Career in Web Development

When everything is online today, internet or web needs no introduction. Every business, whether big or small has a website to showcase its products & services to customers across the globe.  Not just companies, TV channels, celebrities, political parties, and educators, everyone has a website since nobody wants to be left out from the global exposure that the internet offers. Who makes them, who is responsible for converting data in the form of websites, the answer is Web Developers. A web developer is a person who creates or develops a website and is responsible for its maintenance also. They are the people who make the web run. A web developer is a Programmer who specializes in, or is specifically engaged in, the development of World Wide Web applications, or distributed network applications that are run over HTTP from a web server to a web browser.

What does a web developer do?

With reference to a website, we can say ‘Everything’. A web developer’s main task it to create a website as per the client’s requirement, publish it on the web and see that it runs smoothly.  A web developer is also responsible for modifying or upgrading the contents and features of the website as the client desires. A web developer’s task can be broadly discussed as

• Understanding the requirement:  The first and foremost task of a developer is to understand what the client needs. He/she must be fully aware of what’s expected of him/her. For example, if the client needs a social networking website, the developer must check whether the site will have the options of uploading videos and images, chat options, video conferencing etc. if the developers fails to understand the features, the website will not work as desired.
• Select technology: Once the requirement is understood, the developer selects the programming languages, database applications and other required technologies to build the website.  The selection varies from person to person as everyone has different set of skills and programming background.
• Develop the website: This is the most important task of a web developer – developing or creating a website. The development of the website must be strictly according to the requirements mentioned by the client in the first phase of the process. Creating a website is somewhat similar to creating software, with the only exception is that software’s are meant to run on a standalone system, whereas a website is placed on a server and accessed by millions of users through the internet. Therefore, the responsibility of a developer is not only to create a website and host it over a web server but also to see that the sites functions properly when the web traffic increases. The website should not only be functional but also attractive and fast at the same time.
• Hosting and maintenance: Once the site is finished, it must be deployed on web server so that it can be accessed by web users across the globe, this is called ‘Web Hosting’. The developer must choose a web hosting company that can support all the features present in the website. Changing contents from time to time, checking missing links and other errors are also part of web developer’s duties.  

How to be a web developer

To be a web developer, you must have keen interest in programming and internet. A web developer must possess the following skills :

• HTML : Hypertext Markup Language is the language of the web. The core of all the websites is HTML. HTML is not exactly a programming language like C or C++ but rather a ‘markup language’. It is used to set the layout, colors, fonts and the basic appearance of a website. Although there are many WSYWIG software’s like Microsoft Expression Web, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio that can automatically generate HTML code, knowledge of HTML is definitely a must have skill.
• Scripting Languages: Since HTML is not a programming language, any programming related task like decision making, performing calculations, loops cannot be applied in HTML. Scripting languages are those languages that can be embedded in HTML to make a static HTML page dynamic. There are two main categories of a scripting languages:

Client Side Scripting : When a client requests for a web page from a web server, the server sends the HTML code of the page to the client. The browser of the client system reads the HTML code and displays it on the screen. Client side refers to operations that are performed by the client in a client–server relationship in a computer network. Typically, a client is a computer application, such as a web browser, that runs on a user's local computer or workstation and connects to a server as necessary. Popular Client Side Scripting Languages are VBScript and JavaScript.

Server Side Scripting: Server side refers to operations that are performed by the server in a client–server relationship in computer networking. Typically, a server is a software program, such as a web server, that runs on a remote server. Operations may be performed server-side because they require access to information or functionality that is not available on the client, or require typical behavior that is unreliable when it is done client-side. ASP.Net, PHP and JSP are the main server side scripting languages.

    Database: A website needs to store the data entered by the user, for example an ecommerce site must store the information regarding the product chosen by the user, its price and the billing details of the purchase made, similarly a banking website needs to store the account details of a customer. All such data is stored in a database application like Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL. A developer must know how to handle a database application with the help of Structured Query Language (SQL). The typical functions are how to insert data, update changes, and delete rows from a table.
   
    XML : Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. XML has come into common use for the interchange of data over the Internet. XML is easy to learn because you are in control of the layout and structure of the page. Page authors develop their own element names. This means there is no limit to the number of tags one can use on an XML document.

