Job for Consultant: RE: [sap-career] Good institute for SAP APO training in NJ/NY area?

mardi 26 juillet 2011

RE: [sap-career] Good institute for SAP APO training in NJ/NY area?

Posted by Thomas_Dulaney (IS Specialist)
on Jul 26 at 10:14 AM

Ashok,

To my knowledge, there really aren't any institutes in the US that specialize in SAP training. At least not in the same sense that there are in India and other countries. SAP America handles the lion's share of training in the US. They have a Consultant's Academy which will run you through all the relevant courses and prep you for the exam. Going that route is not cheap. I've heard a full course of training with room and board in India is about the same cost as 1 class offered by SAP America in the US, but I don't have any direct info on that.

Having said that, starting with APO is a bit like learning how to swim by jumping in the deep end of the pool on your first day. SAP's Advanced Planning and Optimization Component can be thought of as an extension of the Materials Management (MM) and Production Planning (modules within SAP's core product, SAP Enterprise Resource Planning or SAP ERP). Most folks start by learning one of the basic modules before jumping right into the more advanced APO component. I'm not saying it's impossible to start with APO, just non-standard and possibly a bit harder. I'm a basis guy, though, so you'll want to get advice from an APO, MM or PP consultant.

Honestly, though, in the US, with an MBA from a reputable school, you shouldn't have any trouble getting a job with Deloitte or one of the other big firms (Accenture, KPMG, etc). They'll pay to train you. You won't get a lot of training as they typically just give you the minimum and then throw you at a client, but you'll have senior folks on the project who will help you when you get stuck.. Those big firms are *always* hiring as they have an up-or-out business model and the burnout rate is high. Also, if you stay with them for 4 or 5 years you'll end up being a project manager for APO projects and not a subject matter expert in the long run. If you want to be a subject matter expert, then you should be aiming for work with a customer or with SAP America or with one of the smaller boutique firms that specialize in SCM. (APO is a subarea of the larger Supply Chain Management field). The big firms will almost certainly train you as an MM or PP consultant first, however, as the APO market is small and the demand for MM/PP is larger

If you *really* have your heart set on APO component, then I would recommend you do some research into boutique SCM SAP consulting firms (just google SAP SCM consulting or SAP APO consulting). I believe Bristlecone in California used to have a strong emphasis in SCM, but that was some time ago that I had any contact with them, so I could be wrong. Regardless, find out who's doing that work and contact them directly. If you ask their hiring folks to review your resume and make recommendations, they probably will. If you're MBA has some kind of supply chain focus, you may end up getting an offer just by showing initiative and interest!

Hope this helps! Best of luck on your career search!

Best regards,
--Tom

---------------Original Message---------------
From: AshokPatel
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 11:13 AM
Subject: Good institute for SAP APO training in NJ/NY area?

Can someone help me to find a good institute for SAP APO training in NJ/NY area?

I am graduating from NYU MBA program in May 2012 and I would like to add SAP APO certification in competency skills set for prospective employers. Thanks

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