes. It is a comprehensive solution that supports all aspects of financial management, from financial accounting to cost accounting and internal control.
2	MM	Materials Management: MM module	MM Module covers P2P cycle (Procurement to Pay) deals with the entire life cycle of procurement from selection of vendor, placing the order, till receiving the goods and payment to the vendor
3	SD	Sales & Distribution module	Sales and Distribution module covers complete cycle of taking the order from end customer till receiving the Payment from customer (O2C Order to Cash Cycle)
4	PP	Production Planning	SAP PP (Production Planning) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used to plan, control, and manage the production process of a company. It is a comprehensive solution that supports all aspects of production planning and control, from demand management to scheduling, capacity planning, and shop floor control.
5	PM	Plant Maintenance	SAP PM (Plant Maintenance) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used for managing maintenance processes in plants or factories. It is a comprehensive solution that supports all aspects of maintenance management, from planning and scheduling to execution and reporting.
6	QM	Quality Management	SAP QM (Quality Management) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used for managing quality processes in production, procurement, and sales. It provides a comprehensive solution for quality planning, quality assurance, quality control, and quality reporting.
7	PS	Project Systems	PS (Project System) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used for managing project-related processes, such as planning, execution, and monitoring. It is a comprehensive solution that supports all aspects of project management, from project planning to project accounting and project analysis.
8	HCM	Human Capital Management	SAP HCM (Human Capital Management) is a module of the SAP ERP system that is used for managing human resource processes, such as hiring, payroll, benefits administration, and talent management. It is a comprehensive solution that supports all aspects of human resource management, from employee recruitment to performance management and employee development.
9	ABAP	ABAP is the language used for programming in SAP	SAP ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) is a programming language used in the SAP ERP system to develop custom applications and enhancements. It is a high-level programming language that supports object-oriented programming and is used to develop programs and reports for various SAP modules.
10	BIW	Business Information Warehouse	SAP BIW stands for SAP Business Information Warehouse, which is a component of SAP’s business intelligence software suite. It is an older version of SAP’s data warehousing and reporting solution that has been replaced by the newer SAP BW/4HANA.

 

Programming languages used in SAP

SAP uses its own proprietary programming language called ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), which is used to develop and customize SAP applications. ABAP is an event-driven programming language and is used for both back-end and front-end development.

In addition to ABAP, SAP also supports other programming languages for development, including:

1. Java: SAP has integrated Java into its technology stack, and Java developers can use the SAP Java Connector (JCo) to connect to SAP systems and develop applications.
2. JavaScript: SAPUI5, the user interface technology for SAP, is based on HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.
3. SQL: SAP applications use databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2, and developers can use SQL to interact with these databases.
4. Python: SAP HANA, the in-memory database platform from SAP, supports Python for data analysis and modeling.
5. C++: C++ is used for some SAP products, such as the SAP HANA XS Engine.

Overall, while ABAP is the primary programming language used in SAP, developers working with SAP may also need to know other languages depending on the specific project and application requirements.