Difference between a web developer and a web designer

While having a discussion on web developer, we must know that a web developer is different from a web designer. A web developer is mainly a person who specializes in the coding part of a website. He/she is a programmer that knows how to make a website functional by integrating various technologies as mentioned above. A web designer on the other hand is a person whose main task is to make a website look attractive to the viewer.  A designer uses images, colors, fonts, animations to make the site appealing. He/she creates and arranges the pages that make up a website. They often have to balance how a page looks versus how a web page functions, which can involve some compromises. If you are a programmer at heart, web development is where you should look at.

Courses : To become a web developer, you can join any web development course that teaches you the above mentioned technologies. There is no formal degree available in this field therefore you have to get the required skills by learning these skills as much as you can. The best practice for you will be to develop a test web site that includes all the technologies that you have learnt. It is recommended that before joining such a course, you should check whether it includes the knowledge of the web hosting process. If the course covers SEO (Search Engine Optimization) it will be icing on cake.

Institutes:Leading institutes for a course in web development are Aptech, NIIT, Arena Multimedia etc. The information regarding the courses offered by them can be obtained from their respective websites.

Fees: Fees of a course in web development can range between 5000 to 35000 depending on the course contents, level of study and the city where you pursue the course from.

Carrer Options:A skilled Web developer can seek a career in companies offering web solutions or in any company that has a website. You can also opt for developing websites as a freelancer using your contacts. A freelancer gets the order and develops the website on his own. There are many websites that offer web development jobs online also. As a freelancer you can register yourself in such site and search for online projects.

Salary: The salary of  a web developer can be Rs. 10000/- per month to start with. As the skills and experience grows a web developer can expect a salary within the bracket of Rs. 20000 to Rs. 40000. As far as a freelancer is concerned, he/she can quote the price of a website according to number of pages and time involved.

The What and How of Physiotherapy

What is Physiotherapy ?

The word Physiotherapy is made up of two words – Physio (Physical Agents) and Therapy (Treatment), therefore it can be defined as  branch of medical science in which diseases/disabilities are treated with the help of physical means/agents e.g. exercise, electrical equipment like Muscle Stimulator, SWD etc, different types of rays like Infra-red, Ultraviolet rays etc.

Physiotherapy is a clinical health science and profession that aims to rehabilitate and improve people with movement disorders by using evidence-based, natural methods such as exercise, motivation, adapted equipment, education and advocacy.  Practiced by physiotherapists or physical therapists, it is considered within the realm of conventional medicine. Methods for diagnosis can vary, depending on the situation, though physical examinations and testing are often employed for evaluation. Treatments can include a wide range of practices, including massage, applications of heat or electricity, and assistance with using mobility devices such as walkers and crutches.

Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession which deals with movement disorders of the body arising from certain conditions or illnesses. Treatment through physiotherapy can also be more efficient and cheap than other traditional medication or therapy. One of the main advantages of Physiotherapy is it has less or no side effect as compared to other systems of treatment. Because of its less side effects Physiotherapy has become popular among the intellectual people of our society.

Who is a Physiotherapist?

The person who performs physiotherapy profession is called a Physiotherapist/Physical therapist or physio for short. Physiotherapists study medical science subjects such as anatomy, neuroscience and physiology to develop skills and attitudes necessary for health education and prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with physical disorders and disabilities.

The physiotherapist works in health care systems in both hospitals and the community

Physiotherapists, who are known as physical therapists in America, work all around the world. They are the experts in the examination and treatment of musculoskeletal, neuromuscular and cardiothoracic problems that affect peoples’ abilities to move the way they want and function as well as they want in their daily lives. Physiotherapists assess, diagnose and treat people whose movement is restricted by injury, illness or age. Individuals in the physiotherapy career study their patient's history and physical condition in dealing with the movement disorders.

Scope

There is immense scope for a physiotherapist not only in India but abroad also. A trained physio can get employment  in private hospitals, clinics, govt. and private rehabilitation centers, handicapped centers and schools. Physiotherapists can also opt for teaching, while those with adequate capital can establish private clinics of their own.  The demand for physiotherapists in the country as well as abroad is immense. They are in great demand in USA, Canada and Australia and in Middle East.

