Table of Contents
Introduction
Training is of utmost importance when you are implementing any software. However, the need for it increases tremendously when dealing with complex applications like SAP. Training sufficiently for SAP usage will result in significant improvement in key business metrics like employee performance, deployment time, user satisfaction, adoption rate, and more. Without training, your SAP implementation will likely not be adopted enthusiastically by end users or will fail altogether. In fact, the IDC whitepaper “Game Changer: The Transformative Impact of Training” by Cushing Anderson, sponsored by SAP, reports the number of training hours that business KPI leaders recommend for different types of users:
Yet, even if you meet the quota of hours, traditional SAP training often fails to demonstrate a significant impact on these metrics due to their inability to provide support where it is needed the most. Traditional SAP training for employees is mostly focused on feeding knowledge outside the SAP platform.
However, equally important is the need for real-time SAP training. In fact, a study by Gartner reports that 57% of employees expect just-in-time training, which refers to training provided at the point of need exactly at the time required. With Assima, you not only get pre-go live training support but also quality post-go live, in-app guidance that gives you the confidence to navigate even a complex platform like SAP.
If you are looking for digital adoption tools to provide real-time guidance on the SAP platform, Assima is the right choice for you and here’s why.
Why Traditional SAP Training Falls Short
Traditional SAP training support often falls short in providing support at the point of need. As a result, even if a trainee performed well during the studying phase, they may still lack in delivering results during the performance phase. Here are a few reasons why traditional training support is not enough for SAP user enablement:
Classroom Training Vs. Real-world Scenarios
Classroom training, in-person or virtual, or even online self-training is only effective when you apply it on the live system or on a realistic simulation. Even then, the processes you apply it to would, in all probability, be very basic due to being created just for that topic. It would not at all be representative of the real-life, complex scenarios you will face while working. It is especially true for complex software like SAP. This can severely limit your preparedness when working on the live system, which usually involves more convoluted processes and actions.
Time Lag Between Learning and Application
Hermann Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve, that displays the exponential decay of memory retention, shows how most of the information you receive is lost from memory within a day. Only when the information is intentionally associated with something meaningful at the point of consumption can it be retained with greater success. However, in traditional training, the time gap between learning something new and actually applying it causes most trainees to forget the information by the time they get to work on the live system.
Lack of Instant Support During Critical Tasks
Traditional training does not have the tools or facilities to provide guidance when working on the live system. This means that employees would be completely on their own when dealing with critical tasks and emergencies, where whether the respondent takes the right action or not can make or break the situation. This pressure, coupled with the omnipresent risk of human errors, creates the need for additional support during live system usage, especially in high-stakes situations with much at risk.
High Dependency on Helpdesk for Troubleshooting
Without real-time SAP user assistance, employees would frequently get stuck on difficult tasks or make mistakes that need to be corrected with expert support. As a result, it would create a high dependence on the helpdesk and IT staff to come and aid every time there is a mess-up or doubt. It will not only hold up essential tasks and create unnecessary downtime but also hold up the helpdesk team for longer than desired, increasing their workload. The dependency thus created would also seriously hinder the efficiency of the team.
What is Real-Time SAP Training?
Real-time SAP training refers to training support at the point of need, i.e., within the SAP platform, provided on-demand exactly when the user needs it. For software like SAP that is highly complicated and feature-heavy, this is a godsend and here’s why:
The chances of errors are reduced significantly
Users get more confidence knowing help is at hand
Resistance is reduced and adoption increased
The learning curve is greatly lowered
Both onboarding time and cost are saved
Helpdesk is relieved from constant calls
How It Differs from Traditional SAP Training
Traditional SAP training is mostly about teaching a bunch of information in one go to trainees and expecting them to apply all of it flawlessly once onboarded. Most SAP training is either delivered in the form of classroom training, lesson modules for self-study, or free access to the SAP knowledgebase. However, this is inadequate in that it does not provide just-in-time support, which is critical when dealing with complicated software like SAP. Traditional SAP training differs from real-time SAP training in many ways, especially in the following ways:
| Traditional SAP Training | Real-time SAP Training |
|---|---|
|
No support at the point of need |
Informational aid at the point of need |
|
Information provided all at once |
Contextual information provided |
|
Results in information overload |
Provides only required information |
|
Results in poor practical skills |
Provides support at application point |
The Role of Digital Adoption Platforms in Real-time Training
Digital adoption platforms have always been the cornerstone of modern real-time training. It is impossible to have someone on call at all times to provide real-time support, but a digital tool can easily take over this role. Real-time ERP training, especially for SAP, can be automated to the maximum extent by using a DAP. DAPs can be centrally connected to every database you want to access for information. It can scan all the information and provide the relevant one to the user with hardly any lag or inaccuracy. It is the ideal digital solution for real-time SAP training.
Get more factual information about Assima’s very own digital adoption tools for real-time SAP training.
Key Benefits of Real-Time SAP Training
Real-time SAP training can greatly streamline your digital adoption and onboarding process, and here’s how:
Faster Onboarding and Migration
With traditional SAP onboarding support, you must wait until users reach a certain level of expertise before allowing them to work on the live system. However, with real-time support, you can let employees work on the live system even earlier in the training phase with the assurance that the real-time support tool will guide them. This expedites SAP onboarding and migration greatly.
