Masters with SAP in UK

[Former Member]

Hi,

I am looking at pursuing Masters with SAP in the UK. Below are my facts and qualifications.

Age: 30

Qualification: PMP, CIMA Passed Finalist, Associate Diploma in Information Technology

Experience: Over 8 years experience in Application Consultancy, Pre-Sales Consultancy, Business Development and Project Management in Sage Accpac ERP.

I am looking at pursuing Masters (preferably M. Sc.) with SAP accreditation. I have shortlisted few Universities and now looking at zooming into one of them. I would like to pursue an M. Sc. since I already have Management related qualifications (CIMA & PMP).

I have shortlisted the following courses based on a Google search;

University - College - Course

Brunel - School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics - M. Sc. Business Systems Integration (with SAP Technology)

Warwick - Warwick Business School - MSc in Information Systems & Management

Lancaster University - Management School - MSc in E-Business and Innovation

City University London - School of Informatics - M. Sc. Business Systems Analysis and Design

Sheffield Hallam University - - MBA Information Systems with SAP

University of East Anglia - Norwich Business School - MSc Strategic Information Systems

University of Surrey - School of Management - MSc in Management Information Systems

Birmingham City University - - MSc Enterprise Systems Management

Questions;

1. Do you think I have taken the correct path in pursuing a M. Sc. with SAP. I will be changing my career direction to SAP consultancy and when I start I will not have any experience on SAP. But with experience in implementing Sage Accpac ERP, and having a good knowledge and qualification on Finance and related functionality. Is the career change worth at this point of time?

2. What are the recommended universities based on my Qualifications and Experience?

3. When I complete this M. Sc. will I be able to work as a SAP consultant, or do I have to do further certifications to become a SAP consultant?

4. How are the job prospects for a newly certified SAP consultant with M. Sc. and what will be the starting salary in UK?

Thanking you in advance.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi

You missed the University of Liverpool from your list. I am mature student with IT background. I am finishing my Msc this year.

I havenu2019t applied for any job yet, therefore I can not advise you on that yet.

In regard to Msc. It is totally up to you. If you want the career in SAP; why bother with Msc. There are lot of privately companies in the UK that offer courses in SAP certification. As you may know, the universities are not cheap any more. The average Msc course cost around £4500. and on top of that you need to pay for SAP certification course that cost around £600. before you know you have paid around £5500. Also the Msc course takes around one year. In order to pass Msc you need to study other subjects that you may not like it. But with private companies, within two weeks you can be a certified SAP associate.

But if you want to have Msc qualification as well as SAP certification, then taking Msc course or MBA (if you have the money) is your only option.

The problem is the lack of grants or loans for Msc courses in the UK.

Good luck

quioch

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Quioch,

Didn't find University of Liverpool on the First page of Google search. May be they should work on their SEO. When I ultimately found the site, I couldn't find a SAP affiliated course either. May be you can provide me the link to the course homepage.

I am an overseas student, so I will be paying 3 times of what you have mentioned anyways. However I am willing to spend that amount money, as long as it pays back. The reason for my inquiries and research.

hosnyshaf.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi

The school of Management in The University of Liverpool offers Msc in u201Ce-Business Strategy and Systemsu201D the course has been designed for student interested to apply the latest technology into the business.

http://www.liv.ac.uk/collage/managementschool/postgraduate/programme_info/msc_ebusiness_details.htm

I am part time second year student from this course. The course offers Terp-10 certification, as well as hands on experience with SAP. Also you can choose SAP related project for your thesis.

If you need any more information please let me know.

Thank

Quioch

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Mehdi,

Have you completed the course? I am currently working as a techno-functional and got admission for Msc in E-business strategy and systems.  Do we need to register seperately for the SAP certification while doing the course?

Have you applied for a job?

[Former Member]

i am new to the sap domain.working for last 5mnths in basis department.

Currently i am lookingt to pursue masters in" MSc in  Enterprise System integration with sap certification" it includes HANA, ABAP, Mobility.

