Learning SAP.

[Former Member]

Hi,

I have few questions to find out where should I start to make career in SAP. Can you suggest?

1) Which platform is more popular and most installed and has demand for jobs?

R/3, mySAP or Netweaver?

2) Can you rank the function modules in terms of popularity, demand and easy to find a job? Which functional module is most common and best to start with?

FI, CO, MM, SD, CRM, SCM

3) Are SCM and CRM modules are new compared to FI, MM, SD modules? Which are more popular and hot for to get jobs and have more career choices?

4) Does someone should have prior experience of working in FI, MM, LO, CO to work with CRM and SCM? How popular are they?

5) Are all these modules are independent to each other to work? I mean if someone wants to learn MM (any module, in general), does it requires knowledge of other function modules?

Thanks for you time.

[Former Member]

1) Which platform is more popular and most installed and has demand for jobs?

R/3, mySAP or Netweaver?

<b>R/3 is the most popular.Netweaver with strong ABAP Skills has more demand for jobs</b>

2) Can you rank the function modules in terms of popularity, demand and easy to find a job? Which functional module is most common and best to start with?

FI, CO, MM, SD, CRM, SCM

All have the same relative grading, when you take the oppurtunities-completition ratio.

3) Are SCM and CRM modules are new compared to FI, MM, SD modules? Which are more popular and hot for to get jobs and have more career choices?

Yes they are ..CRM , as i have heard is hot.

4) Does someone should have prior experience of working in FI, MM, LO, CO to work with CRM and SCM? How popular are they?

Good if you have. Not mandatory. A very strong plus if you have it though.

5) Are all these modules are independent to each other to work? I mean if someone wants to learn MM (any module, in general), does it requires knowledge of other function modules?

Yes they are independent.

Regards,

Ravi

[Former Member]

> 1) Which platform is more popular and most installed

> and has demand for jobs?

> R/3, mySAP or Netweaver?

I guess this depends on the country you are....But R/3 is the most you will find.

>2) you rank the function modules in terms of popularity,

> demand and easy to find a job? Which functional

> module is most common and best to start with?

>

> FI, CO, MM, SD, CRM, SCM

FI is the most common....then MM, SD, CO, CRM and SCM.

> 3) Are SCM and CRM modules are new compared to FI,

> MM, SD modules? Which are more popular and hot for to

> get jobs and have more career choices?

Yep....They're new compared to FI or MM modules.....CRM is doing great for now -;)

> 4) Does someone should have prior experience of

> working in FI, MM, LO, CO to work with CRM and SCM?

> How popular are they?

I have never work with CRM or SCM.....So I'm not sure.....Also...I think that SCM is the new name of MM, not sure about it -:)

> 5) Are all these modules are independent to each

> other to work? I mean if someone wants to learn MM

> (any module, in general), does it requires knowledge

> of other function modules?

They're not independent if you talk about data....When you work, all SAP modules are interconnected in one way....If you want to learn a module, you don't need prior experience in other modules....

Greetings,

Blag.

[rajasekhar_matukumalli3]

Hi Sreedhar,

I feel that you are standing in a cross roads and trying to find a direction to reach your goal. I am not sure what is your Academic background. However, if you are a fresher and trying to enter into SAP, I suggest you to learn Netweaver. If you have any industry experience, I suggest you to select the module that suits your domain.

Dont get carried away with the words "SAP Market is very hot, this is very hot, that is very hot". In fact every module is as important as another.

Basically what a company sees when recruiting you is:

For a functional consultant: How many years of industry experience, how many projects were u involved

For a technical Consultant: Your academic background and your expertise in the subject (If you are a fresher, many companies do prefer freshers for technical jobs)

Hope my answers are a helpful for you in taking a good decision. Anyways welcome to SAP.

Enjoy SAP.

Rajasekhar

[Former Member]

hi

good

1-R/3

2-FI/CO,MM,SD,CRM,SCM

3-FI/CO

4-Yes he must have experince

5-No they are independent.

Thanks

mrutyun^

[Former Member]

Guys,

Thanks for your answers.

