Many medium and large-sized businesses have relied upon SAP to provide the software that runs their business. Often times, these organizations have adopted a "Buy" mentality instead of "Build". Many CIOs have gone in this direction since building software may not be the company's core competency. Since SAP also provides a development platform, businesses can often customize SAP functionality that does not align with their internal practices. Customizing SAP happens quite often as every business is different and also regulation differs throughout various jurisdictions around the world.
Since the SAP platform is so comprehensive, most developers, or consultants, will focus on particular modules such as Material Management (MM) or Plant Maintenance (PM). Within each of these modules, SAP resources will specialize in a functional role or in a more technical ABAP role. ABAP , or Advanced Business Application Programming, is a programming language very similar to COBAL...