SAP How difficult is it?

Question

Hi i have done Masters in Computers 2 and half yrs ago
since then i m working as a Web Designer

Now as i from Technical Background(thought lost the touch), what i need help in is to decide that should i pursue SAP or not.How difficult will it be for me. I have to leave my current Job to pursue it. And lot of investment is also involved.

Will it be possible for a guy like me who has not programmed since 2nd half yrs. The course is-
SAP Module-ABAP

Kindly Suggest

Answer 1

I would not leave my job too quickly. What really counts is experience in SAP world. A training is not enough to start a career.
A Lot of people wonder whether they should follow a SAP training in order to start their SAP career as a consultant.

The key question is to get experienced in SAP and not if you have followed a SAP training.
When you follow a SAP training you get a lot of concepts about the structure of SAP and functions of SAP.
However a SAP training is not giving you any information about what you should do as a consultant. That is why it is better to get experienced on SAP as a key user before you start any SAP training on your own. If you already know the SAP system as a user, then what you need to know is the customizing of the functions. The SAP training will really help you in becoming a SAP consultant.

Answer 2

Thanks for your input markshere4u. As a SAP Consultant, I smile every time I see a user complain about SAP. It is an amazing solution, German in every way.

Unfortunately, it is not always well implemented and not always appropriate for every company, but it doesn't change the fact it is a very powerful and well designed solution.

Anyway, to the question at hand.

I would be very, very cautious about leaving your job to pursue a SAP career. It can be very tough to make it. It isn't just a matter of spending a certain amount of cash. As has been said, the most important thing is experience, and a fair amount of luck is necessary to get the right jobs to get the right experience.

On a good day, I love what I do, but it is still a struggle to find work.

Also, consider other areas of SAP than just ABAP. If you're interested in technical roles, you could also consider Basis (the installing and monitoring of the system, kind of like being a DBA I suppose).

Or consider the functional side. This sort of a role might mesh fairly well with a web design background as it involves determining user requirements and then designing the specific area of the system to behave in the desired way by changing configuration settings.

Or even another option (probably the one I would take if I was you) would be to try and gradually move towards SAP.

With their new focus on connectivity, many SAP projects will involve web designers and java programmers to work on their portals (intranet). Have a look around some job sites, and you may find a job on a SAP project developing the web side of SAP. Have a look at help.sap.com to figure out the specific lingo around this area.

I don't know too much about how all this works, but if you can get a job in the area, you can save your money, and gradually get the experience in SAP necessary to have a productive career.

Good luck with your choices.

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My Blog:
http://www.peteandmegan.com

Answer 3

I don't know anything about programing in SAP specifically, but have a degree in programming (VB, C++ etc), did see code printouts from time to time while at different meetings. I was able to follow along on what little I did see, so likely you will do fine.

What type of application, strictly mfr side of SAP or the attempted mess they have with the maintenance/cost and inventory (maintenance stores) modules?

I used SAP for 2.5 yrs, 8 hrs a day, while at a large "soft paper" mfr company. While the bean counters love SAP, the people that use it at the bottom end, hate it (to be very very polite). Because of a number of poorly designed interfaces and confusing icons. IE. there are a dozen or more places using the same icon (on different forms) - yet icons represent different (as in unrelated) tasks on each form.
It's rather sad to see.
The program has such great possibilities and some modules will just blow your mind how cool they are and what can be done with them. It's too bad the 1/2 doz modules I used on a daily basis were so... (I really do want to be kind..) poorly designed and goofy coded to make it hard to use (maintenance side).
Best of Luck

Answer 4

we use sap at my work and it sucks eggs no one likes it and it is a bear of an app it has way to many options