Not unlike the predictive analytics, SAP ECC modules are a giant pain to try to talk about, because again, all the information out there is just corporate data on the company. Nobody wants to talk about the technology they offer. This baffles me, and makes my job basically impossible.
What They Are:
SAP ECC modules are basically units that plug into SAP’s software, more or less like apps for Salesforce and other more widely discussed SaaS offerings out there. They bring various features mostly ERP related. I’m not sure why they opted for a different abbreviation, given that’s exactly what it is – ERP type software.
The Problem:
The problem with discussing these isn’t that it’s a confusing topic, but rather that finding a comprehensive list of these modules and what they do, without inquiry to SAP themselves, is proving difficult, at least on my side of the globe. Again, all the material out there just talks about companies and version history, leaving little foundation of research opportunity to talk about the products themselves.
Concession:
Well, I can’t get into details on installing or using these (though if you choose to, rest assured that SAP will provide you with more than enough documentation to help).
What I can do, however, is give you suggestions as to the type of functionality you should be seeking out to solve problems you’re inevitably going to face.
Things you Need:
You’ll need modules to handle HR aspects, and I don’t just mean hires and salary. It also involves the pure metric of man hours, independent from the monetary cost of those man hours.
You’ll need modules that can also handle integration with your CRM, and handle direct data transfers from fields and data types within both automatically and manually alike. Your CRM is the core of your business, and the entire backbone for your customer experience. Considering the services and expenses that this experience brings, and the revenue aspect that CRM balances, you will be wanting integration there.
You’ll be also wanting to tie this in with your BI technology as well. True, that usually ties to CRM and so the data could hop across the CRM from there, but why do that? BI data is going to affect severely your needs and concerns with resource planning, and that calculation will be very special in how it is handled anyhow. So, a module that can work with this is going to be a giant help.
What More Can I Say:
Not much to be honest, because this doesn’t have the community of people exploring and discussing it that other systems do, despite the reputation SAP has as a solid company (which they really are). The biggest shortcoming of SAP is that lack of an easy to find community that really talks about the stuff that matters.
Here we are trying to set a precedent in making that happen. We’ll update this again when there’s more to say and more to see to point out and direct you to.
For now, all I can say about SAP ECC modules is to consider the different forms of data and parallel services you’ll be wanting SAP to work with, and be sure you have modules designed to work with the types of data in question. That’s the biggest thing to walk away with anyhow. Best practices with them will vary from one to the next.