Eligibility

A person with science background can opt for a course in physiotherapy. A candidate who  has passed the 10+2 examination with physics, chemistry and biology can go for such a course. The passing percentage in 10+2 should be at least 50% and varies from institute to institute. The top institutes consider the score of CET (Common entrance examination), while some have their own selection procedure.

Courses

Various courses in physiotherapy are Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) and Master of Physiotherapy (MPT). The basic eligibility for BPT courses is 10+2 passed or equivalent examination with physics, chemistry, biology and English. At least 50% of marks should be secured in each of these subjects. Admission to BPT program is generally made on the basis of entrance examination conducted both at state and national level. BPT course is of 3 and ½ years – 4 and ½ years of duration. There is also a compulsory rotatory internship after the completion of the course. One who wishes to continue his/her study further can take admission into Master of Physiotherapy (MPT) program which is of two years duration. In this case he/she should have completed BPT course from any recognized institute/university.

1. B.Sc. Physiotherapy
2. Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT)
3. Diploma in Physiotherapy (D.P.T.)
4. Master of Physiotherapy (MPT)
5. Master of Physiotherapy in Hand conditions
6. Master of Physiotherapy in Neurology
7. Master of Physiotherapy in Orthopedics
8. Master of Sports Physiotherapy (M.S.P.T)
9. Post Graduate Diploma in Physiotherapy and Nutrition

Syllabus

• I Year Behavioral sciences, Anatomy, Physiology and Bio-chemistry (2 semesters)
• II Year Movement Science, Electrotherapy, Pathology and Pharmacology, General Medical conditions and surgical conditions including Pediatrics and Bio Mechanics (2 Semesters)
• III Year Clinical subjects - Orthopaedics and traumatic conditions, Neurological conditions and cardio-respiratory diseases, Rehabilitation Medicine, Community medicine and Community physiotherapy (2 semester).
• IV Year Applied physiotherapy in Orthopaedics and traumatic conditions, Neurological Sciences and Cardio respiratory diseases, Physical diagnosis, Ethics and management study (2 semesters). 

Institutes

There are many government and private institutes that offer courses in BPT and MPT. Leading ones are 

For MPT

• Jamia Hamdard, Faculty of medicine, New Delhi
• Meenakshi College of Physiotherapy, Chennai
• MGM institute of Health science, Navi Mumbai
• KMCH College of Physiotherapy, Coimbatore
• KM College of physiotherapy, Coimbatore
• Appolo College, Durg, Chhatisgarh
• SRM institute of medical science and research, Chennai
• School of medical education, MG university, Kottayam, Kerala
• Vels College of physiotherapy , Pallavaram (TN)
• National institute for the orthopedically handicapped, Kolkata
• Integral University, Lucknow

For BPT

• Aligarh Muslim Univerity, Aligarh (UP)
• All India institutes of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Mumbai
• Apollo College of medical science, Hyderabad
• BCF College of phyiostherapy, Kottayam, Kerala
• Devi Ahilya University, Indore, MP
• MP Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal
• Rajeev Gandhi College, Bhopal
• Sai College of Medical Science and technology, Kanpur
• Santosh World medical academy, Ghaziabad (UP)
• JM Institute of Speech and hearing, Patna (Bihar)
• National institute of Physiotherapy and communication disorders, Patna (Bihar)
• College of physiotherapy for Women, Mansa (Punjab)
• Tripura Institute of paramedical sciences,Agartala (Tripura)

 Remuneration

A physiotherapist can expect a salary of Rs. 5000 to 10000 per month to start with.  If you choose your career as a physiotherapist in a hospital, you can something around Rs. 15000 to 25000 per month, depending on your skills and of course the level of hospital. The income of a freelance physiotherapist can be much higher than this depending on the clientele. A physio doing private practice can easily get Rs. 500/- to 2000/- per sitting.

Career in Mobile Application Development

An application or ‘app’ for short is a software that is designed to perform various tasks on a mobile device or tablet. There many apps that the users can download from the internet and used. Some of these applications are free to download and use while some are paid ones. There are thousands of apps available of the web that perform basic task like a calculator or games and other utilities. Popular apps include facebook app, an app for twitter to name a few.

