As I write this, I’m gearing up for SAP TechEd 2009 Phoenix. I’ll be in Phoenix the whole week, meeting with SAP Mentors, putting on SAP skills workshops, hanging out in the SAP Community Clubhouse, and going to every session I can work in. I expect SAP skills to be a hot topic at TechEd. There will be plenty of talk on the evolving SAP Business Objects roadmap and how it intersects with SAP skills needed, the impact of BPM/BPX skills trends for technical and functional SAP professionals, and the challenge of finding a sustainable SAP career path in an era of downward rate pressure and global sourcing. I expect to us to start hearing about "virtual staffing" models as well - using the cloud, so to speak, to supplement on site staff via teams of "vitual consultants." There should be some good discussion/debate on the value of SAP certification as well, and the latest on SAP’s three tiered certification program. I’m giving three SAP skills workshops at SAP TechEd Phoenix. Following is a blog entry I posted on SAP SCN with some detail on these sessions, as well as how to find me in Phoenix and follow my live JonERP Tweetstream. I hope to see you there.

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I have been part of many debates on the value of SAP certification over the years. I expect these debates to intensify this year, as SAP places increasing value on certifications while at the same time dealing with some unresolved and important questions on whether (and how) certification can truly address the skills needed for project excellence.

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The question of what the SAP market will look like five years from now is a really important one. Even though we are making project choices one at a time, those choices need to be informed by a broader career strategy. A big part of that strategy is having a good handle on where SAP is headed. You don’t want to be working in one direction when SAP is ultimately going in another. Of course, there is a catch - there is always a catch. Read the rest of this entry »

This reader’s question is one of the most common emails I receive about the SAP consulting market. It’s understandable that it would be — functional consultants make higher rates, are less vulnerable to outsourcing, and historically, are seen as more "mission critical" by the project team. However, I think some of those dynamics are starting to change. This is yet another reason why you should always look before you leap when it comes to moving around inside of SAP. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most frustrating things about being an SAP consultant is having to go through "layers" to get to an end client project, and each layer takes a healthy piece of your margin. This leads SAP consultants to ask the question a reader asked me recently: "how can I get a better rate and reduce the amount of layers between me and the SAP customer?" Read the rest of this entry »

I wanted to say, "not much," but that’s not very helpful. In truth, it depends. So let’s look at the different approaches to SAP project management. I’ll tell you which ones I think highly of and which I think are questionable. Read the rest of this entry »

The question of remote consulting in SAP is a popular one, and not just for BW folks. I can understand why: I’d much prefer doing SAP with my dog curled up on my bunny slippers. Unfortunately, the interest in remote consulting has never been greeted with enthusiasm by SAP customers. Sometimes this doesn’t make much sense. Read the rest of this entry »