Professional Certificate Introduction

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 todecide 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!
Course & Instructor Introduction
You may have heard the saying, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe”.
It’s about the power of preparation before tackling a project or challenge. That’s what you’ll be learning in this
course – how to prepare for the journey of becoming an SAP professional by sharpening your project and consulting
skills.
Hi, I’m Martin Gollogly. Welcome to SAP Professional Fundamentals. I’ll be your instructor for this first course in the
Professional Certificate for SAP Technology Consultants. Let’s look at what we’ll be covering.
First, we’ll introduce you to SAP
– what IS “SAP software” and what does it do?
_Who uses SAP?
– and what’s it really like to be a technology consultant on an SAP project?
During the course you’ll meet other SAP professionals, and we’ll share our experiences and insights from working
with SAP around the world.
Next, we’ll cover the consulting and project skills you’ll need to thrive as an SAP professional and wow your
customers. You’ll sharpen your research and strategic thinking skills so that you’re ready to make sense of a
customer’s technology environment and organization. We’ll look at useful approaches to help you analyze and solve
problems – like design thinking or systems thinking.
Next, we’ll demystify how to plan, set-up, and manage a project – and how to navigate being on a project
team. We’ll identify the other professionals you’ll collaborate with on SAP projects – there may be teams from SAP,
the customer, or other technology partners from SAP’s ecosystem involved. How do you build effective relationships
to work successfully with others and achieve goals together in these situations? To support you here, we’ll develop
your reflective listening, communication, and collaboration skills.
Then, we’ll cover the different types of work a technology consultant might do – from being an expert in how SAP is
used in a particular industry or business process (like Finance or Human Resources) to being a software developer
or technical expert who builds SAP systems.
Finally, you’ll put all your learning into practice in a hands-on project at the end of the course. We’re here to help
you succeed and get the most out of your learning.
SAP Professional Fundamentals Syllabus
Course Description

SAP Professional Fundamentals is the first course in the SAP Technology Consultant Professional Certificate
program. The course introduces you to the world of consulting and the range of skills that you need to succeed in
this competitive field.

You’ll explore SAP professional consulting roles and discover what technical consultants, functional
consultants, and other professionals do. You'll investigate the wide range of skills consultants have. These skills
include business process analysis, systems and design thinking, and effective soft skills like communication and
relationship management. You’ll explore various planning and project management methodologies such as
Waterfall, Agile, DevOps, and Cloud. Plus, you’ll start to get a feel for the whole SAP journey, from engaging with
the customer to deploying a solution.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
 Explain what is meant by the SAP ecosystem and the value it brings to customers.
 Describe what different SAP professionals do and how they engage with customers.
 Understand the core and soft consulting skills that are both in highest demand, and frequently not taught in
classroom environments.
 Describe a typical SAP engagement and how key professional skills are used at each stage of the SAP
Implementation Lifecycle.
 Describe key roles with whom an SAP professional typically collaborates.
Introduction to SAP Professional Fundamentals
By the end of each week, you will be able to:
Week 1: Introduction to the SAP Ecosystem
 Explain what is meant by the SAP ecosystem and the value it brings to customers.
 Discuss the purpose of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) such as SAP.
 Describe what an SAP Professional does and the type of customer engagements they could be involved in.
 Recall the SAP Learning resources available to support the SAP ecosystem.
Week 2: SAP Professional Skills Part 1
 List the key skills required to operate as an SAP professional in a business environment.
 Describe research skills used by SAP Professionals.
 Discuss the analysis of customers, business processes and data.
 Demonstrate effective communication and presentation skills.
 Create concise, clear, and easy to interpret written documents.
 Differentiate conceptual and strategic skills.
 Demonstrate advanced Microsoft Suite skills.
Week 3: SAP Professional Skills Part 2
 Describe the planning of personal, project and schemas for models.
 Discuss project management, development methodologies, communicating priorities and identifying
roadblocks.
 Elaborate on building effective relationships and collaborating with different teams, customers, and IT
partners.
 Describe business acumen, political sensitivity, and cultural awareness.
 Explain domain and industrial functional knowledge.
Week 4: Introduction to the SAP Implementation Lifecycle
 Describe a typical SAP engagement and provide an overview of the SAP implementation lifecycle.
 Describe how key professional skills are used in customer engagement, discovery, and analysis.
 Describe how key professional skills are used in design, implementation, and testing.
Week 5: Understanding SAP Professional Roles and Functional Knowledge
 Describe the role of a Technical Consultant.
  Describe the role of a Functional Consultant.
 Describe key SAP professional roles and how they collaborate.
 Describe key functional knowledge to support SAP analysis and implementation work.
 Explain the key elements of SAP Product Strategy and related business processes.
Week 6: Professional Skills for Successful SAP Implementation Hands-on Project
 Select an appropriate SAP case study for review in the hands-on project.
 Assess the selected Case Study of a customer implementing an SAP solution.
 Create a short precis or video identifying possible customer challenges and key professional skills that
would help ensure successful implementation.
 Analyze and grade two peer submissions of the Case Study assessment and precis/video.
Projects and Quizzes
Week 1: Introduction to the SAP Ecosystem
Quizzes:
 You will take one practice quiz and one graded quiz about the SAP ecosystem.
Week 2: SAP Professional Skills Part 1
Quizzes:
 You will take one practice quiz and one graded quiz about the first group of skills you’ll need to be
successful as an SAP professional.
Week 3: SAP Professional Skills Part 2
Quizzes:
 You will take one practice quiz and one graded quiz about skills relating to SAP planning, project
management, and collaboration.
Week 4: Introduction to the SAP Implementation Lifecycle
Quizzes:
 You will take one practice quiz and one graded quiz about SAP implementation lifecycle.
Week 5: Understanding SAP Professional Roles and Functional Knowledge
Quizzes:
 You will take one practice quiz and one graded quiz about the roles of the functional consultant and the
technical consultant.
Week 6: SAP Professional Fundamentals Hands-on Project
Quiz:
 You will take a graded quiz that covers all the material you learned in the SAP Customer Engagement and
Discovery course.
Hands-on Project:

 This is where you will apply what you have learned in this course. This will help you assess your
understanding and potentially help you to gain a sense of where you would like to direct your own career.

You will choose a customer story about a real-life SAP implementation. Then you’ll prepare to join the project
depicted in the customer story as an SAP professional on the initial team. You’ll research the customer’s
organization, industry, and technology environment using the customer story materials and other creditable sources.
You will present your findings to the customer and explain what you have discovered either by writing a brief
summary or via a short video. Finally, you will review submissions from other learners. You will provide and receive
feedback, using the provided review rubric.

Welcome to SAP Professional Fundamentals – Meet and Greet

Hi, and welcome to SAP Professional Fundamentals.
Please use this discussion forum to deepen your understanding of and clarify any questions about the course
content at any given time.

Also, use this forum as a place to ask questions about any assignments of this course.

Your fellow classmates will provide feedback on your posts. Read through your classmates’ posts as well since they
might have the same questions as you. Please respond to your classmates’ posts with your own feedback when you
can.

To get started, consider the following questions:

 What do you think will be the easiest and most difficult parts of becoming an SAP professional?
 What topics are you most excited to learn?
Submit your responses to these questions. Then, visit the discussion forum to read what other learners have written,
and respond to at least two posts with your own thoughts.

Participation is optional.

Introduction to SAP Ecosystem and its Value to Customers

“A system is never the sum of its parts – it’s the product of their interaction,” said systems-thinking guru, Russell
Lakoff.
Welcome. In this module, we’re going to introduce you to the SAP Ecosystem and explain how it helps businesses
solve problems and achieve their goals. At the heart of the SAP ecosystem is SAP software. What is it, and what
does it do? We’ll explain what SAP software is – and how it’s used to drive the flow of data and information across
organizations.
SAP develops software solutions used by small, medium, and large organizations. We develop
standard applications, industry solutions, platforms, and technologies that enable every
business process to be designed, mapped, and optimized. SAP is all about helping
organizations become intelligent and sustainable.
in this module, you’ll learn more about our customers and see how SAP puts these goals into action for them. Our
customers, partners, and many others who work with us to innovate and build the SAP platform are part of a vast
community – millions of people across the world.
Throughout this course, you’ll meet SAP professionals from across this global ecosystem. They’ll share their
insights from working with SAP around the world – and lift the lid on what it’s really like to be a consultant on an SAP
project.
Finally, we’ll introduce you to the vast resources available to support you on the .journey to becoming an SAP
[Link] ongoing SAP learning to being a part of SAP’s professional community.
Let's get started!

