BCO6181 – EXPLANATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN 6 MINUTES

As part of our  BCO6181 class,  class lecturer Tony De Thomasis spoke of DemoJam, the  SAP TechEd event  where industry consultants had an opportunity to demonstrate a new use of SAP technology in just 6 minutes.

So as part of our class assessment it naturally followed that class members would be required to demonstrate a use of technology shown as part of BCO6181, with a 6 minute time limit. What example of class learnings could I demonstrate in 6 minutes?

One of my first thoughts turned to the well-known SAP table which contains all the transaction codes, TSTCT.  When  this table was demonstrated in class,  I identified with this  immediately. One of the first things I wanted to know as an SAP student  early in my Victoria University course was – where can I find the complete list of all SAP transaction codes?

I briefly thought of demonstrating transaction code SE16  to access TSTCT.  But I realised that running a demo  using SE16 to access the details of TSTCT would not have been showing my  fellow class members anything new  in the spirit of DemoJam.  Then I recalled our class exercises in using MAXDB SQL Studio that included accessing a SAP table. 

My current employment  is in a company finance department and my employer’s  financial records are stored in SQL tables for access by our electronic systems. From time to time I have needed to run a query on data contained with those tables using SQL syntax.  So accessing table TSTCT via the MAX/DB SQL Studio seemed like a perfect opportunity to not only learn how to query table TSTCT via an alternative means, but also to refresh my knowledge on using SQL syntax as part of my work.

After updating myself with some basic SQL syntax via SCN and Google research, I was able to construct a query which combined different conditions such as accessing all codes with an English language description and transaction codes beginning with certain letters such as ‘SU’ for the SAP user master related transaction codes.

The screen shots I saved as part of working through the SQL Studio, along with a screen shot of a clever and relevant poem about SAP Tables on the SAP Community Network formed the initial building blocks for my presentation.

Using Prezi, a cloud presentation site which had also been demonstrated to us as part of BCO6181, I was easily able to combine my various screen shots with the Prezi fonts and shapes into a step by step demonstration of SQL Studio.  The flexibility of Prezi also allowed me to add a YouTube video clip for some added entertainment value.

A picture of my delivering my presentation  of accessing TSTCT in SQL Studio to the class is below.

The presentation went well and I was pleased with the positive feedback. I was equally happy with the additional things I had learned in putting my presentation together.  But one of the most important things I have learned  has been that  since  the initial class demo, I have thought through the concept of a 6 minute presentation more and can see the benefit of running a ‘DemoJam’ on financial matters at work. 

In my role as a Project Accountant at an educational  research organisation, one of my ongoing challenges is to explain financial concepts and processes in simple terms to research staff  who sometimes find it difficult to fully understand financial matters related to research projects.

In the past I have provided information via up to a 5-6 page document with screenshots or sometimes just plain text.  My experience in this role has lead me to appreciate that financial information is best explained in a timely and simple manner.  Prezi would be a perfect way to provide concept explanations in a few simple slides. The downside from my employment point of view, is that my employer would probably not yet allow for such details to be provided by cloud software such as Prezi.

It is here that I acknowledge the encouragement of my fellow class member JelvieGrech.  Jelvie filmed her own class presentation to share with others via YouTube and SCN, then suggested I do the same and even recommended the software to use.

My first ever You Tube clip showing my presentation of MAXDB SQL is below…

I am happy to find myself now learning new technology in order to discover new ways of sharing information with others.

Another piece of cloud software introduced to us in class was the collaborative online software SAP streamwork. This weblog was designed and moderated using SAP Streamwork.

Learning new technology and discovering how one can use such technologies for the benefit of themselves and others, has been a common theme throughout the content taught as part of BCO6181.  A big thank you goes out to Tony De Thomasis for creating the BCO6181 curriculum that has given us skills that we will be able to use widely both professionally and personally going forward.