Skip to main content

SAP or Oracle Financials... which one should I do

I sometimes receive an email from members regarding whether to do SAP or not.

What is your advice for SAP FICO. Should I go for it ?
Which are good training institutes to avail the courses ?
What are the job prospects ?
Which one is good SAP or Oracle Financials ?

The first answer you have to explore yourself where you want to take your career ? Do you want to be a ERP Consultant for few years and then move on Accounting or continue to be in IT industry. Then other questions can be answered

SAP or Oracle

Both ERP solutions are dominant today in the marketplace. However SAP is number one in ERP application. I am SAP Certified Consultant and also trained on Oracle Financials. If you ask me, I will always recommend you to go for SAP since the customer base for SAP is more than Oracle and the opportunities are more. You need to check on salary of SAP & Oracle consultant since once you get into one of the ERP, you don't look for the other.

SAP Training

There are two way route for certification. The first you get your training from some small institute and work in SAP Consulting or End user company for an year and then go for certification. This will be cheaper. The other is join a SAP academy and take up the training course and enrol for certification. This is very expensive. In the first case, you will have to put more efforts to get a job into SAP but with training academy connections, your job path will be easier. Please contact SAP Education in the country where you reside for training and certifications. In either case, it pays off.

Job Prospects

The job prospects are very good for people who know SAP. There is a overall shortage of SAP FICO Consultants. However entry level, you may find difficultly in getting into but with experience you will be able to get anywhere. If you want to work in consulting companies, then they would prefer project implementation experience over support. Secondly you should be open to travel. Generally a full life cycle project will stretch from 9 months to 2 years, so be prepared to spend most of your time away from your family or take your family with you. High salaries come with a price.

The other option is to work with a end user company. The salary level will be less with little or no travel.

Salaries and Rates

Salary is pretty good, if you are in right consultancy. Permanent employment offers stability. You may also consider contracting. Rates are very good. The downside is the assignment will range from 2 weeks to 3 months. If you don't get new assignments, then you should know what to do with idle time.

How will know which companies to approach

Watch out for newspapers which SAP consultancy has got the project. Then approach them directly. Register with the job sites and receive the alerts for SAP. You will find loads of email notification coming into your mail box.

Any more questions, please comment.

Cheers,

Santosh Puthran

Further Reading:

  1. SAP Interview Questions
  2. Oracle interview questions


Do you like to be updated in Accountancy ?


Click here to get updates by Email in your inbox

Or


Subscribe in a reader

or Follow me on Twitter 
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
HI, I am workking as a Oracle dveloper for over 10 years. I just wanted to know whether doing SAP is a good idea. If so Please let me know the details.

Thanks
Ven
7 November 2009 at 06:31:00 GMT
santoshputhran said…
Ven,

This is like choosing to start something new over an expertise you have gained for 10 years. The question is what value a change can bring to my career.

So I would reckon you should look at SAP Business Intelligence or SAP CRM which are technical in nature but also you get to become a functional consultant. These two areas are quite challenging and also opportunities are more.

I would request you see my earlier post on SAP Training and explore the training details for both modules. This should help you in your decision making process.

Regards,

Santosh Puthran
7 November 2009 at 08:53:00 GMT
mohiuddin said…
hi,m shaik mohiuddin....i completed my course in sap fi/co from small institute so i got lil bit of subject so i would like to be fully perfect in the fi as well co side so plz suggest me and also advice me the sites i which i should apply for jobs and i need the project how shall i get that...plz reply me through e-mail.
18 November 2009 at 12:55:00 GMT
Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning Curve Theory

Learning Curve Theory is concerned with the idea that when a new job, process or activity commences for the first time it is likely that the workforce involved will not achieve maximum efficiency immediately. Repetition of the task is likely to make the people more confident and knowledgeable and will eventually result in a more efficient and rapid operation. Eventually the learning process will stop after continually repeating the job. As a consequence the time to complete a task will initially decline and then stabilise once efficient working is achieved. The cumulative average time per unit is assumed to decrease by a constant percentage every time that output doubles. Cumulative average time refers to the average time per unit for all units produced so far, from and including the first one made. Major areas within management accounting where learning curve theory is likely to have consequences and suggest potential limitations of this theory. Areas of consequence: A Standard
1 comment
Read more

Poll : Does CIMA, UK qualification add value

Poll : Does pursuing CIMA, UK qualification add value to a member of ICWAI, India ? Vote on the poll and share your thoughts by commenting the blog. Poll: Vote here I feel that if you are a member of ICWAI and you pursue CIMA, UK qualification, you are not adding any value to your skills since you will be learning the same. Once you are qualified, you are still a Cost & Management Accountant but from UK. For an employer, I would still have same skills and training on Management Accounting. However if you pursue qualification like Company Secretary or CPA or ACCA , your skills are enhanced with the knowledge gained during training and passing of exams. After qualification, you are bound to follow the CPD programs of ICWAI and other institute. In competitive world, employer look for people with multiple skills. Which one promotes you as professional better against your name: AICWA, ACMA or AICWA, ACS or AICWA, CPA or AICWA, ACCA Amazon.co.uk Widgets Regards, Santosh
8 comments
Read more

Resistence to Change - Approaches of Kotter and Schlesinger

The Six (6) Change Approaches of Kotter and Schlesinger is a model to prevent, decrease or minimize resistance to change in organizations. According to Kotter and Schlesinger (1979), there are four reasons that certain people are resisting change : Parochial self-interest (some people are concerned with the implication of the change for themselves ad how it may effect their own interests, rather than considering the effects for the success of the business) Misunderstanding (communication problems; inadequate information) Low tolerance to change (certain people are very keen on security and stability in their work) Different assessments of the situation (some employees may disagree on the reasons for the change and on the advantages and disadvantages of the change process) Kotter and Schlesinger set out the following six (6) change approaches to deal with this resistance to cha
1 comment
Read more