ABAP / SAP Training - methods including SAP courses, training CD-ROM's and learning Books
SAP is a very big and complicated piece of software and at times new functionality does not seem intuitive or user friendly.
You soon realise it's the sheer amount of functionality SAP can achieved that overwhelms you and makes it difficult
to use at first. This is why proper SAP training is essential for people who are going to be using SAP on a day to day basis.
It does not matter if you are an SAP developer or someone who is just going to be using SAP to do their job, effective training
is the key to success and will help you get the best ROI from your SAP system.
When it comes to training there are many methods that can be used including training provided by SAP themselves, Online training,
training provided by other SAP consultancies, SAP training books and SAP training CD's�
Training from SAP
From my experience getting your training direct from SAP is a very good option to take. The theory is that it is SAP who produced
the software so they should know it very well. Also for some of the newer technologies they often have there training available before
anyone else. Obviously this is not always the case as with any training it is largely down to the actual trainer who is taking the course
and as SAP sometimes get external consultants in you could be unlucky. Generally though they are very good especially with the new web
technologies such as Fiori, UI5, web dynpro etc as they get these courses available very earlier and in the UK / Europe have very good
trainers. Not sure if he is still at SAP but they used to have a fantastic trainer by the name of Keith Jardine ( he is also very keen on
the Australian shark called the wobbagong / wobbigong / wobbegong and also wombats which I'm sure he will be more than happy to tell you about:).
SAP also produces a very detailed catalogue of course including descriptions and dates available which makes choosing the right course simple.
The only down side to SAP training is that it can be more expensive. Food is also excellent at SAP UK training centre,
listen to me I sound like some kind of SAP training fanatic:) all I can say is I have been on many SAP courses and most have been excellent!
Online SAP Training
For me online training can offer the best value for money option, especially for the basic development techniques. You can take part
in a quick training session online and be up and running with the basics of any topic or development language very quickly. If the subject
is more complicated online courses can sometimes not be as effective as classroom based options but again this can come down to the actual
trainer. With online courses being a fraction of the cost it might be worth giving it a go even if you do end up needing to supplement
it with an alternative course. You even get a money back guarantee with some online courses. The other big benefit of online training courses
is that you can read reviews from people who have already taken the course, so that you can get a good idea of the quality before you take
part in it.
Take a look at the online training catalogue provided by udemy, this lists a large number courses for SAP,
ABAP and other related development technologies, most of which have a number of reviews from other users who have already taken the course.
Course also come with a preview period and a 30 day money back guranetee!
Training from other SAP consultancies
I have been on many training courses performed by external consultancies specialising in SAP and they have generally been very good.
The only problem I have is that there is not as much visibility of their courses and when they are available you also don't always get
something to take away with you apart from your own notes. From my experience although standard course are available you get to tailor
the course to your specific need and basically tell them what you want to learn and they produce a course to meet your requirements.
This method is often cheaper and can produce as good results as training from SAP.
ABAP / SAP Training Books
There are many books available for various different areas of SAP which will allow you to teach yourself the many different areas of SAP development. The advantage of using a book is that you can have the book with you at all times for constant reference.
Summary
This is quite an easy summary really if I needed SAP specific training and it was the company I worked for paying for it I would recommend
going on the courses provided by SAP. If it was me wanting to learn a new topic and I was paying for it myself I would definitely see
if there was an online training course available which had good reviews and or had a large number of
people enrolled. See here to start your search.
If you are someone who likes to read and have a physical book to reference these are also a good option but I personally I don�t
like the none search ability of books. I guess you could get an e-book to solve this but you also can't read a book while doing somthing
else which you can kind of do with online videos depending on the topic.