Setting Context: What is SAP?

7“At SAP, we help our customers to become intelligent, networked, and sustainable
enterprises. Through innovation and trusted collaboration, our goal is to create a
sustainable world together… because only by working together can this be achieved.”
Christian Klein, CEO, SAP
Hello and welcome to SAP.
We are a market leader in enterprise cloud-applications software, covering resourcing, supply chain, customer
relationships, and financial management. Did you know that SAP solutions generate 87% of global
commerce? Across the enterprise spectrum, from 99 of the largest corporations to a wide range of successful small-
and medium-sized
businesses — SAP’s customers are generating $46 trillion of business!
In this video, you’ll discover what makes SAP such an innovative market leader. You’ll explore how the business
productively connects its financial goals with its social responsibilities and learn how working toward a
positive, sustainable world sits at the heart of everything the business does. So, who are SAP?
 Founded in 1972 in Germany, SAP now has over 109,000 employees and more than 22,000
partner companies. We operate in 155 countries and support 240 million cloud users leveraging our
solutions.
The fundamental philosophy of the business is to enable cloud technology to build a
sustainable world.
And as a result, SAP have been number one in the Dow Jones sustainability index for 14 years.
But how do SAP make an impact and achieve success?
First off, let’s consider our approach to continuous investment in innovation. For 50 years, SAP have revolutionized
the way business is done and the organization now has three goals:
One: To enable every business to become an intelligent, sustainable enterprise
. Digital transformation to the cloud is critical to enabling both businesses and the world to thrive. To support this,
SAP work with organizations to transition them to the latest cloud-based innovations.
Two: To bring enterprises together in a global business network.
Through the SAP Business Network — the largest B2B network in the cloud — SAP provide scaled solutions that
connect intelligent enterprises across supply chains, so everyone can respond to disruptions in real-time.
Three: To create a sustainable world… together.
Customers entrust SAP with their mission-critical and energy-intense processes, and SAP Cloud for Sustainable
Enterprises, in turn, enables those companies to integrate sustainability metrics seamlessly into how they manage
their business.
Ok, now you’re up to speed with who SAP are, let’s look at what we offer our customers. SAP provide
comprehensive cloud solutions for all business processes across a wide range of industries, from retail to health
care. These include:
o Enterprise resource planning,
o financial management,
o customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience,
o spend management,
o supply chain management,
o human resources (HR) and people engagement,
o A business technology platform.
You may now ask, “How does SAP blend its goals and customer offerings with social responsibility?”
Our mantra is zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality.
And these ambitions interconnect with other key features of the organization to fuel SAP’s profitability and ability to
achieve our three goals. Take SAP’s focus on carbon emissions, for example. This is a major contributor to SAP’s
growth, customer loyalty, and employee engagement, not to mention profitability.
Next, let’s consider SAP’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
This has boosted the number of SAP women managers and expanded the capabilities and skills the business can
offer customers. However, the backbone of all of this is SAP’s focus on sustainability. Not only do we see this as a
social responsibility, but it runs through the fabric of all we do.
So how are we working toward this fundamental goal? Driving enterprise and sustainability through innovation. Just
under 30% of SAP employees are dedicated to research and development. Plus, through 17 Co-Innovation Labs
worldwide, 10 Innovation Centers, and 20 Development Centers, our open SAP training system supports 1.3 million
unique users and six million enrollments. As an example of the impact this has had, SAP have already helped over
400 external and internal startups develop sustainably. But that’s not all.
SAP are also dedicated to driving innovation through a rich, diverse, and inclusive employment philosophy. SAP
firmly believes that employees are the lifeblood of our operations, and just over 83% of SAP employees are SAP
shareholders. We have also cultivated a systemically inclusive mindset by leveraging technology for
inclusion, ensuring tools are accessible, and building a diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem across our entire
supply chain. However, we also ensure our diverse and inclusive culture emanates from the first point of contact in
all learning experiences. This means students from around the world are welcomed into the SAP ecosystem and
encouraged to explore SAP solutions, grow through career-building learning journeys, and prepare for valuable SAP
certification.
Hey… that’s you, by the way.
In this video, you have learned who SAP are, what we do, our goals, and how we work to achieve those
goals. You’ve discovered how sustainability drives everything the business does. Plus, you’ve explored how
innovation and a wholly interconnected approach to financial goals and social responsibility enhance the impact
SAP have on the world.

SAP and Ecosystem in Action

At SAP, we are enabling our customers to become intelligent enterprises by integrating data and processes, building
flexible supply chains, and innovating with industry best practices… so that they can grow more resilient, more
profitable, and more sustainable. But there’s a lot more to SAP than that. Hello, and welcome to the SAP Ecosystem
in Action.
The SAP ecosystem provides enterprise cloud software to both small companies and large corporations that goes
beyond enabling businesses to analyze, manage, develop, and expand their activities. It also helps them to improve
efficiency, increase their resilience, and, most importantly, enhance their sustainability.
In this video, you’ll see the SAP ecosystem in action.
You’ll discover what makes an intelligent enterprise and learn how SAP’s cloud solutions provide the central
nervous system to a business. You’ll find out about SAP’s collaborative partnerships and see the direct impact a
full SAP solution has through a real-life example.
So, let’s look at how this all works in a little more detail.
SAP applications collect and process data.
This data could be anything from raw material purchasing information to sales records to customer experience
details.
Collection and processing enable a business to visualize and manage its operations. Through our solutions, our
customers become ‘intelligent enterprises.’ They are empowered to leverage the cloud to provide a consistent
workflow with all their APIs and models aligned; they enjoy coordinated lifecycle management with embedded
analytics; and they are able to provide a seamless user experience to their employees, suppliers, and customers.
Here's an example to show you what we mean.
Say hello to Equipment Inc.
Equipment Inc. are a medium-sized enterprise based in Germany specializing in the trade, rental, and service of
high-quality goods. Before they contacted SAP, they were operating way too many different software systems
and business models across sales, vehicle rental, maintenance, repair of machinery and equipment, and more. You
get the picture. There was no central nervous system pulling their activities together, keeping control, and providing
feedback. Can you imagine how hard it is for a company to scale up and run on a global basis when they can’t
connect their left foot with their right? They’re going to trip as soon as they get moving.
Equipment Inc. needed a tailored solution that would pull everything together, eliminate manual processes, be
accessible from anywhere in the world, AND significantly reduce the number of applications they were working with.
Enter SAP’s partner ecosystem. Every industry, geographical market, and business type has its own specific
requirements. To better understand and meet these needs, SAP collaborates with a global set of delivery partners
that have a nuanced understanding of the history and needs of local customers. These partners have built and
integrated additional unique enhancements on top of SAP's platforms, which address local and industry
requirements. Through this approach, the SAP ecosystem provides innovative, tailored, and locally
embedded solutions that meet stringent SAP criteria.
You could say that SAP’s cloud-based brains and spinal cord pull together a business’s processes, enabling the
SAP partner ecosystem to twitch a business’s muscles into purposeful action.
So, what does this SAP partner ecosystem look like? Our global strategic partner ecosystem includes some of the
most prestigious names and offers sales, design, build, and hosting solutions, as well as consulting services.
SAP cloud infrastructure partners provide the infrastructure needed to run SAP technology in the cloud.
SAP global technology partners provide a wide range of products, from hardware to databases, to support SAP
technology. Now let’s see how SAP’s collaborative ecosystem powered Equipment Inc.’s global expansion plans.
Equipment Inc. chose the SAP S/4HANA Cloud extended edition for vehicle sales management. They also opted to
implement Partner Y’s Vehicle Sales and Service (VSS) solution, which they obtained through SAP’s extensive
partner program and the SAP store. Partner Y specialize in sales and service processes in the discrete
manufacturing, automotive, heavy equipment, and industrial service sectors.
So, the match was perfect for Equipment Inc.’s needs. Together, SAP and Partner Y designed an integrated solution
for the Equipment Inc. technicians using the SAP Field Service Management solution.
Now, Equipment Inc. have complete synergy between their SAP central nervous system and Partner Y's responsive
VSS muscle. The business is operating integrated and efficient processes across sales, rentals, and services. They
enjoy full visibility of their costs and revenues along the complete vehicle lifecycle. They have automated core
business processes, reduced the need for manual intervention, and removed unnecessary software interfaces.
And they can optimize their rental fleet operation and financing costs. Equipment Inc. are running smoothly, with
both legs working in perfect unison.
In this video, you’ve watched SAP’s dynamic ecosystem in action. You explored what it really means to be an
intelligent enterprise. Plus, you were introduced to SAP’s three types of partners — Global Service,
Cloud Infrastructure, and Global Technology Partners.

