Machka 

Just wondering if anyone here has worked with the case study: "Global Bike Inc" to learn SAP.

This is an overview of the case study:
Global Bike Inc Overview ? Epistemy Press, LLC


And a bit more info, if you're interested:
https://blogs.sap.com/2010/12/28/ann...l-bike-inc-20/


And the document I'm currently reading ... the start of the case study:
https://e-class.teilar.gr/modules/do...ry_en_v3.1.pdf

Gresp15C

This looks like a bunch of marketing material for SAP. I don't know what you're using these materials for, maybe pursuing a business degree?

If you're thinking of migrating your business to SAP, or any other comprehensive enterprise system, it is vital that you talk to other people who have experienced it first-hand at various levels of an organization from the CEO down to the people in the purchasing and shipping departments.

If you're thinking of a career change, I once read that "SAP Programmer" is the highest paid technical specialty in the world.

Machka 

I'm in uni working toward a Master's in IT. This is what we've been handed as a case study to learn ERP systems, and we're using SAP for our tutorials.


Anyway, I'm finding the case study itself a bit amusing.

GrainBrain

Mmm data bases and logistics! I've used the SAP interfaces before, just for inventory in one part of a big corporation. Good luck!

Gresp15C

Very cool. I worked for a company when it migrated to SAP, but I don't know much about the experience of actually making it work. It's hard to generalize about "SAP" because every business has its own customized installation. Same for Epic, the medical records software that's made a few miles from my workplace.

fishboat

"Customized" within the standard software configs already available within SAP, which can be limiting or extensive, depending on the issue you're wrestling with at the time. Every business will say.."..ÿah..but we do things differently.." To which SAP installers-consultants will respond.."..yes, however now you'll do it within the business-ERP design available within SAP.."

I've been involved in two obsolete ERP to SAP conversions at two different major-size companies. My ex was an SAP project manager-consultant. Developers 10-15+ years back could make $80-$150 an hour. If my ex or an SAP developer that worked for her wanted to work full time++ (60-80hrs a week) when projects were available(there can be lag times between projects..they could work on a global or regional basis), they could easily break $200K a year. One young guy that worked for her would do one 3-5 month project a year, make in excess of $100k, and take the rest of the year off..this was 15 years ago. I had an opportunity to jump into it when the place I worked for was sold and moved out of state(I declined to move with them)..I passed. One of a few reasons my ex became my ex...she continued in the business...I stuck with my career-field.

Probably 20 years back(?)..a $3B company she worked for did a global SAP implementation from previous, obsolete, ERP systems. Project had a budget of $200M...and I think it ran over budget a bit. Longer story of the people impact of the conversion..I won't get into it, but that's when she hung out here own shingle.

No idea what the industry is like these days..I can only hope the SAP user-interface is a fair amount less fidgety and wonky. The back end could be pretty good, but the front end was..not so great.

Machka 

It's rather "Windows 95" ... I'm kind of surprised. That was OK when I used it back in 2005, but now?

However, I'm still smiling at the fact that the case study we're working through, which is, apparently a commonly used case study at many institutions that teach SAP ... has top of the line professional bicycles for people who ride the Tour de France for about $3500.

Gresp15C

The businesses that use SAP absolutely don't want it to be changed at all. These are the same businesses that will delay migrating to the latest OS version for years because the new OS might cause SAP to break.

It's not all that bad, though. Remember that a lot of the users will be using their computers for nothing but entering SAP transactions, and the occasional e-mail. So, for those users, SAP is the OS.

fishboat

All true. SAP is so integrated with the business systems that a problem with SAP can be a problem with the business. I never worked at the front line SAP user level. For those that use it all day, every day..it works fine. It tends to be not so friendly to occasional users that pop in to look something up or do root cause work on some issue. Compared to typical software front ends, 10-15 years ago or today, the SAP front end is rather..dated. On the the hand..it doesn't have to be slick and easy/intuitive..it just has to work well and be incredibly stable. I'm reminded of a statement Michael Spinks made years ago during an interview..".. I don't have to be no epidemiologist..I knocks people out.." SAP is a heavyweight that that works.

I was going to mention above..I don't think the money is as good for a SAP developer as it once was. Indians have come into IT in a big way in the last 15 years and wages have dropped, or domestic-company IT get's outsourced all together with lower cost IT providers. That's not a racist statement..it's simply a fact of life. The very high wages are(were) a function of supply and demand..there's a much larger supply, demand drops, and wages go with it.