To understand the needs, wishes and thoughts of our customers and partners with regard to SAP Training, we simply asked them in 2022 using an online questionnaire. Some results are common-sense, but some also surprising.
122 customers, partners and students took part in the survey, of which 43% were consultants, 17% developers and 20 % users. So probably not a fully representative sample – however enough critical mass to derive some learnings.
Although SAP is sold and used by companies, 33% of students mentioned that they pay the training by their own! So it is important to address the different target groups.
In terms of consumption of training, 72% have recently booked 1-4 learning offerings – but 20% booked more than 6 learning offerings and thus are “heavy learners”.
60% have an SAP Learning Hub subscription – showing the digital learning service is adopted well, but still has some potential.
Most People find SAP learning offerings via Search engines (62%) – however, only 33% come via search engines such as Google, while 43% come via the SAP training Webshop. It seems that we have a sample of educated, existing customers here, as the general reports show ~60% traffic via search engines and only 30% from other SAP sites. However – we see that nowadays people discover products and services digitally – first via online search and then via well-known websites. This shows that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to help everyone find what they need.
Only 27% take one day or less to decide for booking a training. So providing help in deciding may be an option – but if companies pay for training and coordination and approval needs to take place, sometimes it may just takes time.
Most people decide which training they book according to the respective software solution covered & targeted role. Other criteria such as price, benefits, requirements, experience level and language are also important – this shows that many key facts need to be clear to help in the decision process.
Most People take SAP Training to perform better at their Job or to upskill for a project – less choose training for upskilling for new jobs or to increase their salary and career. Not really surprising as SAP Projects are used for business purposes and rarely for leisure or hobbies. 😊
Instructor-led training is still preferred by many people. Most learners worship the opportunity to ask SAP Trainers questions. Some also like to network with other learners or get advice and guidance through the formalized setting. Especially when you are new to a topic or want to deepen a skill, formal and expert-led training has its strengths. I also believe that some people just learn better with instructor-led training, while others learn better via self-paced and self-organized learning. This is influenced by personality, experience, self-learning skills but also context factors like working conditions, (home) office equipment, workplace distraction-level or employment options (full vs. parttime). Flexibility of time and place and learning on-demand are similar distributed as the perceived benefits of digital learning.
All learning formats will be in demand in the future. The respondents want to learn with digital self-study (33%), Virtual Classes (24%), in the Training center (23%), blended and with a mix of learning formats (18%). What experts have known for many years: there is not one superior training method. Learners have different needs regarding learning formats – and we need to offer these different formats to ensure maximum flexibility and to support the different needs.
64% have already subscribed to the SAP Training Newsletter – find here e.g. the german-speaking SAP training newsletter. Most people also want this info channel to stay up to date, followed by own search, individual emails or social media.
The next logical course is the top wished follow up communication – a great fit as we are piloting this at the moment. Course updates on attended courses and new learning offerings are also in favor – interestingly, campaigns and discounts are the last requested info.
For me, some results were especially interesting – let me highlight them here:
If you want to stay up to date with what is happening with SAP Training, visit the SAP Training Community or subscribe to the newsletters (see e.g. here the German Newsletter, the newsletter for the US or here an overview of all other language versions).
Any feedback or questions - please leave them in the comments for discussion.
Info on the survey-sample
122 customers, partners and students took part in the survey, of which 43% were consultants, 17% developers and 20 % users. So probably not a fully representative sample – however enough critical mass to derive some learnings.
How SAP customers and partners book SAP Training
Although SAP is sold and used by companies, 33% of students mentioned that they pay the training by their own! So it is important to address the different target groups.
In terms of consumption of training, 72% have recently booked 1-4 learning offerings – but 20% booked more than 6 learning offerings and thus are “heavy learners”.
60% have an SAP Learning Hub subscription – showing the digital learning service is adopted well, but still has some potential.
Most People find SAP learning offerings via Search engines (62%) – however, only 33% come via search engines such as Google, while 43% come via the SAP training Webshop. It seems that we have a sample of educated, existing customers here, as the general reports show ~60% traffic via search engines and only 30% from other SAP sites. However – we see that nowadays people discover products and services digitally – first via online search and then via well-known websites. This shows that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to help everyone find what they need.
Only 27% take one day or less to decide for booking a training. So providing help in deciding may be an option – but if companies pay for training and coordination and approval needs to take place, sometimes it may just takes time.
Value of SAP Training
Most people decide which training they book according to the respective software solution covered & targeted role. Other criteria such as price, benefits, requirements, experience level and language are also important – this shows that many key facts need to be clear to help in the decision process.
Most People take SAP Training to perform better at their Job or to upskill for a project – less choose training for upskilling for new jobs or to increase their salary and career. Not really surprising as SAP Projects are used for business purposes and rarely for leisure or hobbies. 😊
Instructor-led training is still preferred by many people. Most learners worship the opportunity to ask SAP Trainers questions. Some also like to network with other learners or get advice and guidance through the formalized setting. Especially when you are new to a topic or want to deepen a skill, formal and expert-led training has its strengths. I also believe that some people just learn better with instructor-led training, while others learn better via self-paced and self-organized learning. This is influenced by personality, experience, self-learning skills but also context factors like working conditions, (home) office equipment, workplace distraction-level or employment options (full vs. parttime). Flexibility of time and place and learning on-demand are similar distributed as the perceived benefits of digital learning.
SAP Training demand in the future
All learning formats will be in demand in the future. The respondents want to learn with digital self-study (33%), Virtual Classes (24%), in the Training center (23%), blended and with a mix of learning formats (18%). What experts have known for many years: there is not one superior training method. Learners have different needs regarding learning formats – and we need to offer these different formats to ensure maximum flexibility and to support the different needs.
Communication & information needs
64% have already subscribed to the SAP Training Newsletter – find here e.g. the german-speaking SAP training newsletter. Most people also want this info channel to stay up to date, followed by own search, individual emails or social media.
The next logical course is the top wished follow up communication – a great fit as we are piloting this at the moment. Course updates on attended courses and new learning offerings are also in favor – interestingly, campaigns and discounts are the last requested info.
Summary
For me, some results were especially interesting – let me highlight them here:
- Although SAP is a B2B company, more than 20% of surveyed people pay training by their own (which shows how important it is).
- There is not one superior learning method: some learners like the flexibility of self-paced digital learning, while others prefer to learn instructor-led as they like to ask SAP Trainer questions, network with others or get guidance.
- E-Mail is coming back as info-medium: our customers and partners want to be updated on next or new learning offerings via newsletters and email.
If you want to stay up to date with what is happening with SAP Training, visit the SAP Training Community or subscribe to the newsletters (see e.g. here the German Newsletter, the newsletter for the US or here an overview of all other language versions).
Any feedback or questions - please leave them in the comments for discussion.
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