SAP Insights
This program is designed to start you on the journey toward becoming an SAP
technology professional. Developing your career includes examining your skills
and interests and then learning about opportunities available to you.

Take a moment to review this SAP Technology Professionals Guide.

Front cover of the SAP Technology Professionals Guide showing a mountain and a
climber standing on the top of a rock with arms outspread.
It sets out the many resources available as you progress through the Coursera
SAP Technology Consultant Professional Certificate and how you can join the SAP
family. The guide answers your questions, such as:

 What SAP resources are available to support my Coursera learning?

 What SAP professional communities and forums can I connect with – both as a learner now and then later
as I develop my career?
 What opportunities are there to take my SAP learning further when I complete my certificate?
 How can I find out more about SAP professional roles and internship opportunities?
And now, on with the course!

What does an SAP Professional do?

“One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.”
Nelson Mandela
Developing your career includes examining your skills and interests and then learning about opportunities available
to you. Understanding the roles of SAP professionals will help you find a fit between your talents, abilities, and
interests and the career paths available to you. Let’s explore what SAP professionals do. We will examine two key
SAP professional roles, the functional consultant and the technical consultant. Think of these roles as design-
oriented, product-oriented, and developmental.
What if you become a functional consultant? Your role will be to work with clients and understand their business
and their business problems. Then you apply your knowledge of SAP solutions to the problem the customer is trying
to solve. You would work with the customer to design new processes and propose product solutions that address
their business strategy, operations, and current processes.
You will need good communication skills and social skills to express complex solutions in simple terms to the client
and to mediate between colleagues so that the team is able to develop workable solutions.
What if you become a technical consultant?
Your role will be to take the proposed design and develop a technical design. Then you would apply your technical
expertise to implement, deploy, test, and run this solution using SAP systems.
o Your main responsibility would be to translate functional specifications to technical specifications.
o You will need strong analytical skills and rich programming experience.
These skills plus extensive skills with SAP products and knowledge of the customer’s business domain will help you
create a successful system for the customer. This new system that the team develops will enhance the client’s
operations, lower their costs, help them manage their risks, leverage their talent, and potentially change the
way they conduct business.
SAP professionals help clients achieve outstanding results. Can you picture yourself innovating and transforming
a business? SAP professionals develop and lead change management initiatives which include
conducting workshops for clients to re-imagine their organization’s future. This could mean, for example, shaping
and delivering finance projects or delivering large robotics projects, or creating augmented reality (AI) projects. What
are other skills that will help make you successful as an SAP professional? The best SAP professionals are self-
starters.
They develop good personal project management skills.
They have the interpersonal skills for building and running teams but can also be a productive member of a team led
by others. SAP professionals are life-long learners, ever curious to broaden their understanding of technology,
industries, and clients.
They are keen to innovate and bring novel ideas and perspectives. They act as mediators, facilitators, and
teachers.
Finally, SAP professionals effectively navigate organizational politics and are sensitive to the cultural diversity of the
SAP workforce and its global customers. Does this sound like you?
Let’s explore the possibilities for you as an SAP professional.

Summary of Module 1
This module introduced you to the SAP ecosystem, enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP, and your
role as an SAP professional. You learned that SAP, founded in 1972 in Germany, helps customers build intelligent,
sustainable enterprises. SAP’s fundamental philosophy is to help build a sustainable world using cloud
technologies. And how does SAP realize this vision? By helping organizations transition to cloud-based innovations,
bringing enterprises together in a global business network, and helping customers integrate sustainability into how
they manage their business. You learned about SAP’s collaborative partnerships and three types of partners —
global service, cloud infrastructure, and global technology partners. You now know the skills and abilities you need
and the career paths available to you as an SAP professional. You learned about two key SAP professional roles –
functional and technical consultants. You learned that as a functional consultant, you work with clients to understand
their business problems and then apply your knowledge of SAP solutions to the problem they are trying to solve.
And you learned that as a technical consultant, your role is to translate functional specifications into technical design
and implement the solution using SAP systems. You also learned about some of the other professional skills that
are critical to your success as an SAP professional. These include communication and social skills, project
management and interpersonal skills, and being a productive, innovative self-starter.

Introduction to the SAP Ecosystem – Content Questions

Please use this discussion forum to deepen your understanding of and clarify any questions about the Week 1
material in preparation for the Week 1 graded quiz.

Ask questions and/or start discussions with your community of fellow learners.

Your fellow learners will provide feedback on your posts. Read through your fellow learners’ posts as well since they
might have the same questions as you.

Please respond to your fellow learners’ posts with your thoughts and answers when you can.

Participation is optional.
Introduction to SAP Professional Skills Part 1
The Roman historian, Seneca, once said: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.
But how exactly should you prepare to make sure you can seize the opportunity when it
presents itself?
What skills are most valued, and how can you set yourself apart?
In the next two modules (SAP Professional Skills Parts 1 and 2), we’ll cover the skills
you’ll use to operate as an SAP professional in a business environment
– helping you work out the ‘right’ questions to ask your customers and project team members.
Welcome to SAP Professional Skills Part 1.
In this module, we’ll explore the research, strategic thinking, and conceptual skills
that help you understand the big picture in any situation.
You’ll use these skills to ask,
“Who IS the customer?”
“What is the problem the customer is trying to solve or the business outcome they want
to achieve?”
and, most importantly, “Why?”
Play video starting at ::59 and follow transcript0:59
Once you know more about a customer, you’ll fire up your analysis skills.
Here, we’ll look at approaches to help you interpret situations and data, such as design
thinking, systems thinking;
analysis models like SWOT, PESTLE, and Six Sigma – along with powerful SAP methodologies
that help accelerate your project work.
On projects, you’ll use this analytical tool kit to ask, “What do the customer’s
organization and technology environment look like?”
“How are their business and data processes working?”
and “Is this customer ready for change and set up for success?”
After you analyze a customer’s environment, you’ll formulate recommendations,
by asking “How can SAP help this customer achieve their goals?” and “What is the
best way to go about it?”
Here, you’ll need effective communication and presentation skills to help the customer
understand both what you’ve discovered
– and the next steps you recommend so that the customer can make informed decisions.
We’ll cover how communicating clearly, concisely, and authentically builds trust with your team
and the customer – and provides a strong foundation for future collaboration.
And we’ll cover the single most valuable skill in consulting – the ability to actively
listen.
Finally, we’ll look at the professional writing skills you’ll need to create easy-to-interpret
written documents across the spectrum of your project work
– from emails to reports, technical documents, and presentation decks.
We’ll also provide an overview of the Microsoft Suite skills that will help you develop these
documents.
In SAP Professional Skills Part 2, we’ll build on your learning in Part 1 to explore
critical skills like project management,
applying functional knowledge, building effective relationships, and collaboration.
Let's get started!
Research Concepts
Are you a traveler who goes wherever the wind takes you, or are you the one who weighs the location options,
packs based on the weather and considers all alternative modes of travel and accommodation. Even if you are the
former, you will still need to analyze and evaluate the environment before moving on.
Do you know what informs your process of analysis? It’s research, which is the process of gathering data.
Good research skills go a long way in ensuring that you have a memorable trip. How often after a trip have you
wished you had good research skills or had researched more?
Hello, and welcome to Research Concepts! In this video, we will:
 Dive into the qualitative and quantitative data that you need to know to carry out effective research.
 Discuss the business application of research skills.
 explore primary and secondary methods of research.
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, aptly said, “Research is creating new knowledge.”
So, what are research skills?
Research skills help you identify an issue or problem, search and find informational resources to address the
problem, interpret and evaluate the quality and relevance of these resources, analyze data, and document and
communicate the research outcome.
What is the outcome of your research? Data. Right?
Data that you collect can be one of two types.
Quantitative data is numerical. It is factual, fixed, universal, and tells us how many, how much, or how often.
You collect this data through counting and measuring.
qualitative data is descriptive, changeable, and subjective. You collect this data through interviews and
observations. So, during your travel planning, your data on flight fares and hotel room rates is quantitative.
The hotel reviews by other travelers are considered qualitative data. Should you use quantitative or qualitative data
for your research? Preferring one to the other depends on what counts as the best evidence for your research.
It is worthwhile to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both.
Quantitative data is easy to collect, conclude from, and it helps identify trends. However, it can be inconclusive, and
with a sole focus on numbers, it can risk overlooking the more relevant information. On the contrary, qualitative data
provides a deep understanding of a topic and personal insights. Its pitfall is that you cannot represent it statistically.
Research is crucial to the success of every business. Do you know as a business consultant, you can use research
methods to gain insights into an organization’s structure, goals, operations, and the environment?