The module FI is somewhat intimidating in terms of complexity compared to MM. Which modules is easy to learn for beginners? Also FI and CO are more integrated than FI and MM, I guess. Right?

Now if I want to just learn and work in FI or MM, without absolutely not bothering about any other modules, is it possible? To work in FI, is some knowldge needed regarding CO, SD and MM?

Are all these modules dependent on each other as far as to work? Is it possible for a company to implement the modules alone, just one, without implementing others? I mean is it poosible for a company to implement just FI module or MM module and not any other? Does this possible and make sense? What are all modules a company need for minimun configuration and are mandatory. I think some these modules form core group depending on the Basis version, right? So a company can add other modules one by one later depending on the business needs?

I just want to know what to choose before plunging into something that do not take me nowehere.

Thanks agan.

[Former Member]

Hi Sreedhar,

Yes FI/CO are almost inseperable.

Complexity wise MM and SD are simpler when compared to FI, due to the fact that the business processes are more common than anything else. You can correlate to mundane examples.

As far as companies implementing modules, you don't need to thnik in those lines. Even if the company implemenst multiple modules , there will be multiple functional consultanats to take care of each module. So you don't need to worry about that.

And it is not that likely that you end up in a End user company(The company that uses SAP), but in a commpnay that implements sap for the users(Consulting firms).

REgards,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Sreedhar,

One aspect that nobody (I think) mentioned so far is your background. Not talking about whether you got a bachelor's or an MBA, but whether you are more technical or functional. For example, if you are a Java programmer, you might want to consider CRM since a lot of the work is kind of techno-functional. On the other side, if you are more business savvy, you might want to consider pursuing to work in an SAP module that reflects your expertise.

SCM stands for Supply Chain Management and includes business processes related to:

Logistics, Scheduling, Inventory management, Strategic sourcing, Sales & operations planning (S&OP), Procurement, Materials management, Operations, Supplier enablement, RFID activities, Demand planning, Supply planning, Warehouse Management, Replenishment, Global trade.

(I don't claim that this is the complete list, but it should give you the big picture)

I would rate complexity (based on my own experience) as follows (high to low):

1) CO

2) FI

3) CRM (dependent how technical you are)

4) SD

5) MM

Since SCM is a combination of multiple modules, complexity does not really apply here.

Another thing to consider (again based on my own experience), is that FI and CO are probably harder to pick up if you are not preeducated in fincances. Whereas I see SD and MM/WM as more hands-on and/or less abstract/theoretical; again just my personal thoughts.

Other SAP areas that you did not mention at all are Development (ABAP/Java), Basis, XI, HR and BI; especially BI (Business Intelligence formerly BW Business Warehouse) has been in HIGH demand over the last 3 years or so and I don't see an end to this trend. XI gained a lot of traction lately too.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Guenther

[Former Member]

Hi Guenther.

Thanks to all of you for the answers.

I am a programmer (mainframes) , engineering graduate and do not have business background.

This is my undersatnding. Correct me if I am wrong.

All individaul functional modules related to financials like FI, CO etc on R/3 platform clubbed together into a new term ERP Finacials on Netweaver platform.

All functional modules related to logistics like MM, SD, IM are clubbed together into ERP SCM.

CRM do not exist on R/3, which is a new module developed for use on newer versions like Netweaver onwards. Right?

FI, CO are more deployed than any other modules, as financials are essentials to every comapny.

There are three distinct kinds of jobs. One is functional consultant who do have educated background like MBA and who understands the business processes well and designs the layout of IMG. Second one is technical consultant who develops the code, dialogs, screens, user exits etc and do the programming part. Third is Basis administrator. Are the functional and technical consultant jobs overlap?

For me, jargon of FI, CO is somewhat frustrating comapred to MM. Unfortunately they have more openings than MM, correct?

I also thought of going into BI/BW. Does this need the functional knowledge of SAP modules? It's an add-on application to SAP, right? As far as I know, BI/BW is where you develop batch jobs (ABAP?) and many interfaces and collect all the relevant data from all systems and put into a standard predefined repository and run analytical tools on the data to generate reports for decision making. Right? Do you know what roles a programmer play in the BW system?