A mobile app. Developer is a basically a programmer who develops programs for mobiles, smartphones and tablets.  Development of mobile application involves same rules that apply for development of computer software with some restrictions. A mobile developer has to design an application keeping in mind the limitations of a mobile device like memory, screen size, battery usage, processing speed etc. All these limitations are not present in a computer where the size of the screen, memory has reached new heights.

Industry status

Developing and building applications for smartphones, iPads and other tables is one of the most in-demand jobs in the world right now. The research firm - Gartner estimates that worldwide revenue from mobile apps can touch $15 billion this year. 

The mobile application market is rapidly growing and gaining popularity as an emerging job opportunities market. India is the third fastest growing app market in the world. As per Gartner report, Indias active mobile connections will exceed 900 million by 2016, which translates to 72% penetration. According to Trai in January 2012 the number of active mobile connections in India has reached 659.99 million and the total mobile subscriber base stands at 903.72 million.

It is estimated that every Indian user spends nearly 52 minutes per-day using mobile apps. Similarly, mobile app economy-estimated at nearly $4 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) in 2009 and expected to grow to $18 billion in half a decade-continues to expand exponentially.

There is an increase in the demand of mobile applications as more and more people are using smart phones. It has been projected that mobile value-added services market (which includes mobile apps) will reach Rs 214.1 crore by the end of 2012 from Rs 158.6 crore in 2011. Revenue generated by mobile VAS was INR 122 billion, as on March 2011. It is estimated to reach Rs 482 billion by 2015.
To put the demand in perspective, consider that Apple racked up $1.78 billion in app sales in 2010, and global mobile app sales are forecast to hit $4 billion this year, according to market researcher IHS. IT job site Dice.com found that job postings for Android developers soared 302% in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2010; ads for iPhone-related positions rose 220% in the same time frame.
Elance.com, a website for freelancers, reports comparable demand: In the first quarter of 2011, there were 4,500 mobile developer jobs posted on the site -- an increase of 101% over the number of similar job postings in the same quarter last year. The total number of job listings on the site expanded at a rate of 52% in that same time frame, indicating that mobile development as a career segment may be growing twice as fast as the overall job market, according to Ellen Pack, vice president of marketing at Elance.com. 
It's not just tech companies that are on the prowl for mobile development talent. Today, all kinds of product and service companies are scrambling to come out with apps, just as, a short while ago, they were working to establish a presence on social networking sites.

Top technologies to learn

1) Java: Applications developed in Java for resource-constrained devices (e.g mobile phones) are known as MID. Java for mobile application developmentconsists of two elements: a coding terminology and operating environment, which can run programs written in that language. The format of the java coding syntax is similar to C ++ object-oriented language. A big difference between C ++ and Java is that the program designer in C ++ will compile the source code particularly for a particular device for which application is intended.

2) QT: Mobile development pulpits are many and sometimes it happens that the same application is developed for different platforms. This would mean lot of work and use of various technologies however with cross platform mobile development technology all these hassles become negligible. QT is an excellent cross platform mobile development pulpit and allows you to develop applications for different devices and OS, such as MS Windows, Mac OS X, Unix system, Symbian, Android and others. 

3) Windows Phone SDK: The latest available version of Windows phone SDK is 7.1 allowingmobile developers to develop their own mobile applications and list them on the Windows Phone Marketplace. Windows Phone SDK 7.1 contains Windows phone emulator, additions for XNA game facilities 4.0, assemblies, Expression combination SDK, Silverlight SDK and DRT, WCF information services and Microsoft Promotion SDK to further enhance Windows mobile application development. 

4) iPhone SDK: Developing for the iPhone for the operating system IOS is only for Mac OS X. To make programs for the iPhone, iPhone developers are motivated to use Objective-C. In this case it is possible to make the same application using C and C + +. However this is not as successful as most of the API is designed in Objective C. 

5) Android SDK: To make for Android, you can use the Eclipse plug-in set up with the ADT. The development is in programming language Java. It is possible to debug using the emulator designed into the ADT, or immediately on a mobile device running Android. Different versions of the SDK have evolved to facilitate Android application development. 