Research also aids you in the following conceptual analysis:

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis evaluates a company’s internal and external
factors and present and future potential.
SWOT analysis gives information about a company’s competitive advantage.
PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) analysis
helps study factors external to an organization and their impact on it.
These factors include tax law, economic policy, stock market trends, buying behavior, automation, recycling
standards, and many more. You can even use research in scenario planning.
This strategic planning method considers the plausible future impacts of uncertainties such as extreme weather,
ransomware attacks, remote team performance, and more.
Based on the goal of the research, you can use the following methods of research:
Primary research, such as workshops, interviews, and online surveys, provides first-hand evidence.
And secondary research, such as reports, provides second-hand information. Reading travel blogs and reviews
during holiday planning is secondary research, whereas talking to those who have visited the destination is primary
research. In this video, you learned that: You can gather two types of data. Quantitative data is numerical, whereas
qualitative data is descriptive. There are many business applications of research, such as scenario planning, SWOT
and PESTLE analysis, and more. Primary research involves collecting data in the field, and secondary research
uses already existing data.
Research Methods
Hello and welcome to Research Methods! Imagine you’re planning a special holiday experience for yourself and
your family. The planning can be overwhelming, but you can ensure a dream holiday with thorough research. Before
you begin, you must consider how you will conduct the research. Will you rely on information from sources like travel
blogs, books, and trip advisors, or will you conduct the research yourself? If you choose the latter, what type of
questions will you ask? In this video, you will learn about methods of research and types of research questions.
American author and filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston said,
"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."
While researching for your family holiday, the key is purpose. The most important question is,what are you trying to
find out? The best research begins with:
 What do you want to discover?
 What analysis do you need to perform?
 What data do you need to conduct that analysis?
 What research methods will give you that data?
 What processes and checks do you have to ensure the whole process is accurate, unbiased,
generates unambiguous results, and is accurately recorded and assessed?
You will likely come across many research methods in your career as a consultant. The key in research is knowing
which methods are relevant at which point in a project, which generate what types of data and enable you to
perform which analysis. Based on the type of data and analysis needed, you can use the following research
methods: Secondary research, for example, could involve pre- reading company information to gain an
overview of a company. This method is valuable when researching a company's overall strategy, products,
finances, and competitive condition. Surveys enable you to gather research specific to a large group of people and a
topic. They allow you to draw broad, general conclusions. Workshops are a qualitative research method to gather a
large volume of insights and in-depth information on specific topics from people with different levels of engagement.
They are ideal for gathering deep insights in a narrow field from people with specific skill sets or responsibilities.
Personal interviews enable you to gain insights into unique perspectives in a confidential setting. They can be a
powerful tool for discovering precise information but can also be subject to the bias of the person being interviewed.
Specific local observations of a single process over time provide valuable information. You can also gather research
data using trials or designed tests in controlled conditions.
Do you agree that two heads are better than one?
The Delphi method, a qualitative research method of business forecasting, is based on the idea that the viewpoints
of a group of experts are better than that of an individual.
Here are the defining characteristics of this technique: The facilitator seeks individual assessments from a pool of
experts. Experts respond to the questionnaire, receive feedback from other participants, and revise their forecasts
and opinions in real time.
The facilitator analyzes responses, identifies the common and conflicting viewpoints, and sends a set of revised
questions to each expert. This technique may involve several cycles of feedback. The facilitator produces a report
on experts’ responses, noting key outliers.
The Delphi method can be a helpful tool in workshops where you need to come to consensus. If you don't need to
come to consensus or have only a small group where it would be clear who is stating what opinion, it may be better
to use a more general workshop format.
Workshops and Delphi as a workshop method add unique value by providing an opportunity to people with diverse
skills, views, and experiences to interact and discuss or share their insights and data on an issue.
Let’s consider two questions.
 Which of the following is your favorite type of holiday?
a. Beach trip
b. Resort stay
c. Camping trip
d. Cruise
 e. Others
Now let’s consider the same question worded a bit differently.
 Which is your favorite holiday, and why?
Did your answer change? Did you know that you can use close-ended and open-ended research questions?
“Which of the following is your favorite holiday?” is an example of a close-ended question as it asks you to choose
from a narrow set of predetermined responses.
You use close-ended questions for quantitative research, and the resultant data is easy to process and analyze.
What type of close-ended questions can you ask when planning a perfect holiday? Here are a couple to consider:
How did you plan your trip?
a. By yourself
b. Travel agent
Where did you stay?
a. Economy Hotel
b. Resort
Here is an example of an open-ended question.
“Which is your favorite holiday and why?”
With a broad focus, open-ended questions allow respondents to provide detailed answers. You can get better
insights into the respondents' thoughts, expectations, and experiences since they can freely express
themselves. The purpose of open-ended questions is to collect qualitative data.
So, open-ended questions during your holiday planning could be:
a. How was your experience of staying in the resort?
b. Which activity did you enjoy the most and why?
How do you decide which research method to use?
Use the method that is appropriate for the data you need to gather. Each method has its strengths and
weaknesses.
Sometimes multiple research methods work well together and help remove some of that [Link] discussed that you
could use various research methods such as secondary research, personal interviews, workshops, specific local
observations, trials, and the Delphi method. You choose a research method or combination of research methods
depending on the relevance to a project, the type of data you want to collect, and the type of analysis you intend
to perform. You can use close-ended questions for quantitative research and open-ended questions for qualitative
research.
Strategic Thinking
Kenichi Ohmae, a famous Japanese organizational theorist, management consultant, and advisor, once said:
“Analysis is the critical starting point of strategic thinking.”
Interesting, right? Hello, and welcome to Strategic Thinking.
So, what is strategic thinking?
It is a focused and intentional thought process whereby an individual seeks to better understand an entity or
scenario by analyzing constituent variables and then evaluating the effects of changes in those variables.
Ultimately
 the aim of strategic thinking is to arrive at a set of ideas, goals, and plans that rely on assumptions
made during this process of analysis.
When analyzing anything alone or in a team, one useful tool can be a mind map.
A mind map
is a diagram for showing and organizing information that is linked to and arranged around a
central concept. Here, you can see the central concept “Mind Mapping” in the middle of the
diagram. With a mind map, you can plan: Projects Strategies, and Goals.
A mind map also allows creativity by letting you add: Thoughts, Ideas, and Innovation.
Further, mind maps are a fantastic tool to collaborate while: Sharing, and Working in teams.
The benefits of using mind maps are:
 High efficiency,
 Valuable overview of a central concept,
 And they are simple, fast, and fun.
Now, take a moment to think of a personal example: Think of the variables affecting you as you plan a vacation
abroad. Think of how you select the location, how you select what to pack, the choice of travel, and the possible
events that could affect your vacation. You can do so by using mind maps for your thoughts. Let's start with how do
you select a location for your next vacation?
Maybe it's time. Or your budget. It's on your bucket list. Or you're following a recommendation. Or you go there
every year.

How do you select what to pack?

