This is an introduction to what SAP is as a company and what they offer businesses and their consultants from my own point to view.
What is SAP?
SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products which is literally translated from the German word, Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte. It is the world’s largest supplier of enterprise solutions and taking into consideration that they have been around since 1972, and are at the forefront of their market, it really implies that they know what they are doing.
I have worked in two multinational companies, Nokia and Philips and other mid-sized companies. All have SAP software as a backbone of all some of their in-house processes, be it HR, purchasing, team management etc.
What does SAP offer that is so great?
So what exactly does SAP offer? What SAP offers is huge and there is almost no industry that is doesn’t have a SAP solution. Come on, the company was founded by Germans and if you have ever heard of the German efficiency, you will know what I’m talking about. Having lived in Germany for about 6 years, I have experienced the efficiency personally. Let me give you some examples about a SAP offering. Bear in mind that this is by no means an exhaustive list.
- An employee wants to take a five-day holiday.
- He/she logs in to the SAP system at work and makes an application to take the days off.
- The manager is automatically notified that an employee has requested an offer.
- The SAP system being connected to the business processes can automatically find out what has to be done on those days the employee needs to take off, and how many employess are around to cover for the extra workload.
- The system packages this information into an easy to understand way for the manager.
- The manager sees that there are enough resources available and approves the holiday
- The employee is happy and and flies off to Dubai and finds out he/she loves it there and doesn’t want to come back. :-)
Ok, that last one is a joke and I’m not sure the SAP system can cater for that, but from that example you will understand a tiny bit of what SAP can do for a company. The technical buzzwords for this Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) which is a major part of the software solution that SAP has to offer.
What does SAP offer me?
That is what SAP has to offer to companies. But what does SAP have to offer for you/me.?
The simple answer is a role as a much sought after SAP consultant. SAP consultants are one of the most sought after and rare breed of consultants that command a huge day/hourly rate. I personally know 2 SAP consultants that are on 2-year implementation projects and receive £600 per day. Let’s do the math, assuming you work 40 weeks in a year, with 5 days in a week, that is 40×5x600= £120,000 in a year. I don’t know about you but for me I could think of a lot of things out that money to work. I’m about to get married and will be having kids, so that means comfortable living for my wife and kids.
The picture below shows the survey done by ITJobsWatch on how much the average SAP consultant earns as a permanent staff.
ITJobs Watch survey
But you might think, can I break into SAP? I don’t have an IT/Software background. I don’t live in the US or UK, will I get a job in my country? Let me dispell those worries with these statistics…
- SAP is deployed in over 25 industries. including Aerospace, Automative, Chemicals, Consumer products, Retail, Mining, Financial, Telecommunications, Media, Utilities and that is not all. What on earth are you doing if you are not in any of these industries or the others which are listed on the SAP website?
- 600 Insurance companies across the globe run SAP solutions e.g AIG, AOK, General Reinsurance
- 121,00 SAP installations
- 41,200 customers in 121 countries
Are there any concerns you might have that I haven’t addressed in this post? Please leave a comment below and we can discuss this. I might even make a blog post out of it and give you credit for it.
Anyway, we are on this journey together. The journey to get certified in SAP without breaking the bank and I will update you with tips along the way.
How to increase your chances of starting a successful SAP career
You might be asking yourself,
Is SAP right for me?
What are my chances of getting a good SAP job?
The good news is you are not alone. A lot of people have the same questions as well. What is even better news? I have written a series of articles that answer these questions and many more on SAP Unveiled.