Switching from Epicor to SAP - any advice?

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1

The company I work for was acquired 2 years ago and the entity that bought us uses SAP. We’re currently in the middle of a migration to SAP and we’re just starting to get to use the software. I’ve been in many discussions about data mapping and the like… but can’t figure out how to use the software.

Anyone here maybe come from SAP or have any good resources or advice you want to pass my way? It kills me that I’m starting back at square 1 after 8 years of getting to know and use Epicor.

2

I’ve done a few data migrations FROM SAP to Epicor, and all I learned is that the “table structure” is VASTLY different. What Epicor stores in the Part and PartPlant tables can be in three to five different tables in SAP. The table names themselves are in German, and the field names SEEM to be random character strings.

I’ll also say that SAP consultants tend to make a LOT more than I do…

3

I used SAP for about 10 years before coming to Epicor.
From an end-user standpoint, it’s mostly learning what transaction codes you need (1 Create, 2 Edit, 3 View) and what order to run them in.

Does the acquiring company have existing play/run books?

In the meantime, https://training.sap.com/, https://community.sap.com/ or whatever someone internally recommends.

Additional resource(s): SAP Transaction Codes - SAP Tcodes List PDF Module Wise

4

I will find out. Thursday we get our “basic training”… and then starting next week we will be going through all the business scenarios to try to make sure it all works and reports like we want it to.

5

Ahhhhh - that’s ok I guess. I did notice that their “PartMaster” includes a reference to plant… but that’s the only major shake up I’ve been exposed to. I am not dealing so much directly with tables but the templates that they’ve built out to ingest our data…

6

ABAP code, and german table names, that’s all I got for you.

7

@Francis learned SAP in school so he might have some thoughts after trying to learn Epicor for the last 6 months.

8

SAP is quite large and there are books available. I know that @hkeric.wci had some recommendations in the past.

9

Most of my SAP experience is in Master Data for a manufacturer and working as a help desk agent. Now working with Epicor full time, I will say I do like the transaction code system SAP uses in Old GUI. For Sales Orders, for example, having the base transaction as VA and 01=Create, 02=Change, 03=View as suffixes is a straightforward system. This is especially useful when assigning security permissions to a new user. The “view only 03” and the “create 01/02” binary is easy enough to manage. Does this user/role need this? 1, 2 or 3? Done.
(I am sure your role will involve higher suffixes and be more complicated)
I’ll admit the folder system where these permissions live can be hard to navigate at first.
“Object Classes” are not the most intuitive concept to grasp, at least for me.

If your company uses Fiori, there will be a learning curve regarding “catalogs”: the catalog hierarchy, technical and business catalogs, and what can be carried over when copying out a client. We ran into an issue where certain catalogs were not being transported over, resulting in “broken tiles”. Managing if technical mappings exist in only custom versus system catalogs is a hassle. A lot of quirks with these kinds of processes in my experience in launchpad creation/management.

The group-catalog-role-app-launchpad relationship was also important for me to understand when I first started working with system. And the IMG config side seemed endless when first diving in too, but I am sure your Epicor experience will translate well! Good luck!! :clap:

10

Prior to working with Epicor, I spent over 10 years doing development in SAP. Feels like this is my time to shine. The company I worked for had a very large and complex implementation. My role was a system analyst and developer in the Sales and Distribution, Warehouse Management, and Transportation Management modules. My response will be skewed towards the administration and technical aspects of the system. Also, the company was in the process of moving towards Fiori and some of the newer technologies when I left. Most of my experience was in the desktop GUI version.

Here’s a few things that stand out for me:

