Since its foundation in 1972, SAP has become the largest software developer of Europe – number four world-wide. SAP employs more than 65.000 people today with over 14 billion Euros revenue in 2012. More than 185.000 customers make use of SAP products world-wide, including major corporations down to small and medium-sized businesses. Many millions of employers of these companies use SAP software day by day. Digital transactions in every area of a company are being executed through people using e.g. an SAP ERP system (enterprise resource planning). Logistics, human resources, controlling, marketing, sales etc.: for all these areas, a specific software product is available. But not only is SAP used throughout a company in different departments. It is also used throughout all kinds of industrial sectors: Chemical industry, telecommunications, financial sector, logistics, health care, public administration, automotive industry… The list goes on and on. Companies of any size and from any industrial sector need enterprise software in order to manage their processes in the most efficient manner. And SAP as the market leader is the most prevalent software out there.
But what does it mean: Working with SAP?
Imagine the following: You work in a company that produces goods and sells them to a customer. Therefore, components have to be purchased, people have to keep track of the books, new employers need to be hired, the logistics of your production and the sales process must be arranged, bills and employers have to be paid… All these processes within a company are mirrored in the software your company uses. That means that for every real-life process, a digital process needs to be executed – or vice versa: For a product leaving your warehouse, a respective order needs to be entered into the system.
It becomes obvious that a certain knowledge of SAP systems is not only important for those who want to become SAP consultants, but also for those who want to work in an HR department or the marketing department or as a project manager or, or, or… In every department of a modern enterprise, so much data is accumulated that without complex software systems, these companies would not persist long in a globalized market like ours.
The complexity of the software might be hard for employers at first. However, when all employers are used to working with an SAP system, processes can be executed at a speed and accuracy that it helps the company to run better and better, and thus generate more revenue and, let’s hope, lead to more satisfied customers.
Courses we offer and for whom they are interesting
At erp4students, we offer courses in five different areas. The basic course for all those who have not worked with SAP so far is “Integrated Business Processes with SAP ERP (TERP10)”. This course gives a broad introduction into SAP ERP – the most prevalent software product of SAP. It offers insights into specific ERP components for logistics (LO), HR (HCM), finance and controlling (FI/CO) as well as basic insights into Business Intelligence and Business Objects (BI, BO). This course is the perfect introduction to get a feeling for SAP software as such.
If you want to start a marketing career, “SAP CRM - Applications & Customizing” is the most suitable course for you. This system is specifically for marketing, sales and service purposes. For some transactions, however, CRM needs to be connected to an ERP system by a so-called middleware. So it is always a good idea to know your ERP system as well.
Speaking of data, SAP Business Warehouse is a system that helps gathering, structuring and analyzing the huge amounts of data which are collected in your company. You can make very complex analyses and export them as reports which help the management to make important decisions. Three courses are being offer by erp4students in this field.
In case you are more on the technical side, SAP ERP Customizing and ABAP Programming will be interesting for you. Since every company is different, SAP systems come as standard software. That means that the processes and structures of a company need to be mirrored by the software, which of course can only be done after the company and their processes had been analyzed. Any SAP ERP system needs to be customized before it can be used by a company. However, it happens frequently that a company’s needs (i.e. their process) are so specific that the software needs to be altered even more. At this point, ABAP developers come into play. ABAP is the coding language all SAP systems are written in. ABAP developers can adjust the software in such a way that it completely fits the needs of a customer.
You Can Only Win
As you can see, SAP courses are not only valuable for future consultants but also for those who need to actually use the systems day by day in their respective departments. If you apply for a job that requires SAP skills, you can be certain that your application will highly benefit from any SAP certification you can show. And if you end up applying for jobs that do not demand SAP skills? Well, we all know that extra knowledge never does any harm but rather shows your eagerness to learn and your versatility.