Reduced Downtime Related to Errors
Real-time support ensures that employees won’t skip confirming a piece of information they are doubtful about or make a mistake thinking what they know is correct. Hence, there would be less cases of downtime due to human errors creating a disturbance in the live system or messing up crucial business data.
Increased Employee Efficiency and Accuracy
Another immense advantage of in-app guidance is that it greatly boosts the efficiency and accuracy of SAP users, that ultimately results in improved productivity. As employees take care of tasks faster and with higher precision, business processes are completed sooner and without the need for corrections or revisions.
Reduced Dependency on IT & Support Teams
When you provide real-time, in-app guidance to users, they do not have to run to the helpdesk every time they need help. The in-app support tool provides the necessary assistance and relieves the IT and support teams from having to resolve the SAP issues of the users every time. It creates self-sufficient users and cuts down the volume of IT helpdesk tickets.
How Assima Delivers Real-Time SAP Training
Assima boasts a range of features to simplify on-demand SAP training. While these features are targeted to benefit training for any software, it is especially useful for delivering real-time SAP training. These include:
Real-Time, In-App Guidance
Assima In-App Search operates by overlaying on the SAP platform and providing instant information based on what you need at that step. As its name implies, In-App Search is an information search tool operating within the SAP application and providing learning materials in real time to the user.
Contextual, Step-by-Step Learning
Assima’s in-app tools intelligently detect the screen/task you are at and your role within the organization. Based on that, they provide relevant information and ensure that users learn to do their tasks without breaking any business rules, compliance and security policies, or basic corporate expectations.
Multilingual & Global SAP Support
Multilingual training support with remote learning capabilities ensure that you can easily train a global workforce in SAP usage without being manually present or maintaining servers in those locations. This provides consistency in training and creates an equally skilled workforce across all your locations without expending too much money or time.
Data Privacy and Security in Training
Assima in-app tools are built to integrate your business rules and policies and enforce them in training protocols. When your policies change, Assima not only incorporates those changes automatically, but it also informs the users of them. Assima ensures that the identity, access, and information terms of your organization are reflected within the training implemented.
In-Depth Analytics to Track Usage
Assima tracks every action and input of every registered learner, reporting them in real time with in-depth analytics so that you can not only track user behavior but also pinpoint problem areas on the SAP platform as well as areas of improvement on the training program. This helps you improve user experience on the training program as well as the SAP app.
Best Practices for Implementing Real-Time SAP Training
When implementing real-time SAP training, keep in mind not just the usual best practices you use when creating training plans for other software. With SAP, you must take it a step further to make the training process optimized and user-friendly. Here are a few SAP adoption strategies you can apply to your training program:
- Use a training tool that embeds the information delivery system within SAP workflows for uninterrupted guidance.
- Ensure that every knowledgebase and documentation you wish to give your users access to is connected to the training tool.
- Leverage performance analytics to locate areas of improvement and use that information to refine the learning experience.
- Rigorously check and test the information filtering system to ensure that the right person is getting the right information based on their role and responsibility.
- Regularly update the training materials so that your colleagues do not access outdated, incorrect, or irrelevant information.
- Ensure that the real-time training tool is up and running 24/7, with multilingual support and remote access to cater to a global workforce.
- Enforce rules that do not allow an employee to advance to the next learning stage without completing the essential previous one.
- While this is not mandatory, it is still important to choose a DAP with a wide compatibility range that you can use across systems.
Conclusion
Real-time SAP training can be the difference between a smooth, cost-effective, and fast SAP onboarding process and a long-drawn, costly one riddled with hiccups. All you need for streamlined SAP adoption is a digital solution that understands the requirements and issues associated with SAP training and has features and services in place to deal with them. Assima is undoubtedly one such solution. With Assima, you can achieve great feats and conquer those business KPIs in no time.
Get in touch with our experts to discuss your SAP training needs today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Answer Some of Your Questions.
Real-time SAP training refers to relevant informational guidance provided at the point of need and time when a user is performing an action. It is provided within the platform to ensure instant information provision.
SAP is a feature-rich application suite with a steep learning curve. Traditional training is not enough to equip users with the level of skills necessary to operate SAP with confidence. Real-time SAP training ensures that employees can start using the platform and get live training and practice without any risks.
Assima In-App Search, powered by Assima Train, provides real-time, in-app guidance on the SAP platform to assist users with their tasks. These tools can detect the task at hand as well as the role of the user and provide contextual information based on these to ensure a smooth and accurate process flow.
Real-time SAP training is known to significantly raise the productivity of users. Whether you are a new user, an old user learning a new function, or a user starting to work on an updated version, real-time training can make a huge difference in how confidently and fast you get things done.
If you utilize a DAP with robust security measures coupled with the access and security management system of your own organization, real-time SAP training can be completely safe to utilize. Assima not only integrates the security and access rules of your company but uses top-of-the-line data privacy and security measures itself to protect your business and client information.