  • All ERP software is pretty similar in terms of what they do. Verbiage is different (job vs. production order, part vs. item), but the processes are similar (sales orders, purchase orders, production orders, etc.). Both offer ways to customize those processes; through BPMs in Epicor, User Exits/Enhancements Spots/Customer Exits/etc in SAP. You can even change standard SAP code (although not recommended - I have needed to do it a time or two). In both systems, they are hooks that allow you to write custom code to influence how the documents are processed. This might be more restrictive if you are in a multi-tenant environment. The key point remains that how the system is implemented at the company is the determining factor for success. It doesn’t matter if you have SAP or Epicor, if your processes aren’t well defined and standardized, you’ll have a hard time being successful.
  • From a technical perspective, SAP has a habit of introducing, then abandoning technologies. Especially when it comes to web development. These technologies can also vary between modules. For example, Transportation Management uses a different flavor of ABAP as compared to many of the other modules. There are some newer technologies that are worth exploring, CAP and RAP, which seem to be a go forward solution.
    • ABAP really isn’t that hard to learn, and you can do pretty much all the same stuff you can do in Epicor using C#.
    • Also, you can set a breakpoint and debug. Which makes development so much easier.
  • The SAP platform is massive. People generally specialize and spend their entire careers in one module. As a side note, it’s worth becoming friends with your Netweaver/Basis team. They manage the SAP infrastructure and are good people to have on speed-dial.
  • From a development perspective, you’ll get really familiar with Z* programs and tables. All custom objects need to be created in the Z namespace. Also, there are no pre-defined tables, like UD in Epicor. Make whatever tables you want.
  • Here are a few useful GUI transactions
    • ST22 - ABAP Short Dump Analysis (like an error log)
    • SM66/SM51 - Current view of the application server, who is running what and for how long
    • ST05/ST12 - Application tracing
    • SE11 - Data Dictionary view and create
    • SE16/SE16N - Table data viewer (closest thing to BAQ)
    • SM37 - Job scheduler/viewer
    • SE37/SE38 - ABAP development in the GUI. You can also use Eclipse
    • SNOTE - These are great. In SAP there is a concept called a note, which is a specific software patch. You can apply these at any time, including outside of a major release (support packs are usually just a collection of notes). Generally they are very targeted to specific problems and are quick and easy to install.
    • STMS - There is actually source control of code in SAP, referred to as transports, which is a huge upgrade from Epicor.
  • For resources, I found Devtoberfest to be very helpful as well as the SAP Community. The forums aren’t as good as EpiUsers, but you can still find some good stuff in there.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

11

What ERP(s) is Nucraft running these days?

12

Still on Epicor!

13

Everyone, everywhere, please take CLOSE note of this phrase.

14

Jon Stewart Popcorn GIF

15

Sounds like another ERP company I know. :rofl:

16

I can think of one that introduces those technologies before they’re really ready to support them.

EDIT - back to SAP for a sec…never used/implemented personally but did hear on the grapevine that the number of tables is massive. Only indirect encounter with it was with a customer (long since disappeared from US retail) that was implementing SAP order management. Built new EDI maps, tested it out, scheduled the go-live…and on that go-live day, we received an email stating go-live had been postponed with no estimated reschedule date…and that was the end of that.

17

Hey, welcome to the club! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes::hot_beverage: I made the same journey from 16+ years in Epicor to SAP S/4HANA, and yes… the first few weeks felt like someone had dropped me into a completely different planet! :globe_showing_europe_africa::rocket:

The good news? :light_bulb: Your ERP experience doesn’t disappear—it just gets translated into a different language. You’ll already understand business processes, manufacturing, finance, purchasing, and supply chain. The biggest challenge is learning where SAP puts everything and getting familiar with the T-Codes, Fiori apps, and terminology. :books:

My advice:
:small_blue_diamond: Don’t try to learn all of SAP at once.
:small_blue_diamond: Map what you know in Epicor to the SAP equivalent.
:small_blue_diamond: Keep a personal cheat sheet of transactions and common tasks.
:small_blue_diamond: Ask lots of “How do I do this in SAP?” questions—it speeds up the learning curve.

After a few months you’ll catch yourself saying, “Oh… that’s how SAP does it!” :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Good luck—you’ve already climbed one ERP mountain, so you can definitely climb this one too! :flexed_biceps::snow_capped_mountain:

18

Hadn’t seen your avatar in year(s) or what felt like it, and there you are, one year later, switched to SAP, but still lurking on the forum. We missed you with the "traitor’ badge :rofl:

19

:joy: Haha… guilty as charged! Taylor

Epicor will always have a special place in my career and heart. After spending so many years with it, it’s hard to just disappear from the community. The people here taught me a lot, and I still enjoy following the discussions and helping out whenever I can. :handshake:

SAP has been an exciting new chapter and a great learning experience, but at the end of the day, I’m an ERP guy more than a “one ERP only” guy. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: I’m always happy to share experiences—whether they’re from Epicor, SAP, or anywhere in between.

And who knows… careers have a funny way of coming full circle. If the right opportunity ever knocks, I certainly wouldn’t rule out wearing the Epicor hat again. :wink:

20

For sure! Glad you stopped back in.