As newer technology for mobile application development emerges older technologies go down the record. To develop the best application a mobile application developer should be abreast with evolving technologies and use it in all latest projects.

How to go for it

Like most of the careers a graduation degree is a must to apply for a job. This formal qualification must be accompanied by strong programming skills, especially in Java,  HTML and Object Oriented Programming. Expertise in the specific APIs and user interface toolkits of major mobile platforms like Google's Android and Apple's iOS is a plus -- though a lack of such experience wouldn't necessarily mean you have no chance of becoming a successful mobile app developer, experts say. A skilled programmer should be able to move between languages fairly easily, since mobile development essentially just involves learning a new syntax.

There are various institutes that offer a course in mobile app. Development. You can join a course that teaches you to designs for iOS or android(the latter becoming more popular now days) Being a practical subject, learning by doing will the best option for you. If you don’t want to join for a classroom course you can take the help of various online tutorials, you tube videos also.

Remuneration

A beginner in a mobile app development can expect a package anything between 2 to 3.5 lakh per annum whereas an expert can easily get a package of 4 to 6 lakhs.  

Career as a freelancer

A freelance app developer is a person who develops the app by himself and put it on a app. sharing website.Mobile app development has come of age today. With the ever-rising demand for smartphone apps, this field is full of Apple, Android and BlackBerry developers. Submitting your app has become much easier, with the major app stores relaxing their restrictions. Most app stores charge a nominal registration fee, which makes it more lucrative for the app developer. But can a freelance mobile app developer really earn that much from his independent occupation Most of the major app stores charge you a 30% commission on the sales of your app in their marketplace. The BlackBerry World charges only 20% commissions.The webOS pays their developers via PayPal, which decreases your commission further. Hence, this one may not be an extremely viable for you, returns-wise, especially if you are a US-based mobile app developer. Your aim is not just breaking even, but also making a decent sum every month, from the sales of your app. For this, you will first have to decide a target sum you want to earn and based on that, see if you can manage to generate the volume of sales required to make that much amount of profit.

While you are projecting this figure, you will also have to look at the size of the particular marketplace that you are targeting. Right now, Apple and Google are at the very top of the rung. Hence, these also have the highest number of app users, which means, you have that much more chance of making profits in these markets.

In conclusion, you can definitely make profits being a freelance mobile app developer. But how much you can make each month depends on your costs, your marketing efforts, volume of sales and so on. Analyze each mobile platform in detail before selecting your chosen platform or platforms and then go ahead and develop apps for the same.

SAP

SAP AG – The Company

SAP AG is a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software (ERP) to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software. The company's best known software products are its enterprise resource planning application (SAP ERP), its enterprise data warehouse solution - SAP Business Warehouse, SAP Business Objects software, and most recently, Sybase mobile products and in-memory computing appliance SAP HANA. The company expects to be number two in IT database management in India, in spite of being relatively new in the business. SAP is one of the largest independent software corporations.

SAP – The Product

SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing. Designed and developed by 5 IBM engineers during the 1970s as a standard based software alternative to custom built ERP software. SAP has been in the forefront of ERP software ever since. SAP develops ERP products to be used by companies to manage their enterprise. This includes managing their day to day operations, logistics, finances, month end, quarter end and yearly activities, reporting, HR etc. Although there are a couple of other ERP vendors who do the same, the key differentiator for SAP is the way in which SAP integrates all these operations and makes for a seamless system that is both easy to use and at the same time sophisticated enough to include all kinds of complex activities that are needed for any kind of enterprise. Examples of some of these activities could, be running Material resource planning, recruiting and managing an employee’s lifecycle, disbursing payrolls, recording all financial transactions and drawing balance sheets and P/L statements of the company etc. Now imagine a single system that takes care of all these diverse activities and still keep them well integrated. SAP system comprises of a number of fully integrated modules, which covers virtually every aspect of the business management. SAP is #1 in the ERP market .As of 2010, SAP has more  than 140,000 installations worldwide ,over 25 industry-specific business solutions, and more than 75,000 customers in 120 countries Other Competitive products in market are  Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics etc.

What is ERP ?

