What is it like to work with/at SAP?

I will assume you’re asking how it is like to work in the SAP market at large, not at SAP AG – the company, right?

The SAP market is very different from general purpose software factories. SAP is a company with a portfolio of products. You will work with specific verticals within those product lines. The main product being ECC (Enterprise Core Components) otherwise known as R/3. It is the main monolithic software that runs Fortune 500 companies’ back offices.

It has it’s own virtual machine (VMC) and language (ABAP). If you’re a technician you will become either a Basis consultant (pretty much systems administration) or ABAP programmer. Most SAP consultants are business analysts specialized in the many specific business modules of ECC such as FI (Financials), SD (Sales and Distribution), MM (Materials Management), PS (Project System), HR (Human Resources), etc.

On top of that you will have the Netweaver platform. It’s more an umbrella name for technologies that add value to ECC. It will have a secondary Java server (based on the old In-Q-My J2EE container) and you will find products such as Enterprise Portals, BW (Business Warehouse), XI (Exchange Infrastructure, basically an integration, queue and workflow system), MDM (Master Data Management, basically a central consolidation of master data with information coming from many different sources).

SAP Labs (SLI) is a great company to work for. It’s work culture, employee-centric organization has ensured that it always has a spot in the top 5 Best Places to Work For in India. It is a growing organization that values the lives of its employees a lot.

What can you get from SAP Labs?
1. Free Food, except breakfast. The menu keeps changing every now and then and if you are bored of the food, you always have the option to have food from other shops at the canteen (they are paid, though).

2. Free shuttle transport. The shuttles are the best in class with wall chargers and A/C. You might not get a door-step pickup and drop, but it will be convenient. Plus if you live in a metro accessible area, you can use the metro and take the SAP shuttles (which pass through) from the metro to the SLI Campus.

3. Free night cabs. If you are working in a support role, cabs are made available to your door-step for free even if the time for the pickup overlaps with that of the shuttles. If you working in a non-support role, you can avail the night cabs, in case you decide to have dinner at SLI, which begins at 8.30pm and is available till 4.30am. In fact you can take these cabs to any place in Bangalore thatyou like.

4. You can take it to your friend’s place or even a mall. But best not to abuse it. Action will be taken if you do so.

I can give you the perspective as SAP full time employee, If you would like to know how it is to work in the SAP market I recommend you to also read Fabio Akita answer.

I’ve been working at SAP for 4 years and can tell you that it is a fast changing and growing company. This is more impressive because SAP is a 42 years old company and still a great place to work.

I’ve joined the company as an experienced software developer, but I have worked with many juniors through these years and my assessment is that juniors have space for learning and are treated by the teams as peers, with little or no distinction and respecting it’s abilities.

Regarding money, I can’t tell you how it works in other locations, but in Brazil the remuneration in SAP is compatible with other top companies in the market. The benefits offered are a bit better then in other companies I know, making it a good choice.

The key features of SAP HANA can be summarised as follows: