www.erp-training.com announced a new starter training for users of SAP software, enabling them to improve their hands-on experience. The training is developed by a professional and experienced SAP trainer and application consultant, certified by SAP AG.

The training package (CD with interactive videos and workbook) is aimed at

• Working easier and more efficiently with SAP software screens and transactions
• Getting first exposure to SAP software the easy way
• Increasing hands-on experience

The course will be ‘very affordable’, a solution for people who’s boss isn’t paying for their training.

For practicing, online access to a live SAP system is not necessary. This is interesting for

1. Employees that are going to work with SAP software screens and transactions – there’s no risk of messing up a live production environment
2. Companies needing a low-cost way to train their employees and have no access to the external websites of online SAP training providers. External websites are sometimes blocked for security reasons
3. Individuals that don’t have access to the fast internet connection required for online training,  e.g. when they have time to study in the train or bus

SAP training providers looking for off-the shelf training material for their customer training will benefit as well.

Additionally, MMC offers SAP Access for Individuals for $99 monthly.

In the meantime there are others providers which offer SAP access for even lower monthly rates. Please keep in mind that use of SAP systems is subject to SAP AG’s license agreements. Check that they have permission from SAP AG to provide access to a server with an SAP system – otherwise you’re using an SAP system illegally, with potentially serious consequences.

Overview Courses are introductory courses to SAP modules, meant for managers, end users, business analysts and consultants. End User Courses go into more details and simulate SAP transactions. Configuration Courses are designed for business analysts/configurators and consultants who need to configure SAP modules.

The way these courses are presented varies. There are Demonstration Courses, like movies where an instructor shows demonstrations. Simulation Courses are pre-defined course where a student needs to interact, e.g. click the right button to go further.

For the record, Simulation Courses are not courses with access to real live SAP “sandbox” systems. Access to real live SAP systems in a controlled environment would be excellent for practicing or refreshing hands-on experience, but for a starter without fundamental SAP training it would be like trying to drive a car without someone telling first where the controls are and what they’re for.

Online training courses released by Michael Management Corporation in 2009:

• Introduction to SAP Configuration.
  Configuration course, basis SAP skills required beforehand. Link: /tips/SAPConfiguration
• SAP Financial Accounting
  End User Course for end users and accountants, basic SAP skills required beforehand. Link: /tips/SAPFinancialAccounting
• SAP Financial Accounting Overview
  Overview Course. Prerequisite: basis understanding of financial accounting. Link: /tips/SAPFinancialAccountingOverview
• SAP Profit Center Accounting
  Simulation Course for end users and accountants working with SAP FI/CO, basic SAP/accounting knowledge required. Link: /tips/SAPProfitCenterAccounting
• SAP FICO Enterprise Structure Configuration
  For SAP consultants and business analysts involved in configuration if the SAP FI/CO enterprise structure. Basic SAP/configuration skills required. Link: /tips/SAPFICOEnterpriseSC
• SAP FI Global Settings Configuration
  For SAP consultants and business analysts involved in configuration of the SAP FI/CO Global Financial Accounting configuration. Basic SAP/configuration/FI/CO Enterprise Structure knowledge required. Link: /tips/SAPFIGlobalSC
• SAP FI General Ledger Configuration
  Configuration Course for SAP consultants and business analysts. Basic SAP/configuration/FI/CO Enterprise Structure/Global FI configuration knowledge required. Link: /tips/SAPFIGeneralLedgerC
• SAP Logistics
  Simulation course for learing the basics of the most common SAP Logisitcs modules such as MM, IM, WM, SD, PP. Basic SAP skills required, plus an understanding of logistics terminology. Link: /tips/SAPLogistics
• SAP Material Management – Purchasing
  Simulation Course aimed at end users working with the Purchasing functionality of SAP MM. Basic SAP skills required, plus an understanding of logistics terminology. Link: /tips/SAPMaterialManagement
• SAP Warehouse Management
  Simulation Course aimed at end users working with the warehouse management functionality of SAP MM. Basic SAP/materials management/inventory management skills required, plus an understanding of logistics terminology. Link: /tips/SAPWarehouseManagement
• SAP Sales and Distribution
  Simulation Course aimed at end users working with the SAP Sales and Distribution functionality in the SAP Logistics area. Basic SAP skills required, plus an understanding of logistics terminology. Link: /tips/SAPSalesandDistribution
• SAP Human Resources – Personnel Management
  Simulation Course aimed at end users working with the functionality of SAP HR (Human Resources). Basic SAP skills required, plus an understanding of human resources terminology. Link: /tips/SAPHumanResources

This report, with contributions of 6 professionals working as SAP specialists,  was intended to help people with solid background information:

• What is SAP?
• What are jobs for SAP professionals like and how do I increase my chances of getting in?
• Once I’m in, how do I stay on top?

