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How to Get a Free SAP Demo System

2017-02-14       

When trying to learn SAP and ABAP, having access to an actual SAP system to practice in is crucial. Unfortunately, this is quite hard to do. In this post, I’ll point you towards a few ways to acquire a free SAP demo system with the Netweaver stack.

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What is the SAP Demo System?

The SAP ERP demo system is also called IDES system, after the fictional company whose system it represents. The IDES system is used for training and learning purposes and contains a full-scope ERP instance with test data for nearly all modules. Most SAP training courses and materials are built upon data from the IDES system.

Apart from that, the IDES system is just a regular SAP ERP ECC system with all default modules (logistics and finance) enabled and pre-configured. This makes it very easy to use for beginners in the SAP world and ideal for learning SAP ERP.

How to get free SAP Demo Access

Up until recently, German Consolut GmbH offered a free IDES demo access for anyone, directly over the web. You could request a password and run the system directly from within a browser. Unfortunately, they were forced to terminate this offering due to licensing issues. Currently, there is no simple way to acquire access to a demo version of the full SAP ERP with all ECC components (i.e. modules such as SD or MM) installed.

However, learning the modules can be easily done by the books or online tutorials as well. If learning ABAP is you goal, there might be a solution for you.

Getting NetWeaver Application Server Trial Access

The SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.03 Trial Version has you covered. This is a stripped-down version of the core runtime components of SAP ERP – basically all of the technology without the actual application modules installed. It also also called “Mini SAP” for this reason. If learning ABAP and the NetWeaver stack is your goal, then this version is exactly what you need.

Follow this link to get to the SAP Store (you’ll need a login): https://store.sap.com/sap/cp/ui/resources/store/html/SolutionDetails.html?pid=0000000218. After installing this system, you will be able to try your hand at tools like SAP Authorization, ABAP Development, Business Workflow and any other core components of the NetWeaver stack. The license is valid for 90 days of non-commercial training use. It can be refreshed after it expires.

Installing it is so hard there is even an Udemy course showing you how to install Mini SAP. However, you can also get the following kindle book much cheaper, containing detailed steps on how to install your “Mini SAP”.

Other SAP Demo System Versions

Apart from the NetWeaver stack, there are many more SAP demo versions out there. Many of them are easier to acquire then SAP ERP. There is the SAP Demo Portal which offers you a bunch of demo versions of SAP products. They include:

and many others. Check out the SAP Demo Portal and see for yourself!