SAP stands for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing. It is a product of SAP AG, Walldorf, Germany. It is not easy to define SAP in a specific definition. It is a multidimensional product. It has to be viewed through various angles to understand it. SAP is a system, an ERP product, an IT Tool, and IT enabled System (ITeS), an enterprise application, to execute the business process through the various department of the business in an integrated manner.
SAP ERP is a transactional system while SAP BI is a reporting system (based on data from SAP ERP). SAP APO, BPC, TR are planning tool based on data from SAP ERP system.
What are its various applications across domains?
SAP an ERP product, consists of various modules, as given below:-
-
Materials Management (MM)
-
Sales and Distribution (SD)
-
Plant Maintenance (PM)
-
Production Planning (PP)
-
Production Planning for Process Industry (PP-PI)
-
Financial Accounting (FI)
-
Controlling (CO)
According to recent reports, ERP market is expected to witness sales growth of 7.2% between 2014 and 2020 with estimated sales in 2020 at $41.69 bn. It is now widely used across industries – production, manufacturing, logistics, airline, shipping, retailing, medical, tourism, hospitality, transportation and banking services.
No wonder the opportunities for professionals trained in ERP is witnessing rapid growth and most often it doesn’t require complex technical or computer knowledge to be certified as an ERP professional. This is because ERP implementation is more of understanding a business process rather than software - hardware implementation and managing databases.
According to TechTarget and STechies, the following are the top 7 ERP modules in SAP that are in huge demand. This is merely a list and is not ranked based on its demand or popularity.
-
ECC FI
This module deals in managing the financial transactions within the enterprise. ECC FI helps employees to manage data involved in any business and financial transaction in a unified system.
-
SAP HR/HCM
SAP HR is SAP’s one of the important modules which manage all tasks from hiring an employee to its final termination in an organization. The various components this module consists of are Personnel Management, Organizational Management (OM), Time Management and Payroll.
-
SAP SCM (Supply Chain Management)
SAP SCM stands for Supply Chain Management one of the modules of SAP. This module covers the area of Production Planning (PP), Demand Planning and Business Forecasting. It also controls the information flow and product flow in the organizations.
-
SAP NetWeaver
SAP NetWeaver enables Provision, Composition, and Management of SAP and non-SAP applications across all heterogeneous software environments.
-
SAP BI
This Module deals in analyzing and reporting of data from various heterogeneous data sources.
-
SAP HANA
SAP HANA is a very important module of SAP. It is an in-memory data platform that is deployable as an on-premise appliance, or in the cloud. It is a revolutionary platform, which is best suited for performing real-time analytics and developing and deploying real-time applications.
-
SD MM
SAP MM that is Materials Management (MM) is a part of Logistics area and helps to manage the procurement activity of an organization from procurement. It supports all aspects of material management (planning, control etc). It deals with material management and inventory management.