There's weather at the location. Luggage allowance. Space for luggage in the vehicles you are using. Travel
companions. And of course, clean clothes in your wardrobe
Next, how do you select the choice of travel?
Maybe it's your mood when booking. Or recommendations. Maybe it's on your bucket list. Or just convenience.
And lastly, what are possible events that could affect your next vacation?
Let's see...
There's sickness, may be a delay, the weather, a personal disagreement with traveling companions, or a work
commitment.
So, you may ask yourself:
Why is strategic thinking important for .?
And the answer is: It allows you to arrive at a solution rationally by analyzing, problem-solving, planning, and
communicating. To continuously improve your strategic thinking skills, you should observe, reflect, ask
questions, creatively, consider the whole picture, and propose solutions based on [Link] you
may even find it helpful to follow a conceptual methodology to guide your thinking
– such conceptual skills include examples like design thinking and systems thinking. These will be discussed in
more detail in other videos of this course.
So, all in all, the main goal of strategic thinking is to arrive at a set of ideas, goals, and plans that rely on
assumptions made during the analysis process. It is a set of integrated choices all aligned towards a common,
consistent goal.
Design Thinking
David Keller, Founder of IDEO, describes Design Thinking as follows
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design
for. Leadership is the same thing - building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to
help. Once you understand what they really value, it's easy because you can mostly give it
to them.”
Hello and welcome to Design Thinking. Here at SAP, we use SAP Design Thinking as a process for solving
problems and designing solutions creatively that relies on a deep empathy and the understanding of clients
as human beings.
The Design Thinking process is a means of structuring creative thought around that empathy.
so that the proposed solutions are tailored to the needs of those people.
One of the most famous examples of successfully utilizing Design Thinking is Airbnb:
In the beginning, Airbnb was only making around $200 a week. Quickly its founders recognized that the pictures of
accommodations hosts were posting online were not high quality. Now, after conducting some research empathizing
with user needs, the founders came up with this solution: Take high-quality pictures of what customers want to see
and write a good description.
So, what was the result?
Airbnb’s revenue doubled a week later. Airbnb’s founders used design thinking to determine why their existing
audience wasn’t utilizing their services. They put themselves in users’ shoes to solve this business problem.
Let’s have a look at the design thinking process.
There are many different versions out there, here, you will learn more about the most dominant one, which is
divided into five stages.
Stage 1: Empathize — Research your user and their ' needs.
One effective way to create better empathy is to create a Persona - an actual ‘simulation’ of the person you are
looking to help and to keep that persona in mind throughout the design process.
Stage 2: Define — State your users' needs and problems.
This stage is taking the persona and building a map of that person and their requirements. Who are they? ,What
difficulties are they facing? ,What challenges do they face?
Stage 3: Ideate — Challenge assumptions and create ideas.
This stage is all about creativity - and using techniques to broaden the range of ideas. Techniques include ‘mind-
mapping,’ ‘brainstorming,’ ‘storyboarding,’ or ‘5 whys.’ The key is to stay open-minded.
Stage 4: Prototype — Start to create solutions.
The prototype doesn’t have to be physical - it can be a mock-up or a drawing, but it must represent a specific
solution that can be assessed and challenged.
Stage 5: Test — Try your solutions out.
This stage involves taking the prototype and testing it virtually through workshops or peer-review. If the prototype
works - great! If not - go back to Stage 3 and re-develop.
To conclude, SAP believes “Design thinking is a mindset and a creative, human-
centered approach that leverages empathy, collaboration, rapid prototyping, and continuous
feedback to tackle problems.”
Systems Thinking (Part 1)
Donella Meadows was one of the world’s most famous systems analysts. She stated,
“A system isn’t just any old collection of things. A system is an interconnected set of
elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. If you look at that
definition closely for a minute, you can see that a system must consist of three kinds of
things: elements, interconnections, and a function or purpose.”
Hello, and welcome to Systems Thinking, Part One. We live in a world that is made up of systems. The world itself is
a system, so is a country, a city, a house, and in fact, you are a system, and you even have subsystems.
A system has a function, and when connected to other systems, they become subsystems of a wider system that
has perhaps an entirely new and different purpose. Note, when we say systems, we don’t mean specifically ‘IT’
systems — anything can be a system.
Consider this elephant example from an old parable: This parable is about blind men who had never come across
an elephant before. Each blind man touched one part of the elephant's body. Afterward, he thought he knew the
elephant and then described the elephant based on his limited experience. One man who had felt the trunk said, “I
have the real facts about it. It is like a straight and hollow pipe, awful and destructive.” The man who had touched
the elephant’s ear said, “It is a large, rough thing, wide and broad, like a rug.” And the man who had touched the
legs and feet said, “It is mighty and firm, like a pillar.” Accordingly, the men’s descriptions of the elephant differed
from each other, and none of them described the elephant correctly.
Therefore, as Donella Meadows said,
“The behavior of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of which
the system is made.”
So, think about this for a moment. What does the elephant example teach you? It shows that you are dealing with a
system if you can answer the following three questions with “yes:”
1. Can you identify parts?
2. Do the parts affect each other?
3. Do the parts together create an effect that is different from the effect of every single part on its own?
This story has two important lessons.
 The first is that you can identify components of a system and not fully understand the wider system because
you don’t have the full picture.
 And the second lesson is that you may not even fully understand the components if you don’t have the
bigger picture.
In conclusion, the elephant has many different ‘parts’ that can be misunderstood, but the overall effect is the
elephant.
A system can be defined as a series of connected elements with a goal or single effect.
Systems Thinking (Part 2)
Now, why is systems thinking useful for SAP consultants?
You can determine a system by its purpose, evaluate the effect of specific elements to adapt, add, or remove, and
then ‘scientifically’ (or at least rationally) observe the effect on the system.
This approach helps to reduce complexity to manageable areas of observation and intervention while
ensuring you don’t lose sight of the wider context and interconnectedness. It’s also important to know that
you can sometimes lose sight of a system and become fixated on elements just because they are easier to
observe or intervene with.
For example, consider a tree.
 A tree can be composed of a trunk, branches, roots, leaves, and seeds.
 It can also be home to wildlife and part of the wider forest system.
The element you look at depends on which level of the hierarchy of systems you are analyzing and the purpose you
are interested in. Are you interested in the tree as a food source, a means of capturing carbon dioxide, a home for
endangered species, and a source for fertilizing the forest floor? The purpose you are investigating will determine
the scope of your analysis and which elements and interconnections you need to focus on.
Viewing the world or an organization as a set of interconnected systems with
different purposes gives you a powerful intervention tool
when you want to change the system’s behavior. You can change single elements in a
system and see the impact on the whole system. If you can make significant changes to
a system by changing one factor, you call these leverage points.
They provide leverage because you achieve a larger effect through the system than if the element you changed was
somehow isolated. Take the example of a US airbag manufacturer. US regulations say all cars must come equipped
with airbags. The airbag manufacturer needs rare earth metals from an African mining company that uses a special
drill bit. The drill bit is manufactured by a Brazilian firm with a power outage because of a local flood affecting its
generator. This outage has a knock-on effect as the drill bits are delayed for a month, the mining firm cannot source
an additional drill bit from a local supplier in time. So, the rare earth metals are several weeks late arriving at the
airbag manufacturer. The car manufacturer cannot produce cars to meet US regulations without an
alternative airbag supply, and thousands of people face a delay in receiving their new cars because of an
undersupply. All because of a single generator and because there wasn’t enough inherent flexibility
in that system.
In fact, the global supply chain is a hugely complex system made up of literally billions of subsystems, and over the
past few years, we have seen the effects that just one or two leverage points can have.
To summarize,
 A system is a series of interconnected elements that serve a single purpose.
 A system can form part of a wider system and be composed of subsystems.
 It is important to recognize that you can view elements individually, but that fully understanding the effects of
change requires understanding the wider system.
 However, you need to understand what level you are looking at and which change you are trying to make.
 Finally, you can use leverage points — powerful interventions in which making a change to one element has
a positive effect on the entire system.
Understanding the Customer Environment
Businesses work in an ecosystem. To truly understand your customer, you must understand your customer's
business and the environment in which their business operates.
John Locke, an English philosopher, and physician, once said:
"The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of
knowledge;
secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others."
Hello, and welcome to Understanding the Customer Environment. In this video, you will learn about analytical
frameworks that can help structure your understanding of your customers.
Let's first begin with the obvious question. Why do you need analytical frameworks to understand your customers?
 Analytical frameworks can help structure your thinking.
 They can help you make sense of seemingly abstract things, break down an issue into its subparts
 see causal relationships and set the basis for a well-founded course of action.
Let's say your customer is one of the world's leading online retailers with millions of subscribers worldwide. They’re
on the verge of starting their operations in an emerging market. Let's explore our first analytical tool — PESTLE —
and see how it can help you better understand the environment your customer operates in.
PESTLE analysis can help you analyze your customer's business from six perspectives:
political, economic, social, technology, legal, and environmental.
The outcome of this analysis can support your understanding of your customer's business environment. You can
apply PESTLE, for example, to understand the impact of data protection trends and regulations of the emerging
market they're planning to enter factors that
1) the politics of that region would heavily influence. Other political factors include government policies and
actions, regulation or deregulation policies, political stability, taxation policies, and global trade agreements
and restrictions. Disposable income and the culture of consumerism in the region would be economic factors
that could impact their success in the new territory.
2) Economic factors could include inflation rates, wages, economic stability, and the cost
of living. Disposable income and increased consumerism could be factors you can evaluate using
this framework, both presenting an excellent opportunity for the retailer.
3) Social factors you would consider include publicity, social media, lifestyle choices, culture, consumer
tastes, buying habits, and demographics.
4) technology, analyzing factors such as current hardware and networking infrastructure, user access,
connectivity, automation, employee skill levels, and preference for bespoke versus standard systems, would
be vital as they can contribute to significant shifts in adoption. Data protection regulations can significantly
impact data storage, security, and software. And these are governed by the legal landscape of a region.
5) legal perspective, you would also consider the laws, regulations, and policies that can drive significant
shifts in a business. Further, there will also be a need to stay current with changes in legislation that
may impact your customers — like financial or health and safety regulations.
6) the environmental element of the PESTLE framework, factors such as climate change, natural disasters,
and sustainability are important considerations. Attitudes of a business towards energy use and
sustainability are important factors to consider.

