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Former Member

This is Part two of a four part (currently) series. The full setup is in the first post, Web sites.

First the outline:

Now the detail:

Books

By far the most active publisher in the SAP space is (not surprisingly) SAP Press. Whether you are looking for overview books or detail books, SAP Press probably has what you need. I prefer buying my books directly from SAP Press whenever possible, because for a little extra money they let you get both the electronic version of the book as well as the physical version of the book. This means that I can keep my hardcopy in my primary office, but still have access to the book when I'm on the road. This has proved exceedingly helpful on several occasions. The only downside is that the soft copy of the book is, to the best of my knowledge, only available through the SAP Press website. I'd love to have the option of viewing it on my kindle, but so far I don't think that's an option.

Having said that, I have also set up an Amazon Affiliate Bookstore for those who want to an easy way to view all of the books I've assembled. While SAP Press does publish the lion's share of good SAP books on the market today, there are still a few books out there by other publishers and this was an easy way to put them all together in one site. Full disclosure: if anyone buys a book directly from the book site I put together, Amazon kicks some of the proceeds back to me. Any and all proceeds generated are going to be split between a college fund for my kids and Juvenile Diabetes research charities.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of SAP books. I've restricted myself to book published since 2009. Any older than that and the books tend to be a little too far out of date. I have not read all of these books and inclusion on these lists should not be construed as a personal endorsement unless otherwise indicated. My intent was to gather a quick list of books that would serve someone trying to learn SAP for the first time. Please check the feedback on SAP Press and/or Amazon to get information from folks who have actually read any particular book. If you know of a book that belongs on one of these lists, please let me know in the comment section and I will be happy to update my lists (especially Plant Maintenance). If you've read one of these books and want to leave a comment about it, please do! Also leave comments at SAP Press and Amazon as well as very few SAP books receive much love in the feedback department.

If you are thinking of starting a career in SAP but don't know which SAP ECC Module or SAP component  is right for you. Start with the books in Overviews for Business Professionals or Overview for IT Professionals book. I have lists for SAP ECC modules Financials/Controlling, Material Management, Plant Maintenance, Production Planning, and Sales and Distribution but have not yet put together lists for any of the components: Supply Chain Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Customer Relationship Management, Business Intelligence, Portal, Business Objects, etc. These lists are a work in progress so if you'd like one of the missing ones prioritized, just let me know.

Overviews for Business Professionals

These books discuss the entire breadth of SAP functionality, including the various components (SCM, SRM, CRM, etc) and the modules of SAP's Core Product, ECC (FI, MM, PP, SD, etc). They also talk about the various toolkits you get within SAP Netweaver (BI, Portal, Basis, etc). If you are interested in SAP but aren't really sure which component or module best suites your interest, this is the list for you!

Overviews for IT Professionals

These books are aimed at IT professionals considering SAP implementation for the first time. They provide a broad overview of the functionality and technology involved.

Configuration - Financials and Controlling

These books cover the basic topics required to configure and use SAP Financials and/or SAP Controlling Module in SAP Enterprise Central Component (formerly SAP R/3). These books cover the basics for folks who want to work on a project team to support an SAP implementation and/or for folks who work to support an SAP ECC system that is already live.

Configuration - Material Management

These books cover the basic topics required to configure and use SAP Materials Management Module in SAP Enterprise Central Component (formerly SAP R/3). These books cover the basics for folks who want to work on a project team to support an SAP implementation and/or for folks who work to support an SAP ECC system that is already live.

Configuration - Plant Maintenance

These books cover the basic topics required to configure and use SAP Plant Maintenance Module in SAP Enterprise Central Component (formerly SAP R/3). These books cover the basics for folks who want to work on a project team to support an SAP implementation and/or for folks who work to support an SAP ECC system that is already live.

Configuration - Production Planning

These books cover the basic topics required to configure and use SAP Production Planning Module in SAP Enterprise Central Component (formerly SAP R/3). These books cover the basics for folks who want to work on a project team to support an SAP implementation and/or for folks who work to support an SAP ECC system that is already live.

Configuration - Sales and Distribution

These books cover the basic topics required to configure and use SAP Sales and Distribution Module in SAP Enterprise Central Component (formerly SAP R/3). These books cover the basics for folks who want to work on a project team to support an SAP implementation and/or for folks who work to support an SAP ECC system that is already live.

Netweaver System Administration (a.k.a. Basis) - Introduction

These books cover all the basic functions you need to know in order to be a generic SAP System Administrator. Most of the books focus on the traditional ABAP stack duties. At least one is useful if you are interested in the JAVA stack equivalent duties. All make excellent reference books if you are already familiar with the fundamentals.

Programming - Introduction

These books are suitable for folks who are interested in learning ABAP for the first time. Knowledge of other programming languages is helpful but not required. These books also make great reference books to have on your shelf when you need to refresh your memory.

SAP Implementation

These books don't talk about SAP's functionality as much as how to implement SAP successfully. SAP projects are large and large projects are prone to running over time and over budget unless carefully managed. These books attempt to provide Best Practice advice and methodology hints in order to maximize your chance at on-time and on-budget implementation.

Again, please let me know if there are any books or categories you think I should add!

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

     --Tom

Find the rest of my blogs at thomas.dulaney

Follow me on Twitter @thomas_dulaney

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