Deep Thoughts – Too Much SAP Information on the Net

There are so many different options to learn about all things SAP.  Yes, I do mean pretty much all of SAP.   I sometimes think what a wonderful thing it is to have information at our fingertips.  I sometimes think what a horrible idea to have information at our fingertips.

Crazy right?  I came from when SDN was just starting up.  There wasn’t a lot of information.  There was really about 500 or more percent less available on-line.  We were lucky to have a good instructor when we went to SAP training.  To bring a consultant to help with “anything” SAP, they just had to spell SAP.

Just enough or could be more information:

As you can see from my last paragraph, we now bring in much better consulting resource.  At this point we are working with one firm.  It makes things easier.  Not only do they know how to spell SAP, they know their jobs.  I have to believe that is from all the available training materials.

I could spend probably weeks, months and maybe even a year consuming all the training information.  It’s really cool that when I need it, it’s there.

Innovation is driven by a piece of data I consume from somewhere else.  It might spark a thought to run with.

Projects get done quicker with the availability of the information.  And yes, as I have the time I do go back to my bookmarks to re-read a good piece of information that might help me program.

I can ask a question and it might be answered.  I’ll  also try find the solution myself, but after many hours of doing that – I ask that question.

I get to learn!!!!  Big plus.

Most of it is free.  Another huge plus.

University students are encouraged to work on a project and post it in GITHUB.  I might be able to use some code snippets.  (Of course, everyone is encouraged to add information to GITHUB.)

Less Information:

Some of the information contradicts itself.  So who to believe?  Well it might be an easy answer as one makes more sense than the other.  Or you trust one source better than the other.  But how do you really know?  For me it’s doing a program or config both ways.  Of course that adds time to the project.  But it is better than a shoddy job.

There are too many courses, tutorials, blogs.  I could never read them all!  Although at times I try.

So I have time for training.  That does happen once in awhile.  Besides thinking about the project(s) that I’m working on or that are coming up.  What do I focus on?  A blog will save me – The future of SAP application programming according to Teched 2018.

Bad consultants can use the net to look up questions and answers before their interview.  Don’t worry, it’s easy to know what they do/do not know once they start working.  But what if it’s something you don’t know anything at all about.  You could be paying for their training as they search the net and/or trail and error on your system.

Innovation was at it’s finest without all the extra data.  You had to spend some time thinking about how you would do something.  But now the answer is why reinvent the wheel?  Well…  Because you might find a different answer that works better for you.  When we didn’t have easy access we had to think even more “out of the box”.

Too much marketing.  I search and I get the marketing.  I search and get sent to firms that want my company information before I can download something.  Very frustrating.

Final Thoughts:

All the information out there is really good.  It’s awesome that blogs have comments.  Comments that used constructively can improve the solution.

So if you are thinking about adding some more information and worried it will be criticized too much.  Please add it.  If the comments give a better way of doing something – constructive criticism – you learn and so do.  I’ll learn from your blog and/or the comments.

Yes, I could get stuck in all the tutorials, training, reading.  But that’s OK too.  That just means I have different sources to make those brain cells work.

Also asking questions after I try different things is an amazing thing to be able to do.  Even if it has be answered before, I get pointed to that answer.  (I probably was searching incorrectly to find it)

Free training means I don’t have to have my company shell out the money for every training course.  Then to find out 3 days into the course that it wasn’t what I wanted.  Or even worse, have no training budget and yet I want to stay on top of things.

I’m in my work office (at home) shouting more information, more information, more training – I love it!  Of course I had to stop.  My dogs were cheering too – Um.. barking loudly.

Some of my favorite learning Sources and there are tons more:

github.com

open.sap.com

https://developers.sap.com/tutorial-navigator.html

and of course:

https://www.sap.com/community.html