ERP stands for ‘Enterprise Resource Planning’. The term ERP was coined by a leading research and advisory company, Gartner in 1990.ERP involves the management and utilization of ‘Finance, Human Capital, Manufacturing and Order’.SAP ERP is one of five enterprise applications in SAP's Business Suite. The other four applications are:  

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – helps companies acquire and retain customers, gain marketing and customer insight
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) – helps manufacturers with product-related information
• Supply Chain Management (SCM) – helps companies with the process of resourcing its manufacturing and service processes
• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) – enables companies to procure from suppliers

SAP Terminology 

• SAP Netweaver

SAP Netweaver is the comprehensive integration and application platform and is the technological backbone of SAP Business Suite.SAP Netweaver includes the whole range of enabling technologies like SAP EP (Enterprise Portal) infrastructure, SAP BW (Business Warehousing), SAP XI (Exchange Integration), SAP WebAS (Web application server), mobile technologies and others.

• SAP Business Suite

SAP Business Suite is a collection of integrated enterprise applications which enables enterprises to perform business processes designed to work with other SAP and non-SAP software. Core applications of SAP Business Suite are : SAP ERP, SAP CRM, SAP PLM, SAP SCM and SAP SRM. SAP Business Suite applications are built on an open, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and powered by SAP Netweaver platform.

• SAP ERP

SAP ERP is the comprehensive enterprise resource planning solution from SAP. SAP ERP is powered by SAP Netweaver technology and includes the full suite of applications for Financials, Human Resources, Operations Management, Corporate Services and Analytics.

• SAP CRM

SAP Customer Relationship Management helps businesses to focus on customer related business processes like Marketing, Sales, Customer services, e-commerce, etc.

• SAP PLM

SAP Product Lifecycle Management is the application for product-related processes starting from the first product idea, through manufacturing to product service.

• SAP SCM

SAP Supply Change Management applications helps businesses to plan and execute its supply networks. It also enables collaboration and co-ordination empowering the supply chain processes.

• SAP SRM

SAP Supplier Relationship Management application focuses on supplier relationship to empower procurement process and suppliers as strategic partners in the organization. It is aimed at strengthening procure-to-pay processes for goods and services. Simplifying sourcing and procurement functions leads to reduction in procurement costs and better managed supplies.

• SAP ABAP

SAP ABAP is the programming language of SAP. SAP developed ABAP for programming various SAP applications. ABAP stands for Advanced Business Application Programming. The language helps in customizing applications for different customer requirements which can not be provided as part of standard software.

• ABAP Objects

ABAP Objects is the object-oriented extended version of the 4th generation ABAP language (called ABAP/4). Starting from version 4.6, ABAP is continuosly gaining new object-oriented features making it at par with other modern languages. ABAP Objects is not a 100% object-oriented language like Java rather a hybrid language where the old procedural paradigm exists with the modern object-oriented component.

• mySAP

SAP introduced this term way back in 2003 to represent the web-enablement of its various applications and introduction of e-commerce capabilities. At that time, it was a big things in SAP circles and SAP products were referred as mySAP ERP, mySAP Business Suite, etc.

Functional components

• Financial - FICO

SAP FI - Financial Accounting 

SAP CO - Controlling

SAP EC - Enterprise Controlling

SAP AM - Asset Management 

SAP EAM - Enterprise Asset Management

SAP TR - Treasury

SAP IM - capital Investment Management

SAP GL - General Ledger

SAP AP - Accounts Payable

SAP AR - Account Receivable)

SAP AA - Asset Accounting

SAP LC - Legal Consolidation

SAP FM - Funds Management

SAP BL - Bank-related Accounting

SAP TR-CB - Cash Budget Management

SAP TR-MRM - Market Risk Management

SAP TR-CM - Cash Management

SAP TR-LO - Loans Management

SAP TR-TM - Treasury Management

• Human Resources - HR

SAP HR - Human Resource

SAP PA - Personnel Administration 

SAP PD - Personnel planning and Development

SAP PA-APP - Applicant Management

SAP PA-BEN - Benefits

SAP PA-EMP - Employee Management

SAP PA-INW - Incentive wages

SAP PA-PAY - Payroll

SAP PA-TIM - Time Management

SAP PA-TRV - Travel Expenses

SAP PD-OM - Organizational Management

SAP PD-RPL - Room Reservations Planning

SAP PD-WFP - Workforce Planning

SAP PD-SCM - Seminar and Convention Management

SAP PD-PD - Personnel development.