Now, let's look at our second analytical framework, SWOT.

 SWOT stands - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
You can use this model to analyze any entity in relation to its environment. Understanding the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing a customer organization can help you understand how your solution
can help your customer alleviate problems and seize new opportunities.
1) Strengths for your retail giant that wants to move into an emerging market could include already having a
proven low-cost model, for example. Lower wages in the region could be considered
2) weakness; it could mean starting with aggressive price points and negligible margins. Expanding the
product offerings to include local needs and vendors.
3) An opportunity that emerges from needing to be price sensitive.
4) Data security, scalability, and governments introducing regulations to protect the local industries could be
possible threats for the business.

Combining SWOT with PESTLE can help you explore how prepared your online retail customer is, or needs to be,
to succeed in their environment.
And the third framework is VUCA.
VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.
The framework focuses on variation, risk, and change.
1) Volatility is when the challenge is unexpected but not hard to understand — for example, price fluctuations
after a natural disaster.
2) Uncertainty is when you can anticipate the effects of an event but cannot predict the impact — for
example, how much the natural disaster will change the market’s direction.
3) Complexity is when a situation has many interconnected and moving parts, and you can only
predict some but not all consequences.
4) Ambiguity is when there are no precedents and, therefore, no prior experience or knowledge.
When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, airline passenger traffic collapsed. To survive
this unprecedented disruption, SAP helped a large international airline implement a fully integrated suite of
procurement solutions to increase automation, give them greater control over their spend volume, and guide their
buying capabilities.
Adding VUCA analysis to factors defined in the SWOT analysis can provide essential information about the potential
positive and negative impacts of a proposed action. Suppose a factor considered a strength has a high degree of
complexity or uncertainty; it may ultimately play out as a weakness rather than a strength.

