Introduction to ERP
ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning systems integrate all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve this integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules.
Enterprise Resource Planning is a term originally derived from manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) that followed material requirements planning (MRP). MRP evolved into ERP when "routings" became major part of the software architecture and a company's capacity planning activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systems typically handle the manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and accounting for a company. Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software can aid in the control of many business activities, like sales, marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventory management, quality management, and human resources management.
About SAP
SAP is the largest ERP solution provider in the world. SAP the company was founded in Germany in 1972 by five ex-IBM engineers. SAP stands for Systeme, Andwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung which - translated to English - means Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing. Being incorporated in Germany, the full name of the parent company is SAP AG. It is located in Walldorf, Germany which is close to the beautiful town of Heidelberg. SAP has subsidiaries in over 50 countries around the world from Argentina to Venezuela (and pretty much everything in between). SAP America (with responsibility for North America, South America and Australia - go figure!) is located just outside Philadelphia, PA
The original five founders have been so successful that they have multiplied many times over such that SAP AG is now the third largest software maker in the world, with over 17,500 customers (including more than half of the world's 500 top companies). SAP employs over 27,000 people worldwide today.
Modules in SAP
Basically you can enter in either SAP Functional or in Technical depending upon your interests & knowledge. SAP Fuctional includes following Modules-
FICO or Financial Accounting & controlling :- For learning this module you need do have a sound knowledge of finance, Accounting,Taxes,Product costing,activity based costing etc.
HR or human resources - needs knowledge of employment,payroll,training,career management etc.
MM Materials Management- need understanding of supply chain management, purchase activities,inventory management etc.
PP Production Planning- needs a sound knowledge of production activies,capacity planning, master production scheduling etc.
SD Sales and Distribution- require knowledge of marketing & sales,quotations,pricing,estimation,shipping etc.
SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW)- it includes Business Intelligence, analytical, reporting and Data Warehousing
there are many other modules like plant maintenance(PM), Project systems (PS), Asset management(AM) etc which require expertise of their domain knowledge.
SAP Technical includes ABAP Programming:-
ABAP or Advanced Business Application Programming is a high level programming language & is currently positioned as the language for programming SAP's Web application server,part of its netweaver platform for building business applications. Its syntax is somewhat similar to COBOL.
People with good knowledge of programming (c & c++ will do) & 1 year experience in IT Industry can go for learning ABAP Module.
For more information on above mentioned modules please visit http://www.sapbrain.com/
Where do I get SAP Education
There are many institutes providing SAP education in India. But I would recommend to do the course only from the authorized ones from SAP AG .As far as I know there are only two companies in india which are authorized SAP education & Training partners of SAP AG Germany. Those are siemens & Genovate. Genovate provides SAP education in mumbai while siemens does in rest of india.
Cost of SAP Education
The cost of doing Sap course from authorized education centers are very high ranging from 2-3 lacs , but you get a direct certification from SAP AG GERMANY. Also some banks provide education loans. But still if you dont want to invest so much money you can go for local training institutes whose fees are much lesser but without certification. but this you can do provided you have good work experience in your domain or module because at the time of job what counts is knowledge.
Lucrative career
Even if the cost of SAP education is high it provides the most lucrative career compared to many other fields. There is a High demand of sap professionals not only in india but also in the global market. In todays scenario the salaries that they get are comparable with those of MBAs. Some people are even shifting to SAP after doing there MBA.
Sites for SAP Information & SAP forums
I have posted most of sap sites on my blog site at http://www.myfavouriteurls.blogspot.com/. If you are serious about SAP Career ,I recommend you to visit these sites & join sap forums since you get a lot of information about sap career on such sites and forums.
Wish u all the best!!
Please feel free to email me(or post here) your queries/or any valuable information on SAP .
SaNdesH:-)
email id- sandeshk10@yahoo.co.in