• Logistic and Manufacturing - Mainly SD/MM

SAP MM - Material Management

SAP MRP - Materials Requirement Planning

SAP ML - Material Ledger

SAP SD - Sales & Distribution

SAP PP - Production Planning

SAP DS - Detailed Scheduling

SAP LO - General Logistics

SAP SM - Service Management

SAP PM - Plant Maintenance 

SAP LE - Logistic Execution

SAP MM-PUR - Purchasing

SAP MM-IM - Inventory Management

SAP MM-WM - Warehouse Management

SAP MM-IV - Invoice Verification

SAP MM-IS - Information System

SAP MM-CBP - Consumption Based Planning

SAP MM-EDI - Electronic Data Interchange

SAP SD-MD - Master Data

SAP SD-CAS - Sales Support

SAP SD-SLS - Sales

SAP SD-SHP - Shipping

SAP SD-TR - Transportation

SAP SD-BIL - Billing

SAP SD-SIS - Sales Information System

SAP SD-EDI - Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

SAP SD-GF General Sales Functions

SAP PP-SOP - Sales and Operations Planning

SAP PP-CRP - Capacity Requirement Planning

SAP PP-MP - Master planning

SAP PP-ATO - Assembly orders

SAP PP-BD - Basic Data

SAP PP-IS - Information System

SAP PP-KAB - Kanban/Just-in-Time

SAP PP-MRP - Material Requirements Planning

SAP PP-PDC - Plant Data Collection

SAP PP-PI - Production Planning for Process Industries

SAP PP-REM - Repetitive Manufacturing

SAP PP-SFC - Production orders

SAP PM-EQM - Equipment and Technical Objects

SAP PM-IS - PM Information System

SAP PM-PRM - Preventive Maintenance

SAP PM-PRO - Maintenance Projects

SAP PM-SM - Service Management

SAP PM-WOC - Maintenance Orders Management

SAP LO-AB-TC - Trading Contract

SAP LO-BM - Batches

SAP LO-ECH - Engineering Change Management 

SAP LO-EHS - Environment Management

SAP LO-EWB - Engineering Workbench

SAP LO-HU - Handling Unit Management

SAP LO-LIS - Logistics Information System

SAP LO-MAP - Merchandise & Assortment Planning

SAP LO-MD - Logistics Basic Data

SAP LO-MDS - Merchandise Distribution

SAP LO-PDM - Product Data Management

SAP LO-PR - Forecast

SAP LO-RIS - Retail Information System

SAP LO-SCI - Supply Chain Planning Interface

SAP LO-SRS - Retail Store

SAP LO-VC - Variant Configuration

• Product Life Cycle Management - PLM 

SAP QM - Quality Management

SAP QM-QP - Quality Planning

SAP QM-IM - Quality Inspection processing

SAP QM-QC-AQC - Quality control

SAP QM-IT - Test equipment management

SAP QM-QN - Quality notifications

SAP QM-CA - Quality certificates

SAP PS - Project System

SAP DMS - Document Management System

SAP PPM - Project and Portfolio Management 

SAP EHS - Environment, Health and Safety

SAP PLM_RM - Recipe Management

SAP PLM-AM - Audit Management

SAP QM-CR - General functions

SAP QM-PT-RP - Control in logistics

SAP PLM400 - Quality Management

SAP LO170 - Quality Management

SAP PLM405 - Quality Inspections

SAP LO705 - Quality Inspections

SAP PLM410 - Quality Notifications

SAP LO710 - Quality Notifications

SAP PLM425 - QM in Sales and Distribution

SAP LO725 - Quality Certificates

SAP PS-CAF - Payments

SAP PS-CON - Confirmation

SAP PS-COS - Costs

SAP PS-CRP - Resources

SAP PS-DAT - Dates

SAP PS-DOC - Documents

SAP PS-IS - Information System

SAP PS-MAT - Material

SAP PS-PRG - Progress

SAP PS-REV - Revenues and Earnings

SAP PS-SIM - Simulation

SAP PS-ST - Structures

SAP PS-VER - Versions

• Cross Application (X-Apps) 

