I have written about the fundamentals of a good SAP career strategy, but I continue to get career questions that raise these same points. So I decided to launch a series in my SAP Career Blog that talks about the main job search mistakes that SAP professionals make. Most of these mistakes apply equally to experienced SAP pros as well as those who are new to the field, though there are some distinctions between these  two groups we’ll get into as well.

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Every time I get back from Sapphire or TechEd, one story remains a constant: What are we going to do about the so-called SAP skills shortage? Or, if we want to push SAP on this a little bit, we could say, "What is SAP doing about the skills shortage?"; I have a problem with this line of thinking. Not because the skills demand isn’t real - it obviously is. But a simplistic view of the "skills shortage" doesn’t serve anyone in the SAP ecosystem very well. Read the rest of this entry »

As we enter the “SAP eSOA era,” one thing is certain: the SAP functional skill set is changing. What we don’t know is how soon these changes are going to happen. We also don’t know for certain is what the “functional consultant of the future” will look like. One thing, however, is clear: consultants are going to need to bring more to the table that just configuration skills. Increasingly, companies want consultants who can add a deeper value to their implementation beyond the customization of SAP tables. Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of the hardest questions you could possibly ask me, because SAP is so vast that there is never one tool that will suit every SAP consultant. The best approach is to assess your current skill set, figure out where SAP is headed with its new eSOA architecture, and make sure you bridge that “skills gap” before you get left behind. But having said that, you asked the question and I’m going to try to give you a good answer. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the years, I have published some big interviews on SAP consulting that have disappeared from the Internet. One of the benefits of being a JonERP.com reader is being able to get access to these exclusive interviews again. One of my favorites, my 2002-2004 interview and correspondence with NetWeaver Portals expert Pat McCarthy, has now been reposted. In addition to a great view of the emerging Enterprise Portals market, there is some timeless advice on keeping on top of your skill set in this interview. In this blog entry, we’ll review some of the most important consulting advice from this piece. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I published a piece on "SAP Skills You Want to Have" for SearchSAP.com. The complete version of that article is now available exclusively on JonERP.com. This article has generated some interesting feedback. It’s important to note that the focus of this piece is NOT "what’s hot" in SAP. That’s a slightly different question and I’ll do a separate piece on that. The focus of "SAP Skills You Want to Have" is a bit more forward-thinking. Read the rest of this entry »

This question was sent to me by an individual who has been searching unsuccessfully for SAP consulting roles for close to a year’s time. This is a frustrating situation, and it doesn’t just happen to those who have no SAP experience. I heard from someone else in this situation recently who actually had a number of years of experience in SAP Financials working in an "end-user" capacity, and they were also having trouble finding a consulting gig. So what do you do about it? Read the rest of this entry »

One common theme on the JonERP.com web site is how to transition your SAP skills in the NetWeaver and eSOA era. A big challenge here is figuring out the timing of the skills changes that are in the works. Change your skill set too soon, and you are ahead of the curve with few projects to choose from. Wait too long to make your skills transition, and you have fallen behind. From the back of the pack, it’s hard to catch up. So what’s an SAP consultant to do? Read the rest of this entry »

I received this excellent question from a senior SAP consultant who had been passed over for some projects in favor of junior-level SAP resources. This was a frustrating experience for someone who has "paid their dues" in the market and wants to feel like this was time well spent.

The timing of this question was good because we just posted the transcript of the "State of the SAP Market" podcast interview with Brian Trout. In the second section of that interview Brian and I get into a good back-and-forth on this topic. Read the rest of this entry »

In a nutshell, yes, I believe it is — though there’s no need to hit the panic button. This should be a gradual evolution. However, it’s one we need to pay attention to. A helpful way of looking at it is this: in the SAP eSOA era, IT and Business are converging — therefore SAP technical and functional skill sets are converging. 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 »

I recently heard from a reader who was torn between a desire to pursue ABAP or CRM, or remain as a techno-functional consultant. This person had some CRM/SD configuration experience and some technical exposure but he felt like he wasn’t especially strong in either area. So what should he do? Read the rest of this entry »

This question was posed to me by an ABAP programmer who has four years of experience and some functional knowledge in finance, heading towards a CPA degree. Like many ABAP programmers, he is fighting the urge to run for the hills and trying to make a good strategic decision. One thing I like about this guy: he’s not just bailing on ABAP. He wants to combine the best of all of his skills. Read the rest of this entry »

This is an interesting question. There’s a lot of ground to cover even within CRM itself, and a lot of folks wouldn’t be concerned with moving beyond a CRM focus. But if someone asked me this question, that means other people are wondering about it too. Read the rest of this entry »

SAP Plant Maintenance continues to surprise me with its staying power. Back in the 90s, consultants used to avoid PM like it was Cobol. But the PM consultants who ignored all that and stuck with it over the years have done pretty well for themselves, and we see more PM demand now than ever. Read the rest of this entry »

This question was posed to me by someone who had implemented SAP HR for his company for eight years, but had never worked as a consultant. He had already formed his own company on the side. Here’s what I said: with eight years of experience in SAP HR, you have a good chance of succeeding as an HR consultant. I don’t know from your background how deep your HR configuration skills are, and I don’t know what versions of SAP you have worked in. The version numbers you have experience in are really starting to matter. Read the rest of this entry »

SAP Time Management can be a limited niche. I do know a few SAP HR/time management experts that keep themselves very busy, but for most SAP HR consultants, time management is a component of a broader set of HR-related implementation skills. It’s hard to expand your skills when you’re only qualified to work in a very specific area. Read the rest of this entry »

This question was posed to me by a professional with more than five years of experience as a user of SAP in the areas of sales operations and finance/commissions. She was looking to invest in her SAP career and take it to the next level by acquiring either an SD or BW-related certification. The first thing I did is to refer her to the article I wrote for ERPgenie.com on "Avoiding the SAP Certification Rip-Off."
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I like the MM career path a lot more now than I did a couple of years ago when MM was looking dead, dried up, and generic. The era of "enforced upgrades" is causing a renewed focus on the core modules in SAP, and so MM has had a bit of its luster returned. If you’re one of those lucky and/or enterprising folks who already have MM configuration skills in either ECC 5.0 or 6.0, you should have plenty of work in the next few years as companies move to these new releases, and ultimately to 6.0, SAP’s new "foundation release."

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