“So You Want To Be An SAP Professional?” unfortunately is sold out.

To get on the list to be notified when/if it will be available, fill in the form on the left and click the notify button.

Additionally you’ll receive your password to our download area with

• The Guide to Free SAP Study Material
• A video about PayScale’s free SAP salary reports
• and more

No worries, your email adress is safe with us and will not be made available to others.

Here is a course listing:

SAP NetWeaver®:

• SAP Solution Manager
• SAP NetWeaver XI Bootcamp
• SAP ERP Upgrade
• Archiving your SAP Data
• Financial Reporting with SAP
• SAP HR Reporting
• The Best of SAP NetWeaver BI Reporting
• SAP Executive Reporting and Performance Management
• SAP NetWeaver Portal
• The Best of SAP NetWeaver Portal
• SAP Sales and Inventory Reporting
• SAP NetWeaver BI Integrated Planning
• SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM)
• Data Modeling and ETL
• SAP NetWeaver Security and User Administration
• Service-Oriented Architecture Strategies for SAP Solutions
• SAP NetWeaver BI Update and Upgrade Seminar
• BW Reporting

SAP® Business Suite:
Supply Chain Management:

• SAP Sales and Inventory Reporting
• APO Decisions and Strategies
• Warehouse and Inventory Management
• SEM Bootcamp
• APO Bootcamp
• SAP Supply Chain Planning

Financials:

• The Best of SAP NetWeaver BI Reporting
• Financial Reporting with SAP
• SAP Financial Accounting (FI)
• The New SAP General Ledger (G/L)
• SAP Managerial Accounting (CO)
• SAP NetWeaver BI Integrated Planning
• Consolidations and Time to Close
• The Best of SAP R/3 Reporting
• R/3 Reporting
• BW Reporting

HR:

• SAP HR Reporting
• SAP Employee Self-Service and SAP Manager Self-Service Solutions
• SAP Compensation and Talent Management
• SAP HR Time Management and Payroll

IT Management:

• SAP Solution Manager
• SAP ERP Upgrade
• Financial Reporting with SAP
• SAP Executive Reporting and Performance Management
• Service-Oriented Architecture Strategies for SAP Solutions
• SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM)

Published by Authorhouse. First edition 2005. ISBN 1-4208-7387-3 (sc), 242 pages.

Author Stephen Birchall is a SAP expert. He has more than 25 years of experience with designing and implementing integrated business system solutions, and experience with using SAP for the last 15 years. His focus is on SAP Logistics.

The book does not go into technical details and is easy to read. It gives an insight in what’s involved with introducing a SAP solution into a business, based on Stephen Birchall’s vast experience in the field. Stephen Birchall is known for his common sense and radical methods resulting in simple solutions.

From SAP user training viewpoint this book is interesting because it places training in the context of a SAP implementation and also here some radical approaches are discussed.

Intended audience is anyone wondering “where to start” and what to watch out for. Management, and also a broader audience like project team members, persons contemplating a SAP career, and anyone wanting to learn more about how to avoid pitfalls when getting involved with SAP.

Content

The first 6 sections (41 pages) discuss what SAP is about:

• An overview of SAP R/3
• Is SAP the ideal system for your business?
• Has SAP R/3 changed the way that systems are implemented?
• Is SAP the best system available?
• Why the “horror stories”?
• Is SAP suitable for the small to medium size business?

These questions are answered in general. Explained is how robust the SAP system is with complex integration of its many modules. And that there are several right and wrong ways to implement it. Obviously the wrong implementations leading to the “horror stories”. Birchall describes numerous practical examples, and what are the right approaches to the proven thousands of successful SAP implementations. SAP for small to medium size business is very briefly discussed. In the meantime (2008) SAP has much more solutions for this area.

The next 6 sections (91 pages) focus on how to get it right with new or more SAP systems.

