The Surface level

As organizations become more and more technologically advanced, we see the utilization and implementation of ERP becoming common and even essential for organizations of varying sizes. So what is SAP and how does it tie into this age of digital optimization? According to SAP themselves, they are “one of the world’s leading producers of software for the management of business processes, developing solutions that facilitate effective data processing and information flow across organizations.” In 1972 SAP was initially called the System Analysis Program Development, now SAP stands for systems, applications and products. SAP is the name for the company itself as well as its software. True to the nature of ERP systems SAP has modules that help to streamline different departments at organizations/businesses like sales, finance, human resources and so on. It allows for these departments to communicate, exchange information, avoid errors/duplication of information and “collects and processes data from all functions in a business on one platform”.  

SAP is important to know about as not only was it one of the first to push ERP’s but also because according to Navigator “It is estimated that roughly 77 percent of all global transactions come in contact with SAP software.” And they are the 12th largest tech company in the world with 404,000 businesses using SAP and over 60,000 companies using SAP Business One. Their client list includes Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, eBay, DHL,The Coca-Cola Company, Samsung and BMW to name a few. SAP Business One was acquired in 2001 by SAP and enhanced over the years is an ERP solution that was  for small to mid-sized companies that would be able to securely bridge the processes a business takes part in like getting products from warehouse to the distribution stage.  

To understand SAP and their work, lets look at how it differs from another well-known software company, Netsuite. SAP Business One gives an option to choose between cloud-based or hybrid versions while NetSuite is only and exclusively cloud-based. Both have customizable features but with that comes the question of what happens to these customizations with new upgrades? Well, NetSuite automatically upgrades its system and is not really in the control of businesses themselves, and this can be an issue when this happens at inconvenient times or when the customizations are not compatible with the upgrade. With SAP “You can choose when to have your SAP Business One Cloud upgrades deployed. Upgrades can be planned in advance, so you can avoid any issues from occurring during critical times. The risk with this, however, is that customized components might not carry seamlessly over to the upgraded version, resulting in users having to spend time retrofitting codes” according to YourShortlist. NetSuite allows connections with other applications but at the timely and costly condition of manual-coding while with SAP, you can also use other applications but SAP can fully integrate with those applications itself, for larger requirements you would only be allowed to use SAP-certified solutions.  

With Indeed the following skills and certifications were compiled:

SAP skills include the following:

As you can see there are many options for anyone interested in adding SAP expertise to their resume. SAP skills can open up more opportunities for candidates and allow you to build on a popular knowledge base. The SAP Certifications take this notion a notch higher and the above listed certifications are only a few of the many that SAP offers. The certifications require exams and do cost money. We recommend first choosing the certifications that you are to associate with the most depending on your comfortability, existing knowledge, expertise and job requirements.  

You can find percentages and data that has to do with SAP trainings and certification can be found here. 

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