Partner Name: Pierre Audoin Consultants
Specialization: Global SAP Market Research and Analysis
Reason for Selection: PAC is a analyst firm with a global reach that has a real drive to excel in the SAP space. The team at PAC, based in 15 countries, has helped me to get a better grasp of international SAP market trends. You can read some of PAC's analysis in their Feeding the SAP Ecosytem blog. I am pleased to be an regular contributor to this blog, and you can find some exclusive content of mine there. Recently I was named a "PAC Fellow" to formalize my contributions to the PAC SAP Services Research Practice. I have served as the lead writer on a recent SAP BO market report for PAC - see the webinar replay where we presented our findings from that report. We've made a page on JonERP.com where you can view highlights from my PAC SAP blog entries and click on direct links for each one.

There are a number of analyst firms that serve the SAP community, but to me, PAC is different. Whenever I see the PAC team at SAP trade shows, they bring an international sensibility and a collaborative attitude with them. PAC has great information, but they also have some fire in the belly - something I like to think we have at JonERP.com as well. Look for more collaborations between JonERP.com and PAC going forward.  

Partner Name: Foote Partners
Specialization: Skills-Based SAP (and IT) Salary Surveys
Reason for Selection: Foote Partners has the most innovative and reliable skills-based SAP salary date in the market today. They have excellent free sample material and the actual SAP salary reports are best-in-class.

I have had the opportunity to get to know David Foote and his unique methodology for compiling SAP Salary Survey information over the course of the last couple of years. David is a real asset to SAP professionals and project teams because he is able to get to the heart of the skills that companies are paying a premium for. Without that knowledge, you can't succeed as a consultant, nor can you succeed in recruiting (and retaining) the right people for your project.

February 2009 update: Special Foote Partners "free SAP skills report" offer to JonERP.com readers! Listen to our most recent SAP skills and pay trend podcast with David Foote and enter their lottery to win one of five *FREE* 2009 SAP Salary+Skills Pay Survey reports (list price $2,000 - $2,500) that will be drawn daily during the week of March 2, 2009. Those who don't win the survey will still qualify for a 25 percent discount on purchases of any U.S. or Canadian edition of this report.

Partner Name: B2B Workforce
Specialization: SAP Project Augmentation with Senior SAP Consultants
Reason for Selection: B2B Workforce is one of four SAP Premier Partners and is one of the best entry points for senior independent SAP consultants on high profile SAP projects.

I have worked with many of the Principals at B2B Workforce for more than a decade. In my opinion, B2B Workforce is the ideal option for senior independent SAP consultants who want to get access to the best SAP projects in the country while retaining their independence. Through SAP and their Tier One partners, B2B Workforce has powerful connections into the most cutting edge SAP projects out there.

One of the things I like most about B2B Workforce is that they don't pressure consultants to become full time employees. Over time, you can qualify for their benefits and rewards plans if you want, but B2B Workforce is one of the firms that has really figured out how to keep connected to consultants without giving them a constant sales pitch to join them on a salaried basis. If you have strong SAP project experience and you want to be in the loop with B2B Workforce's latest consulting openings, use their become a consultant page.

Partner Name: Auritas
Specialization: ERP Project Management and SAP Consulting Services
Reason for Selection: Best-in-class SAP Lifecycle Management and BI services, excellent webcasts on data archiving and related topics.

Auritas offers ERP project management and SAP consulting services. Auritas stood out to me for a couple of reasons: first, they offer great webcasts on topics pertaining to SAP data archiving. Unlike many webcasts of this kind, I found theirs to be well-attended, and for good reason. The topics covered were based on practical implementation tips and their Q and A sessions were lengthy and helpful. I was also impressed because Auritas doesn't just offer services - they present their ERP services within their own methodology for approaching SAP Information Lifecycle Management.

Auritas currently has some exciting career opportunities in BI/BW and related areas. Check out their career page here.