How to Become an SAP Consultant?

Do you have excellent communication and coding skills? Can you tackle client issues with ease? Do you have a knack for developing software? Then pursuing a career as an SAP consultant is what you can aim for. The full form of SAP Consultant is Systems Application and Products Consultant. From identifying business-related issues to providing solutions for them, the work profile of an SAP consultant is diverse and challenging. In this blog, we will discuss all the details pertinent to an SAP consultant. But before that, let us go through the work profiles of an SAP consultant. 

What do SAP Consultants do?

An SAP Consultant is someone who analyzes and designs new computer software. These configurations are planned and delivered based on the client’s or employer’s business needs or requirements. They create customized SAP solutions and integrate them with their existing IT program to ease their work in various domains of finance, human capital, operations, risk and compliance, customer, etc. using SAP technologies. SAP consultants are often employed by the company or an individual. It could be a one-time consultation or for a specific duration, depending on the client’s needs. A job as an SAP consultant might also be inclusive of travelling to various places to train, teach or implement the software knowledge.

Skills Required

Even though any graduate can apply to become an SAP consultant, there are certain skills that can help you build a strong career in this field. 

• Extensive Knowledge of SAP Modules
• Domain-specific Knowledge 
• Excellent Verbal and Written Communication Skills
• Good Presentation Skills 
• Time management Skills
• Ability to Work in a Team
• Leadership Skills
• NetSuite vs SAP Business One

Types of SAP Consultants 

By pursuing an SAP training program, you can discover a plethora of career opportunities in varied industries.  Depending on the specialization course, you can work in the following profiles:

SAP Basis Consultant 

The job of an SAP basis consultant involves up-gradation and installation of SAP software, adding more components to the SAP profile, changing parameters, checking the system’s health, workload analysis, error analysis, etc. 

SAP Business Consultant 

The primary job of an SAP business professional is to run the organization effectively. The work broadly includes generating new ideas, framing and implementing projects, listing the requirements of clients or consumers, and devising strategizes for the growth of the organization. 

SAP Technical Consultant 

SAP technical consultants are professionals who are responsible for the development of SAP systems through coding programs like JAVA and ABAP. 

SAP Functional Consultants 

The functional consultants are executives involved in the customization of software as per the requirements of the company. SAP – PP, MM, QM, and FICO are some of the important SAP modules. 

How to Become an SAP Consultant?

From obtaining an SAP training certificate from a recognized training institute to joining a consultancy company, there are ample ways to become an SAP consultant. Given below are the prerequisites to becoming a Systems Application and Products consultant. 

• You should hold an undergraduate degree from a recognized university or institute in any field.
• Candidates with a master’s degree from a recognized university can also apply to become an SAP consultant. 
• A degree in Computer Science is an essential requisite to specialise in technical modules.

Specializations Offered

Apart from satisfying the basic eligibility criteria, you also need to select a specialization module to gain domain-specific knowledge. Given below are some of the popular areas where you can specialize.

• Intelligent Technologies
• HR and People Engagement
• Digital Supply Chain
• ERP and Digital Core
• Analytics
• Digital Platform
• CRM and Customer Experience
• Industry Applications
• Network and Spend Management

Major Universities Offering SAP Consultancy Courses

For those who want to pursue an SAP consultancy course, it is important to get into a good institute that not only offers training in the major domains but also equips you with industry-specific skills. Given below is a list of some of the institutes offering SAP training.

• Central Michigan University, USA
• Atlassian University, USA
• Central Michigan University, Canada
• Wizcore SAP Training Specialists, UK

Top Recruiters 

SAP training is one of the leading job-oriented courses. Thus, graduates are recruited by various Indian and international companies as SAP consultants. Some of which are: 

• Accenture 
• Wipro 
• Mindtree
• Control Solutions International
• ITC Infotech
• Barclays
• Cognizant Technology Solutions
• Ai-Bots Technologies LLP
• Bloomberg L.P.
• Advent Global Solutions
• Hewlett-Packard
• Deloitte
• IBM Business Consulting Services
• Genpact
• Tata Consultancy Services

Salary

The salary of an SAP consultant highly varies based on a person’s expertise, certifications, experience, type of consultancy, and duration of the service. The initial salary of an SAP consultant inclusive of bonus, overtime, etc. is INR 300,000. After a few years of experience, the salary increases up to INR 600,000. Further, the salary for an experienced consultant who holds mastery in SAP ranges between INR 900,000-INR 1Million. 

Scope For an SAP Consultant

The scope of an SAP consultant is very high since it is one of the most active organizations, with almost every Fortune 500 organization implementing SAP programming for their company. It is a pioneer in ERP software and has gained the trust of every renowned organization with its advancement and growth. Technology is upgrading almost every day which makes SAP mandatory for growing business. Choosing a career as an SAP consultant is a unique and lucrative choice if you possess the necessary skills. 

Books

Apart from gaining educational training, it is necessary that you build on your skills and keep learning the latest upgrades in business and technology. The following are important books to enhance your knowledge of SAP.

• SAP Analytics Cloud (Abassin Sidiq)
• Data Modeling for SAP HANA 2.0 (Anil Bavaraju)
• SAP Cloud Platform Integration: The Comprehensive Guide ( Peter Gutsche, et.al)
• SAP MM-Functionality and Technical Configuration (Martin Murray)

FAQs

Hopefully, you are now familiar with the details pertaining to the career path of an SAP consultant. If you are planning to pursue an SAP training program, take the help of our Leverage Edu’s AI tool to browse through various courses and universities and find the right one that suits your preferences and interests.