Are there any SAP jobs like support, maintenance and enhancements, in addition to pure implementation.

Can you tell me what are all the roles a programmer can involve?

Thanks again.

[Former Member]

Sreedhar,

See my [answers] below:

All individaul functional modules related to financials like FI, CO etc on R/3 platform clubbed together into a new term ERP Finacials on Netweaver platform.

All functional modules related to logistics like MM, SD, IM are clubbed together into ERP SCM.

[I would not get too hung up on how the modules are combined on this level; let's assume you are going the technical route, depending on the size of the company, you might get involved in only one module (big company) or in all if the company is very small. If you go as a functional person, you will definitely start out in 1 and maybe down the road get involved in more. I.e. if you are in SD, you will (have to) understand the distribution part in MM and/or WM (if implemented) and might get sucked into this as well at one point]

CRM do not exist on R/3, which is a new module developed for use on newer versions like Netweaver onwards. Right?

[CRM is its own system with tight links into R/3's SD; it runs off the NW platform and is Java heavy]

FI, CO are more deployed than any other modules, as financials are essentials to every comapny.

[Correct, see it this way, there are businesses out there that are not performing all the processes that SAP covers with their modules (e.g. a university probably does not need SD since they don't sell any goods, they are ordering from vendors and can therefore use MM-PUR and they for sure have to perform their financial duties)]

There are three distinct kinds of jobs. One is functional consultant who do have educated background like MBA and who understands the business processes well and designs the layout of IMG. Second one is technical consultant who develops the code, dialogs, screens, user exits etc and do the programming part. Third is Basis administrator. Are the functional and technical consultant jobs overlap?

[This might differ from country to country; I did SAP work in Germany and now in the US; in Germany almost all functional consultants back then came with business experience before they became SAP functional in the related area; in the US on the other side - based on the high R/3 job demand in the mid to late 90s - SAP offered a different way through boot camps training called "Solution Academy": people could learn the business process through learning SAP modules point and then deepened it with the R/3 implementations. I am not sure how the situation is today in Europe, I could imagine that it kind of moved more towards the US model. You don't need an MBA to become a functional analyst/consultant ;->]

For me, jargon of FI, CO is somewhat frustrating comapred to MM. Unfortunately they have more openings than MM, correct?

[Like I said before, FI and especially CO are (in my opinion) more abstract and more complex; both of them are pretty hot on the job market]

I also thought of going into BI/BW. Does this need the functional knowledge of SAP modules? It's an add-on application to SAP, right? As far as I know, BI/BW is where you develop batch jobs (ABAP?) and many interfaces and collect all the relevant data from all systems and put into a standard predefined repository and run analytical tools on the data to generate reports for decision making. Right? Do you know what roles a programmer play in the BW system?

[Be aware that even though data warehousing is a little more technical (not saying here that there is no functional knowledge needed), it is a very different "way of thinking', especially if you are coming from the structured programming world (like I did). I found it to be very abstract and kind of like 3 dimensional; for me it was hard in the beginning but I really liked it once I got more familiar; I guess you either like it or you don't.

Batch jobs are not specific to BW/BI. I guess you are referring to the data load process which of course can be done in batch; on the other side any R/3 implementation has tons of batch jobs running every day and night as well (e.g. delivery due lists, check printing, MRP etc.).

The closest programming role in the BW world is probably the one involved in the ETL space (Extract, Transform, Load), like custom extractor development, conversion routines etc.

Then there is the modeling part; I would consider this as technical as well, but not in the way that you are going to write code; this is mostly done through predefined tools within BW. You WILL have to understand the business process/requirements though before you can go out and design cubes etc..

And finally you have the query part; same applies here you have to understand what the requirements are...]

Are there any SAP jobs like support, maintenance and enhancements, in addition to pure implementation.

[Yes, that's the part that more and more companies successfully outsource; so if you are interested in that, this might be a good starting point]

Can you tell me what are all the roles a programmer can involve?

[Not enough time to answer this ;->]

Thanks,

Guenther

[Former Member]

Guenther,

Thanks for your time answering my questions. Danke schön!