Summing up, the frameworks PESTLE, SWOT, and VUCA are fantastic tools to analyze your customers and
understand their operating environments. And the better you understand your customer and their needs, the better
you can act as a trusted advisor and work with them to enhance their business.
Analyzing Business Processes and Data
Detective Sherlock Holmes states,
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data."
"Why is that?" you might ask.
Holmes says, "Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of
theories to suit facts."
Fictional though he may be, Holmes is quite right!
Without data, you should not begin to theorize about the current state of your business process (called the "as-is"
state). Nor, without data, can you analyze the current state of your business processes to make changes and
improvements (called the "to-be" state). Want to know more? Let's talk about it!
Welcome to Analyzing Business Processes and Data!
Once you understand the greater business operation landscape (for example, financial forecasting, cost analysis,
budgets, hiring, and cuts), it's also essential to distinguish and understand the business focus, activities, and
processes. To understand business, you use business analytics.
On the other hand, you use business process analysis (BPA) to understand the processes and seek
improvement. Instead of looking at the business operation landscape, BPA looks at the individual
processes, networks, and integrations between processes.
What is business process analysis?
BPA is a detailed, multiphase evaluation of each part of a business process. As an approach to analyzing
business processes, BPA is designed to identify what is working well, what needs to be improved or changed, and
how best to make those changes and improvements.
BPA usually begins by identifying the processes you want to analyze. Also, part of the process is creating a
diagram, such as the business process model notation (BPMN), that allows you to visualize either the individual
processes or the network of processes. Desired outcomes of BPA include:
 Cost savings;
 Increased revenue;
 Improved customer and staff engagement and satisfaction;
 More efficient workflows;
 Better alignment with key performance indicators
(KPIs).
Let’s walk through BPA. What if your business began
receiving customer complaints about delivery delays or lost
or
misrouted deliveries? An improbable event, I know, but
what would you do?
Since “Deliver” is one of the five processes within the
supply chain, you will want to narrow your focus and
perform BPA on the delivery process. An outline for BPA
would look something like this:
1) Define the problem.
a. Name the goal or desired outcome of the process.
b. Document the deliverable requirements.
c. Identify your stakeholders.
2) Measure the process. No matter how insignificant it may seem, list all the steps and the outcomes associated
with each step. Once you’ve completed the design process, you can create a Business Process Modeling Notation
(BPMN). The BPMN will allow you to identify gaps, bottlenecks, breakdowns, and other areas in the process
that could be contributing to the delivery issues.
 3) Analyze the process and the problem with your stakeholders. To analyze the process and the problem, the
group could perform an activity called “The Five Whys” and then use that information to create a “fishbone
diagram” to help you get the root cause or causes. As you work through the analysis, it’s a good idea to question
whether certain steps are valuable or necessary.
4) Improve the process by addressing issues and areas of concern.
5) Control the new processes you have put in place.
Implement a plan to monitor the process regularly and adjust as needed. As with most types of analyses, there are
multiple BPA methodologies. Two widely used methods are:
Six Sigma
Lean Six Sigma
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Six Sigma is an analytical, data-driven, five- to seven-step method used to reduce errors or defects and improve
processes.
Lean Six Sigma combines the Lean philosophy to eliminate defects and reduce waste with the Six Sigma
method.
Recall the "as-is" and "to-be" states. BPA's goal is to identify what needs to be improved and how to make those
improvements – the "to-be." But before you can do that, you
need to understand the current state of the processes –
the "as-is."
Let's look at how a BPMN can help you visualize the "as-is."
This BPMN diagram illustrates a simple online purchasing
process with a few "as-is" scenarios. Visualizing the
purchasing process scenarios gives insight into the process
flow from order placement through completion, cancellation,
or backorder and the connections between the activities.
With a completed BPMN, you can perform several types of analyses, including:
Value analysis, which looks at what the process is supposed to do and questions whether it has value or is
wasteful.
Root analysis, which involves asking why until you get to the root of the problem.
And gap analysis, which is based on what the process is supposed to achieve. A gap analysis helps identify what is
missing that could make the process more efficient.
As you've seen, many different analytical methodologies, processes, and subprocesses exist. Today, it’s essential
to understand your business processes through business process analysis and to continually seek improvement.
Keep in mind that the output of any method depends on the data quality, which, in turn, depends on your skills in
obtaining accurate information.
Analyzing System and Technology Environments
Hello, and welcome to Analyzing System and Technology Environments. You can use analytical frameworks,
including PESTLE, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), and systems diagrams, to effectively evaluate the
impact of factors affecting a company’s systems, technology, business processes, and environments. Such
analyses help you to both respond to and implement change.
Here, we’re going to discuss analyzing your systems and technology environments.
Visionary architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, said,
“Get the habit of analysis — analysis will in time enable synthesis to become your habit
of mind.”
Wright viewed his buildings, their furnishings, and their settings as one environment one single environment in
which he analyzed, designed, and synthesized all the parts. His analysis gave him an overall familiarity with his
environment, so he understood it, and his designs benefitted from that enhanced understanding.
You can think of companies in a similar way; indeed, you can analyze a company’s operating environment using the
PESTLE analysis model:
Political – Governmental policies and actions, regulation/deregulation, and political stability are among the
potentially influential factors.
Economic – Effects can be felt due to inflation, wages, economic stability, growth, and cost.
Social – Environments can be impacted (advantageously or adversely) by publicity, user familiarity, and social
media.
Technology – Aspects such as competition, user access and connectivity, automation, and life cycle could
contribute to shifts.
Legal – Elements of laws, regulations, and legal policies may drive changes.
Environmental – Environmentalism, climate change, natural disasters, and sustainability might affect systems.
After analyzing the company’s environment, you can move on to analyzing the overall systems,
hardware, software applications, and data by creating a systems diagram.
Systems diagrams are a powerful means for analyzing and understanding business
process systems. Simple and effective, systems diagrams can quickly provide a high-level overview from input
through output. Let’s take a look at an example of a systems diagram.
As you can see, this simple diagram outlines the flow of a support request call from input (call in) to output (call
resolution). From this diagram, you can identify gaps in service and implement potential [Link] the
systems diagrams, you can create a Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) graphic. With a BPMN, you can
visualize the systems and specific business processes used within them.
You can visualize how data flows across business processes.
Notice that the analysis moves from high-level PESTLE to low-level BPMN. And the detail within each analysis
increases.
Analytical frameworks are an effective way to familiarize yourself with business systems and technology
environments. From input to output, by making analysis a habit, you are more likely to be able to apply your
observations and knowledge as you analyze processes and data.
Verbal Communication Skills
Carl Rogers said,
“We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true
empathy. Yet, listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for
change that I know.”
Hello, and welcome to Verbal Communication Skills. Let’s start with listening, the most vital and powerful
consulting skill.
Now, as a consultant, you always need to focus on two parts when listening to your client.
1. Part one is to understand what the client is directly saying to you
2. part two is to understand the client from their context, environment, and their inconspicuous behaviors.
Understanding both parts makes you a great listener and with that, you will understand the real drivers and
challenges for your clients. To truly understand them and establish the crucial bond of trust between your
organization and theirs, you always need to genuinely and empathetically listen to clients.
There are three forms of personal communication — listening, speaking, and body language.
When discussing listening, we usually mean two things.
1. First, we talk about active listening:
You are actively listening when you can reflect back on what the speaker is saying, and if formally listening, you can
summarize what is said and ask for clarification.
2. Secondly, we talk about empathetic listening:
Empathetic comes from empathy or “the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it
would be like to be in that person's situation” as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary. Accordingly, empathetic
listening is about paying special attention to the speaker’s feelings by putting yourself in the speaker’s shoes to
understand why they think and feel the way they do about a topic. While doing so, you are listening to their verbal
and nonverbal clues.
Many times, the speaker’s verbal and nonverbal clues don’t match because we as human beings have learned to
not share everything with everyone all the time. A reasonable person will share openly after an established bond of
trust, which can take some time to realize.
It is for you, the empathetic listener, to gently build that trust and to explore the initial and deeper reasons why
a person holds a specific value or insight.
Overall, the key benefit of empathetic listening is that the speaker feels understood by the listener, who in this case
is you, and it helps the two individuals arrive at a clearer, deeper, and ideally more accurate understanding of the
topic at hand, as well as potentially leading to deeper and more expansive insights.
The second act of communication is speaking. Speaking should always go hand in hand with listening. Speaking
should be based on what you have understood while listening to another person, and it is NOT just taking turns in a
conversation. Speaking should always be respectful, clear, engaging, and empathetic.
 When you speak to a person, the listener, two elements of communication are involved voice (namely
pitch, pace, tone, and volume of your voice), and the actual words.
The form of speech you use will always depend on the audience and things like the environment, degree of
formality, size of the audience, cultural norms and standards, as well as the personal relationship between speaker
and listener.
 Always keep in mind what is appropriate for your audience, what you are trying to communicate, and why.
The third act of communication is body language.
Body language is the visible movement of our body that transmits a message to the listener. Always keep in mind
things like whether you are sitting or standing, relaxed or formal, the setting, environment, the professional or
personal relationship, and other aspects of the speaker/listener relationship.
But ultimately, consultants need to adjust their body language to put the audience at ease and to ensure they are
comfortable and engaged.
Overall, always remember the importance of empathy in your role as an SAP professional in a business
environment. Ask yourself three questions after every engagement:
 Have I truly understood what the client was trying to communicate?
 Have they had the most positive experience I could have created?
 And have I accurately represented the client’s views and situation?
Presentation Skills
Albert Einstein once said,
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”
Hello, and welcome to Presentation Skills. There is an old story that when asked whether they would rather speak in
public or die, oftentimes, people reply that they’d rather die as public speaking is so uncomfortable. But it needn’t
be.
Being able to present information in an engaging way can be fun both for you and the audience, as well as a key
skill that can help your audience retain information quickly and easily.
You can give a presentation with any of these three goals in mind: To inform, to instruct, and to persuade. Let’s
dive into some examples.
You present to inform, for example, when you are presenting the main outcomes of your client meeting to the
senior consultant who wasn’t present at the meeting. Whereas any time you participate in an in-person training, the
trainer’s goal is to instruct the learners on the training topic.
Finally, when you give a sales presentation about the services that you and your company are offering, then your
presentation has two goals, to inform about the range of services you are offering and to persuade a group of
people to become your clients. Each of these presentation types has different end goals, requires a different
delivery style,
and presents different types and formats of information.
Let’s look at an example of presenting to persuade.
This is a modern thing, right? After all, we are constantly bombarded with presentations on social media trying to
get
us to buy something. Well, public speaking and persuasion were considered valuable skills for thousands of years
and so important that they were often taught alongside subjects like math and languages at school.
One of the original writers on persuasion was Aristotle, a Greek writer, and philosopher. Aristotle said that to
persuade, you need to remember three things - ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos means convincing your audience of your credibility and how your character affects the audience while
presenting. Pathos, however, means that you are persuading your audience by appealing to their emotions. And
logos implies that you are convincing your audience by using logic and reason in
your presentation.
 Let’s take an example.
If you want to persuade people to give up plastics, you could demonstrate (ethos) that you are an expert on the
damage from plastic. You could then continue your presentation by showing imagery of plastics in the
ocean, appealing to your audience’s emotions (pathos). Finally, you could showcase the damage from plastic in
numbers (logos) to get the point across most effectively.
When combined, credibility, emotional power, and factual evidence make a much more effective and engaging
presentation.
 But what to present?
 How can you decide what to include in the presentation?
Well, you have two questions to answer here: what do you want to say, and how do you want to say it?
Answering the “how” question,
you should design your presentation focusing on your target audience and using plain English. Always remember
that an audience usually has expectations from the presentation, and the most effective way to understand those
expectations is to keep a persona in mind that reflects the audience.
So, if imagining an entire audience is difficult, try thinking of just a few people or even one person who represents
the most common audience member. Then speak directly to that imaginary persona.
Looking at the “what” question, well, one of the most tried and tested formats in
all of modern public speaking is:
1. Tell them what you are going to tell them.
2. Tell them.
3. Tell them what you told them.
In other words, provide a “North Star” for the talk — a reason why the audience should be interested and continue
listening, then provide the content and then provide a short summary of salient points that the audience should take
away with them. This was “presentation skills” in a nutshell.
It’s not that hard, and keeping these simple structures should give you the confidence you need to build your
experience in public speaking.
So, remember: inform, instruct, and persuade; credibility, emotion, and facts; and finally, intro, content, and
summary.
And most of all, keep the audience persona in mind.
Professional Writing
Have you ever left a one-hour meeting or classroom session with five pages of fast-scribbled, unstructured notes?
Afterward, have you ever tried to summarize the three most important session points quickly and verbally for a
colleague or fellow student using these messy five pages of notes?
I don’t know about you, but I have!
And I wasn’t satisfied with the result as I still thought that all five pages were important,
and I couldn’t pick the three most essential points that quickly.
So, what’s the solution?
Hello, and welcome to Professional [Link] this video, you will explore why business writing skills are important
for SAP professionals and take a closer look at the following three key writing skills:
effective note-taking and representation of a conversation, effective documentation, and email writing.
Moreover, you will discover the three-step writing process.
Now, why is effective note-taking super important for SAP consultants?
First, you simply will not have the time to take pages of unstructured notes, nor will you be able to read pages of
notes after meetings are over.
And secondly, many meetings or conversations have an objective, and effective notes help with understanding
how to reach that objective.
The best notes reflect the passage of a conversation, the key conclusions, and the next steps — they are not a
word-for-word transcription of an entire conversation. Also, whenever clients, program and project managers, or
partners share important information requested or not, it often makes sense to take notes to always be prepared to
share the most important takeaways from those conversations.
Good notes also accurately assess topic discussions through multiple conversations over time, which could be days,
weeks, or months.
So, what is the best way to take notes?
It is all about having a system that focuses on the goal to represent the conversation, capture key insights,
observations, key conclusions, and any to-dos going forward. Take notes on a prepared piece of paper or a
document on your device specifically for recording notes while listening carefully to what is being said. Take a look
at this notes template. On your meeting notes template, you fill in details like meeting date, topic, participants, three
key takeaways, and possible to-dos for your team and for your client.
In a large meeting, including an informal one, you may also want to note the name of participants.
If it’s an in-person meeting, you could include a drawing showing participants’ physical position in the meeting room,
which may help you recall meeting details later, if necessary.
In a typical consultant environment, you will write every day — Teams messages, emails, and proposals, just to
name a few. The key is to be concise, as brief and to the point as you can, and with a clear objective and a final
‘ask’ or summary.
What does a powerful business email look like?
First, make use of the three-step business writing process.
Step 1: Always answer the following three questions before writing:
1. What is the subject?
2. Who is your audience?
3. What is the purpose?
Step 2: Make an outline for the text you want to write.
Step 3: Write the text, keeping in mind the following:
 Be concise using KISS (Keep it short and simple).
 Use a style that is appropriate for the audience and the formality/importance of the content.
 Minimize the number of words.
 Write in plain English.
 Make use of active voice.
 Break up your writing into short sections.
 Include visuals whenever necessary.
 strive to present your most pleasant personality in your email.
Secondly, avoid extending an email conversation if a call would be better suited.
And think carefully about sharing with wider audiences. Don’t have long cc lists for emails that only require input
from one person, for example. Generally, professional writing skills develop with experience over time.
But if you keep in mind the need for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and appropriateness for the audience, you will be well
on your way to being an effective business writer.
Microsoft Office Suite - Key Skills and Focus Areas
Microsoft or short MS is famous for its office software, called Microsoft Office Suite also known as Microsoft Office,
MS Office, or simply Office. This software comes with a set of productivity tools that businesses lavish and tech
consultants use around the globe.