Shold i move with this course??

I would like to know your views..

attaching the link below ..kindly reply..

Birmingham City University : Enterprise Systems Integration with SAP Certification - MSc

[Former Member]

i have question, master business(erp) in victoria university can be compared with university with sap in UK?

Which university is more provided sap between victory university in australia and university with sap in UK?

[Former Member]

Hello there,

If you'd like to find a full list of UK members and case studies etc. I'd suggest you pop along here first:

http://www.sap.com/uk/services/uap/index.epx

That isn't an up to date list as we have had some new joiners over the past few months but itgives you a rough idea. The universities you mentioned are certainly those that have a great deal of SAP-specific content and each also offer a Certification route. Many will include an ERP component and some ERP and Business Intelligence. If you are looking for a very intense SAP exposure within an MSc I'd suggest that the most intense courses would be:

MSc Enterprise Systems Management (BCU): ERP, BI, CRM, ERPSim, Netweaver, and soon Business ByDesign

MSc Business Systems Integration and Consulting (BCU - 'coming soon'): same as above largely but with the removal of CRM and inclusion of Solution Manager

Multiple MScs (Sheffield Hallam): ERP, Multiple Netweaver components in depth, Solution Manager

Multiple MScs (Brunel) ERP, BI

Multiple MScs (City) ERP, Solution Manager

But the other degrees you list below are also top quality courses that have achieved considerable success in attracting students and earning a reputation. It really depends on how intense and SAP-specific you would want your course to be.

1) I would certainly suggest that an MSc with an SAP compoent is a worthwhile investment - we launched our UK 'Corporate Masters' Program for example in 2011 and 16 partners - Accenture, Deloitte, BearingPoint, IBM GS etc, turned up because they are interested in how to deal with an ever widening gap between SAP consultant supply and demand.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150249433417498.368518.367939082497

Changing career direction makes an MSc even more useful because it signals a break and you an opportunity to reflect on which aspects of SAP you may be interested in. You sound like you're a finance person but you may find that after a few months of studying that BI consulting is what you are interested in. 30 is the perfect career change date as many people choose to do an MBA at exactly that time in their careers - you have enough experience to have insight

2) Again this really depends on what you want to do and the degree of SAP exposure.

3) You can work as an SAP Consultant with any level of SAP Certification and expertise because it depends which skills are in demand. But if you are really interested very specifically in being an SAP Consultant I'd suggest an MSc with more than one or two systems and where there is a thesis component that would enable you to examine an SAP topic during the course. We offer ERP and CRM Certifications in the UK and will introduce a BI Certification in 2012, plus we have 13 e-academies that are made available to us via UK Education that would be in addition to your course fee (usually about £1,700-1,800 or so) but that would give you a total of 15 Certification options. But as a couple of replies below have stated the key thing is evidence of skills - you should use the systems access that the MSc gives you to explore. I'd also pick a uni with a good SAP library - BCU invested in a library that has 3-5 copies of every book published by SAP Press for example (worth many thousands of pounds) so you would be able to examine other areas

4) Job prospects are excellent - just as an example I have had 4 conversations with PwC about hires in the past month and we ourselves will be taking on around 20 interns in 2012. Salaries depend of course on which companies you work for and in which fields (where the greatest demand is).

All the best

Martin Gollogly

Director, University Alliances, UK, Ireland and Benelux

[Pratiktare]

Hi Everyone,

Looking at all these posts made me keen to post my queries as well. Currently I am working for Accenture India since last three years.In my working career I got opportunity to work of multi-client project in utilities industry. I have worked for Clients from UK, Australia & Spain.

My current profile is SAP ISU CRM developer and also have a know-how of DM, Billing, PWB. Since I am more keen in pursuing higher studies (MSc or MBA) but want to be associated with SAP since I personally don't want to leave SAP.