• How to get it right
• A new SAP implementation? Some points to consider
• Existing implementations
• What if the implementation of SAP was seen as a disaster, what are the options?
• How to get more from an existing SAP implementation
• The Competency Centre

Practical topics are covered like what’s important when changing automation systems and business organizations, which people to use and project team structure, role of people within the business, big-bang or phased implementation, what to do with old (legacy systems), offshore or not, to which extent modify/use ABAP , training approach, how much documentation, support structures during and after go-live

The last 5 sections (108 pages) are actually separate topics

• Is SAP right for you?
  What are the benefits of a SAP solution for the CEO, the finance director, the IS director, senior business managers. What’s important if you are a SAP project/implementation manager

• SAP training
  Examples and pitfalls of several training approaches

• Recruitment
  What to watch out for when getting SAP experts through agencies. Use undependent consultants or not?

• The SAP certification, is it important?
  Throughout the book hints are given for people wanting to work as a SAP professional. This chapter discusses certification exams and how it works.

• Common issues and areas of confusion
  This is more technical than the previous sections. It covers mapping the organisation structure to SAP concepts as Clients, Company Codes, Plants and Storage locations, etc.
  It further explains terms and concepts in Birchall’s SAP Logistics area of expertise: Material Master management and control/catalogue approaches, functional design topics with invoice verification, MRP – Material Requirements Planning, MRP II, inter-company transfers, and finally a brief description of some of SAP R/3′s major modules: FI, CO, SD, MM, PM.

Where to order
You can get this book at Amazon for $17.50 new, or used in the range of $11. You might want to check out your local Amazon store to save shipping costs

Conclusion
Although this book is from 2005 and SAP has continued moving forward conquering the market, many of the potential pitfalls described are still valid. Concepts like SAP Netweaver, SAP Enterprise SOA, SAP Business by Design etc, are not mentioned but that’s not the point. And don’t expect all ins and outs of a successful SAP implementation in 242 pages – it is already an achievement to convey so much useful information in such a short space. It is perhaps even more important to have the approach right when introducing or expanding SAP solutions in a business. And that’s exactly where Stephen Birchall offers no-nonsense advice from his decades of practical experience. If you’re involved with implementing or expanding SAP in your organisation, this book is worth it’s price many times over.

Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture is SAP’s blueprint for implementing an architecture based on ‘services’ as building blocks for business processes. You can download Goran’s document from SAP’s Developer Network (SDN), search for “Enterprise SOA Glossary”.

The “Guide to Free SAP Study Material” has a link to SAP’s Developer Network (SDN).

To download the guide, go to  Guide to Free SAP Material page 

There are at least 15 companies in India alone on SAP’s own  list of SAP Education Partners, but apparently that is not what Mr. Barlas means. His view is that newbees trying to get into the SAP market are trained by unqualified third parties,  leading to unsufficient skills of the people starting a career as a SAP professional. “When SAP skills get diluted, projects fail”.

In that line of thinking, the education of SAP trainers (training the end users in a company how to use SAP) is equally important.  SAP has a whole new certification model for consultants, motivated by the need to not only be knowledgable about the software but also about the business processes.  But there is no specific education for SAP trainers i.e. a qualification as certified SAP trainer.

SAP trainers, who have contact with most of the first users of a new SAP system, can have a great impact on the success or failure of a SAP implementation. They need to have a thorough understanding of how all the business processes and SAP tie together just like certified SAP consultants. And they also have to have the skills to overcome the inevitable objections users have when confronted with changes in an organisation. The risks of letting a junior consultant or an inexperienced person (or an offshore remote trainer by the way) train the SAP end users in our opinion are underestimated.

With SAP’s training business revenue in 2007 exceeding 400 million euros (that’s over  $600,000,000) and a growth of +7% compared to the previous year we can be certain to hear more about this.

Several websites exist offering IDES, obviously you have to make sure you’re not getting an illegal version.

SearchSAP.com in their blog “Practice SAP skills online” recently posted about SID. This is a service for online access to SAP aimed at SAP consultants and IT professionals. For a yearly fee you can access SAP ECC6.0 via a SAP GUI (SAP’s graphical user interface) or a web browser. You can make your own configuration and data changes in your own client (=environment) , unlike the ‘evaluation’ or ‘IDES’ clients. The site is at www.sidmembers.com

According to Paul Helbrough of SID Members they are the only such service to offer fully legally licensed SAP software.