The Microsoft Office Suite consists of this main four software:

 Microsoft Word
 Microsoft Excel
 Microsoft PowerPoint
 Microsoft Outlook
Further software within that Suite are:

 Microsoft OneNote
 Microsoft Access
 Microsoft Publisher
Worldwide, companies very often use Microsoft Office 365 for Business. That one also includes Microsoft Teams
and other apps such as Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft SharePoint to support team collaboration.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the different software within the MS Office Suite. Microsoft Word, MS Word, or simply
Word was initially launched in 1983 and has been revised numerous times since then. It is available for both
Windows and Apple operating systems. Microsoft Word is a word-processing program that allows you to write and
edit texts. It comes with a set of supportive language tools and accessibility options. Microsoft Excel, MS Excel, or
simply Excel was released in 1985 and has been updated several times since then. Microsoft Excel enables its
users to organize, format, and calculate data in spreadsheets. In other words, it is a spreadsheet program to
organize and manipulate data. By organizing data using Excel, data analysts and other users can make data easier
to view as information is added or changed. Microsoft PowerPoint, MS PowerPoint, PowerPoint, PP, or simply PPT
is a presentation software that was initially launched by a company called Forethought, Inc. in 1987. Back then it
was for Macintosh computers only. Three months after the launch, Microsoft acquired PowerPoint for about $14
million. In 1990, PowerPoint became part of the Microsoft Office Suite for Computers run on Microsoft. Today,
PowerPoint runs on PCs, Macs, and mobile devices. It helps you to bring your ideas to life in the form of
presentations. It also allows you to create slides and animation, icons, and 3D models. Microsoft Outlook or just
Outlook, was first released in 1997. Today, Outlook runs on PCs, Macs, and mobile devices. You can send, receive,
and organize your emails with it. Further, you can manage and share your calendar, and share files from the cloud
so recipients always have the most up-to-date version. Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook that helps you
gather information in the form of text, drawings, screenshots, and audio files. Microsoft Access is a database
management system from which you can link directly to other apps and databases. Microsoft Publisher is a layout
tool that allows users to style texts, pictures, and borders, for example.

As a technical SAP consultant, the most important programs that you will use on a daily basis are MS Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, and Outlook. So, it is a good idea to be proficient in those programs. Proficient in Microsoft Office –
What does that mean? When you are proficient in MS Word, you know how to do the following using MS Word:

 Page setup
 Text formatting
 Editing
 Creating templates
 Textboxes
 SmartArt
 Quick access
 Title and ribbon bar
 Spellcheck
 Grammar check
When you are proficient in MS Excel, you know how to do the following using MS Excel:

 Spreadsheets
 Workbooks
 Formulas
 Data linking
 Pivot tables
 Charts
 Data analysis
 Macros and automatization
 IF statements
 Data validation
When you are proficient in MS PowerPoint, you know how to do the following using MS PowerPoint:

 Presentation design
 Templates
 Custom slides
 Animation
 Manuscripts
 Creating graphs and charts
 Presentations troubleshooting
When you are proficient in MS Outlook, you know how to do the following using MS Outlook:

 Navigation
 Archaization
 Assigning task
 Tasks distribution
 Configuring email settings
 Email filters
 Calendar management
 Scheduling

We hope that this MS Office overview gives you a good idea of what skills are important for you as a future tech
consultant and that it also encourages you to test your MS Office proficiency levels and upskill, should you feel
unsure about some of these skills. The official Microsoft Office training and certification site is always a good point to
start:
Summary of Module 2
This module focused on research, thinking, analysis, and communication. Research helps you identify an issue or
problem. The outcome of the research is data. You learned there were two types of data: quantitative data, which is
numerical, and qualitative data, which is descriptive. You can use close-ended questions for quantitative research
and open-ended questions for qualitative research. Primary research, using a survey, for example, is collecting data
in the field and secondary research, using a published document, for example, uses already existing data. There are
various research methods. The Delphi method, for example, is based on the idea that the viewpoints of a group of
experts are better than those of an individual.

You examined types of thinking and systems and how to use a mind map. Strategic thinking focuses on arriving at a
set of ideas, goals, and plans that rely on assumptions made during the analysis process. It includes analyzing
variables and then evaluating the effects of changes on those variables. A mind map is a diagram for showing and
organizing information around a central concept. For a consultant, strategic thinking allows you to arrive at a
solution rationally. Design thinking is a process for solving problems and designing solutions creatively. It relies on
demonstrating empathy and understanding of clients as individuals, that is, putting yourself in the users’ shoes.
Design thinking can be thought of as having five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. It’s important
to understand that a system is an interconnected set of elements coherently organized in a way that achieves
something. A system has parts that affect each other. The parts together create an effect that is different from the
effect of every single part on its own. You can make significant changes to a system by changing one factor, called
a leverage point.

You learned the tools for analysis, including PESTLE, SWOT, and VUCA. PESTLE is used to analyze customers
from six perspectives: political, economic, social, technology, legal, and environmental. SWOT is used to analyze
the environment: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing an entity such as a business. VUCA
stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. VUCAis used to analyze variation, risk, and change.

Next, you applied analysis tools to the customer environment, business processes and data, and system technology
environments. Business process analysis (BPA) looks at individual processes, networks, and integrations between
processes. A Business Process Model Notation (BPMN) helps you visualize business processes and models using
diagrams. You saw how you could use systems diagrams to quickly provide a high-level overview from input through
output. Visualizing systems and the business processes within them helps you see how data flows across business
processes.

Finally, you learned how communication skills could help you listen, present, and speak more effectively, as well as
understand the client and reflect back their views. Active listening is when you reflect back what the speaker is
saying. You might summarize or ask for clarification. Empathetic listening is giving special attention to the speaker’s
feelings. Empathetic listening can build trust with the speaker. Awareness of body language is also part of effective
communication.

You identified the three goals of presentation skills: to inform, instruct, and persuade. When you give your client
information in a meeting, that is informing. When you present training, that is instructing. When you hope to
influence a client favorably about products, that is persuading. You saw that business writing includes effective note-
taking, documentation, and e-mail writing. The three-step business writing process helps you produce effective
written results. The three steps are: first, determine the subject, audience, and purpose; second, make an outline;
and third, write the text. Clarity, brevity, and accuracy are also good writing practices.