SAP xApp for Manufacturing Integration & Intelligence

SAP APO - Advanced Planner and Optimizer

SAP Live Cache

SAP WF - Workflow

SAP BW- Business Warehouse

SAP BIW - Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing

SAP Analytics

SAP xPD - Product Definition

• Governance, Risk, and Compliance - SAP GRC

SAP SDN

SAP Virsa

SAP GTS

SAP xEM

SAP CPM - Corporate Performance Management

SAP SEM - Strategic Enterprise Management

SAP Strategy Management

SAP Business Planning and Simulation

SAP Credit Management

Technical components

• SAP Basis

SAP BC - BASIS Components 

• ABAP

ABAP - Advanced Business Application Programming

• NetWeaver "Business Process Management" apps

SAP KMC - Knowledge Management & Collaboration

SAP DMS - Document Management Service

SAP CMS - Content Management Service

SAP XI - Exchange Infrastructure

SAP PI - Process Integration

SAP EP - Enterprise Portal

• IS (Information Systems) Management 

SAP CCMS - Computing Center Mgmt System

SAP MDM - Master Data Management

SAP BC-CCM-ADK - Archiving Development Kit

SAP CCM-API - Application Program Interfaces

SAP CCM-BTC - Background Processing

SAP CCM-CNF - Configuration

SAP CCM-HAV - High Availability

SAP CCM-MON - Monitoring

SAP CCM-PRN - Print and Output Management

SAP MDM100 - Master Data Management

SAP MDM101 - MDM GDS

SAP MDM300 - MDM Print Publishing

SAP MDM400 - MDM Data Modeling

Career in SAP

Demand is "strong" in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand and Australia for SAP functional skills such as financial accounting and controlling (FICO), materials management (MM), and production planning (PP). Overall, the demand for such expertise is higher in discrete and process manufacturing industries, where the companies usually utilize a wider spectrum of SAP modules for different business areas. Although there is little difference between entry-level positions across the different technology areas, experienced SAP consultants generally command higher paychecks than the average IT professional.SAP consultants are paid a premium for their specific SAP project experience. Career prospects and development are good since there is a demand for these skill sets and companies are willing to pay good money for the best consultants.

Earning

How much one earns depends on several factors including the specific modules of specialization, as well as market demand and supply. In Singapore, for example, an SAPHR (human resources) consultant may be in the lower payscale compared to SAP SD (Sales and Distribution) where the general demand for SAP SD is higher.There is also a difference between working for an IT consulting company and in an end-user environment, and compensation also depends on the amount of travel required and the country of work. A consultant can choose to continue to specialize and hone his skills as a SAP subject matter expert, take up managerial responsibilities, or even lead a team and work his way up to senior business or application management.If you are already in an organization that implements SAP software, you can explore opportunities for internal transfers to get the relevant experience. Once you have clocked one to two full-cycle implementation projects, you can be considered as an experienced SAP consultant.

SAP consultants can hail from different walks of life; one can have functional skills or domain expertise.

A HR manager can take up a course, and find a job as a SAP HR consultant either in an end-user environment or a consulting company. As you gain project experience, say, six months to a year, you can expand into other areas.

Career advancement opportunities are also not limited to the SAP field. A consultant can take on a project lead role and later move on to become an IT head or CTO. And how important is obtaining professional certification? SAP certification is definitely nice to have, but it does not guarantee a smooth transition to a SAP career. Ultimately, companies are still looking at specific and related work experience in SAP. Strong communication skills and industry background will serve as a good foundation for an SAP consultant.

According to SAP, there are more than 8,000 SAP customer installations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, and the German software giant has about 1,600 SAP consultants based in this region. The company continues to ensure it has a strong pool of consultants who can serve the market. Training is also provided at boot camps where participants pick up tips on strategy, consulting and change management

SAP Training Institutes

There are many SAP training institutes in India that offer good training but at the same time there are many ‘fly-by-night’ operators also that charge a hefty amount but just cover the basics. It is advisable to have a thorough look at the curriculum and their affiliations before joining any course. It is better to do SAP training from an autorized SAP training partner.