The Canadian ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, once said: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be”. Technology is everywhere – it shapes how we live, shop, work, learn and play. You can see and touch technology when you buy groceries through an app on your phone, have a virtual doctor’s appointment, become an avatar in your favorite game – or take a course (like this one) online. And there’s also a lot of critical technology you don’t see – the systems that run your banking, manage the energy grid that keeps your lights on, or give farmers climate data to decide the best crop to plant this season. But change is constant in technology. Think of the last 10 to 15 years of innovation. There are whole industries, products, and services based on technological concepts that didn’t exist 10 or even 5 years ago. And with these industries, products, and processes, comes the demand for new skills and ideas. It isn’t enough to learn what was once important – you have to develop the skills that are crucial now, and those that will be crucial tomorrow. As the world’s leading business software, SAP is everywhere – we touch nearly 80% of the world’s transaction revenue …and 99 out of the 100 largest companies use SAP to run their operations. As one of the world’s most innovative software companies we are at the forefront of change – helping hundreds of thousands of customers around the world run better – and become truly intelligent enterprises. The scale of SAP, the scale of our solutions, our speed of innovation, and the huge variety in roles and skills we and our partners and customers need around the world, create an unprecedented opportunity for an exciting career in this unique company…and that is where YOU come in. Welcome to SAP’s Professional Certificate for Technology Consultants. I’m Martin Gollogly, and I am a Program Manager at SAP. As a technology consultant, I help customers use SAP to solve their challenges, innovate and run their organizations better. I’ve also spent many years managing university programs where SAP teaches technology courses for learners like you. This program is designed to start you on the journey toward becoming an SAP technology professional. It is an introductory program – meaning you don’t need a degree or any IT experience – just the ability to take this course online through a web browser or on your mobile. The program is split into 7 courses, which are then broken down into weeks. Each week, you’ll build your skills through videos, readings, and hands-on activities, then test your understanding through quizzes and assessments. All schedules are flexible – you can take courses at a pace that works for you. If you’re able to spend 5 or more hours per week, you can complete this Technology Consultant Professional Certificate in 3 months. Throughout the program, you’ll hear from SAP and partner insiders. They’ll share their SAP experiences and what they’ve learned while building their careers as technology consultants. We’ll also introduce you to the vast resources available for ongoing SAP learning, support, and being part of our professional community. Let’s take a quick look at each course in this certificate and what you’ll be learning. In Course 1, we’ll explain what SAP software is and how it’s used to drive the data and information flow across organizations. We’ll cover the consulting and project skills you’ll need to thrive as an SAP professional and wow your customers. In Course 2, we’ll demystify technology concepts and terminology, like architecture, platform, applications, operating systems, and security. How do companies use technology and data to run their businesses? What is “the cloud” and why is everybody shifting their business there? How are systems like SAP designed and built? In Courses 3, 4, and 5, we’ll walk you through the key activities a technology consultant performs on a typical SAP project. How does a technology consultant explore and make sense of each customer’s environment and organization? Or make recommendations to help a customer understand the best way forward? How do you design, build and deploy an SAP solution that will support a customer’s goals for their business? In Course 6, you’ll put all your learning into practice by completing a hands-on case study project. You’ll produce deliverables across the SAP implementation lifecycle, demonstrating your new consulting skills and helping to build a portfolio for your CV and future job interviews. Finally, Course 7 gets you SAP career-ready – you’ll develop a career development plan to help you decide what’s next. You’ll prepare a strong CV and work on your networking and interview skills so that you can promote yourself and land that job opportunity. We’re here to help you succeed and get the most out of your learning and this certificate. Any questions – just ask…! Let’s get started!