Need your expert comments on the following:

1. Which Courses/Universities would prove best of me in terms of pursuing MS or MBA including SAP as subject?

2. Are there any scholarships/grants being offered looking at the professional background?

3. Since I will be an overseas student what would be the tenure of my VISA. viz. student VISA and work permit.

4. Can I still get an internship in a organization for SAP CRM 2007?

5. What are the chances of Jobs offering and salary for 3yrs SAP CRM experienced candidate with MS or MBA degree?

These are the ones which I can think of now. Would like to get some expert comments on this. Can't wait to get a reply for this.

Thanks & Regards,

Pratik T.

[Former Member]

Hi Martin,

I have tried to access the course on the BCU web site. It does not provide any fee details nor the application form. It's pathetic compared to the other universities which offer the same course with much more details on their website. I also lodged a query to the University about a week back, but did not receive any response yet.

[Former Member]

Hi Pratik,

I am an ABAP with 2 years experience from China.I am also keen in pursuing higher studies MSc about SAP.

We maybe can discuss it togeter.

Best Regards

Clark

[RichBlumberg]

hosnyshaf,

Hi! Comments below....

Best regards,

Richard

SAP University Alliances

Program Leader

Questions;

1. Do you think I have taken the correct path in pursuing a M. Sc. with SAP. I will be changing my career direction to SAP consultancy and when I start I will not have any experience on SAP. But with experience in implementing Sage Accpac ERP, and having a good knowledge and qualification on Finance and related functionality. Is the career change worth at this point of time?

***COMMENT: Yes, an SAP related career is very worthwhile. You can bridge your experiences with one ERP solution to another. Finance is a good starting point. Build on ERP (TERP10 is a good certification to start with - )

2. What are the recommended universities based on my Qualifications and Experience?

***COMMENT: There are a number of SAP University Alliances program schools in the UK - Check out the UA Around the World list - http://uaaroundtheworld.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/overview(bD1lbiZjPTEwMQ==)/start.htm

3. When I complete this M. Sc. will I be able to work as a SAP consultant, or do I have to do further certifications to become a SAP consultant?

***COMMENT: As mentioned, TERP10 is the best starting point. If you have quality skills, education, and work experiences you will have opportunities that can range throughout the SAP Ecosystem. Good things come to those who take it step by step and have a determination and focus around their career goals.

4. How are the job prospects for a newly certified SAP consultant with M. Sc. and what will be the starting salary in UK?

***COMMENT: You can see many SAP jobs in the SCN Career Center - http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/careers You can learn about SAP roles (view the videos) - http://www.careersatsap.com/ And find out more in the UA Career Center -

[Former Member]

Thanks RIchard,

That's a very helpful answer. Do you have any idea of the starting salary for a fresh SAP certified consultant?

[satish_talikota]

Hi,

You are in the right direction. You will never regret it.

I suggest you to get into Techno_Functional roles aiming to be a Solution Architect.

So, learn ABAP Language and also focus on a specific Module like SD, MM, FI, PS etc, depending upon your area of interest.

I would also suggest you to have an eye on BI.

So, ABAP, Functional Module, BI is a lethal combination.

Get on to ABAP or Functional and later you can learn BI.

With this road map, your career is insured.

All the best.

Satish Talikota

[Former Member]

Hi Satish,

Thank you very much for the insightful information.

However I'm under the impression that ABAP is a programming language for SAP. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong. I have no background in Software Development. What amount of technical knowledge do you need to become an ABAP consultant?

hosnyshaf.

[satish_talikota]

Hi Hosny,

Trust me, you will enjoy learning ABAP after you have done your Functional Module.

Its a Programming Language agreed, but not complex to understand like C and Java.

Let your perception not cheat you.

Just sit through the ABAP Classes as if you will be a ABAP Programmer, and at the end of it, you will be so valuable.

This takes care of your command in all the 5 key streams of any of SAP Projects - Configuration, Development, Data Migration, Testing, Training.

So just go for it and launch yourself and cool yourself in SAP world.

Regards

Satish Talikota

[Former Member]

Thanks Satish,

I will surely keep ABAP as an option and consider learning it.