End users
End Users are the actual users of SAP system. They use SAP system to accomplish their day to day business activities.
Functional and Technical Consultants
Consultants are SMEs to customize and maintain SAP system.
A SAP Function consultant is responsible to understand business requirements and then map the business process in SAP system. Functional consultants have the domain knowledge as well as the “know-how” of configuring SAP system. For example, to be a FI consultant finance knowledge is required, as then only you will be able to configure finance process in the SAP system. Apart from this, they frequently interact with end users to gather business requirement and design solution to those problems.
Apart from Functional consultants, we have SAP Technical Consultants. Technical SAP consultants could be ABAP programmers or SAP BASIS systems administrators or working in any other SAP technical module. To develop new applications based on business requirement or to extend SAP standard code, ABAP consultants are required. The SAP Basis Consultant is responsible for the installation, upgrade, and maintenance of SAP systems on an on-going basis.
Role of ABAP Consultant
Functional consultants frequently interact with end-users to gather business requirement. The end-users define a problem in the application or business process and functional consultant has to propose a solution to it. The solution could be to either configure the SAP system or may required an application/report to be developed.
Based on the business requirement, the functional team prepares functional spec of the requirement. The Functional Spec is a design document that clearly specifies the expected functionality. If development is involved, the functional spec to technical team.
Based on functional spec technical team prepares technical spec which is a detailed design document of the development involved. It may contain some pseudo code also. This technical spec is forwarded to the ABAP programmer to complete the development. ABAP team may seldom interact with end users.
After development, the application is tested by functional consultant and end users, known as acceptance test. Finally, the developed object will be transported to production system for use by end users.