"Special Edition - Insights from The New Polymath for SAP professionals, Vinnie's take on SAP innovation, and the problems of the SAP 'egosystem'" (ERP Lounge #10)
Podcast Interview Date: June 30, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

If you're a regular attendee at SAP's trade shows, chances are you have run into Vinnie Mirchandani. Although he attends SAP events as part of SAP's blogger program, Vinnie is not the kind to keep to himself and file stories. When he's not in lively discussions with SAP executives, you can often find him on the show floor, engaging much more directly with the SAP community than many press/media attendees do. The fruits of that engagement show up in Vinnie's new book, The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations, which features no less than eight SAP Mentors within its pages.

With the release of his book - one of the most important business books in recent years (see my review on Amazon) - and with the reverberations of SAPPHIRENOW/ASUG Orlando still lingering, the timing was right to have Vinnie in The ERP Lounge to talk about his blogs on enterprise software and innovation. I wanted to dig into his opinionated takes on SAP and his critique of what he has dubbed the SAP "egosystem." I was especially looking forward to asking Vinnie about how the "polymath" practices he describes in his book can be emulated by individuals in their own skills development. I wanted to ask Vinnie how you reconcile the need to have broad expertise with the problem of becoming a "jack of alll trades, master of none."

This 48 minute podcast has three distinct sections: in the first, we talk about the rise of the independent analyst, and how Vinnie emerged as a leading enterprise blogger. Vinnie turns the tables on me and asks about my own business model, and how individuals can stand out in an industry still dominated by corporate giants. In the second section, we delve into Vinnie's book and how its themes can apply to individual skills development. We attempt to reconcile Vinnie's views on the importance of skills diversity with the need of successful SAP professionals to specialize. In the third section, I ask Vinnie about his beef with the SAP partner ecosystem and the kinds of innovations he would like to see in that space. Scroll down for the detailed show notes and time stamps.

Editor's note: this podcast builds on some of the themes in Jim Spath's excellent post-Sapphire/ASUG podcast with Vinnie where they discussed the conference, the role of SAP Mentors in The New Polymath, developing a blogging voice, and the challenge of fairness in blogging - recommended listening!

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.   

"Special Edition - Talking SAP Business ByDesign Skills and the Differences in SaaS Consulting Economics with Ray Tetlow from Skyytek" (ERP Lounge #9)
Podcast Interview Date: June 18, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

I reported on the PAC Feeding the Ecosystem blog that the SAP Business ByDesign (ByD) conversation has shifted from technology debates to product rollout. A key part of that shift is taking a closer look at the skills needed to support ByDesign implementations and the different economics of SaaS consulting. One emerging voice in that conversation is Ray Tetlow of Skyytek. Ray spoke as an early ByD partner at SAPPHIRENOW Orlando.

At SAPPHIRENOW, I found that Ray's ideas about the skills requirements for ByD professionals were much better fleshed out than most. Likely this was because of his firm's experience as a SaaS reseller and implementor with more than 1,000 SaaS installs under their belts. All told this made Ray an ideal guest for this special edition of the ERP Lounge.

During this forty-seven minute podcast, Ray hits me with some rapid-fire answers to a slew of key ByD questions, such as how he intends to train ByD professionals, why SaaS consultants are easier to bring up to speed in ByD than "on-premise" SAP consultants, and the appeals and drawbacks of the SaaS consulting model. We were able to cover a lot of fruitful ground in this podcast, but one of my favorite parts comes at the end when we get into some informal talk about how virtual SaaS consulting can change the consulting lifestyle and open up new opportunities for those who can't (or don't want to) travel - parents in particular. Most firms growing like Skyytek are building new offices; Ray is shutting most of his down. Listen to the podcast to find out why and the different approach he is taking.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.  

"Special Edition - Live from SAPPHIRE NOW podcast on SAP career and skills paths, certification, and conference views with 3/5 of the Certification Five and Vijay Vijaysankar (ERP Lounge #8)
Podcast Interview Date: May 19, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

What's the latest on SAP certification? How did the Mentors fare on the SAPPHIRE floor and what did they learn in their conversations with SAP executives and ASUG members? And what are the keys to navigating a successful SAP career in the midst of technical change and skills commoditization? That's a meaty menu for a podcast! For this live SAPPHIRE NOW taping, four SAP Mentors, including three members of the "Certification Five" gathered in the Mentor meeting room to give you their best ideas (and a few off color comments) on SAP skills trends.

Recorded on a Zoom H2 portable, this play-it-loose forty-five minute podcast has gems from Martin Gillet, Jon Reed, Leonardo De Araujo (3/5 of the C5) and special guest and fellow SAP Mentor Vijay Vijayasankar. Vijay has become an key voice in the SAP community on SAP skills issues and also recently ignited a debate on SAP and Agile development as only he can. (Check out Vijay's live Enteprise Geeks "SAP-Agile Throwdown," also taped live at SAPPHIRE). 

More show notes: the Certification Five also appeared on an Enterprise Geeks SAP Certification 5 live SAPPHIRE taping and are fresh off a C5 appearance on the Friday Morning Report.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.  

With special guest SAP Mentor Craig Cmehil!

Welcome to the seventh edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting. The ERP Lounge is a "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. All ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and special guest Craig Cmehil of SAP for this 70 minute seventh edition as they take on reader questions on whether SAP community involvement has a real career impact (or not), and the right approach SAP job change. Then the guys head into a market discussion on social media hype and whether the enterprise should be more like Facebook. The feature discussion looks closely at the topic of SAP community involvement, with Craig spicing up the podcast with an honest, personal take on his own career transitions.

In addition to being an SAP Mentor, Enterprise Geek, and perennial SCN top contributor, Craig is the maestro of Demo Jam, arguably the high point of SAP's TechEd conferences each fall. Craig is also the creator of the popular live video show Friday Morning Report. Since Craig recently moved on from his role as SDN Community Evangelist to another position inside SAP, this podcast was an ideal crossroads for Craig to reflect on his experiences to date and tell us about what lies ahead.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin and let us know what you want us to cover. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here.

Special event link: during this podcast, Craig refers to his special 24 hour FMR marathon show coming up on April 9, 2010 to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Click on the link to find out more on how to be involved in the show and make an online donation.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed. 

"6th Edition - Assessing CRM Market Trends, The Pros and Cons of SAP's CRM strategy, and the Ideal Skill Set of the SAP CRM Consultant"
Podcast Interview Date: February 20, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 30 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

With special guests SAP Mentors Stephen Johannes and Vijay Vijayasankar!

Welcome to the sixth edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting. The ERP Lounge is a "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. All ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and special guests Johannes and Vijayasankar for this 65 minute sixth edition as they tackle reader questions on the CRM-Solution Manager connection, and whether SD or CRM is a better career path. Then the guys head into a market discussion on the state of CRM in an on demand world, how SAP can improve its CRM strategy, and most importantly, the keys to success as an SAP CRM professional. 

Stephen Johannes and Vijay Vijayasankar are both SAP Mentors, and Jon invited them on this program due to their informed and opinionated views. Basically, these guys love to talk CRM - or any key SAP issue for that matter! If you want more context for this podcast, you should also check out the "Future of CRM" webinar replay we refer to during this podcast, which was part of the SAP Mentor Monday webinar series.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.

"5th Edition - The Career Path of the SAP Consultant, and Why Job Boards are Not the Best Place for SAP Career Advancement"
Podcast Interview Date: January 20, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 30 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

Welcome to the fifth edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting, the new podcast series from JonERP.com! The ERP Lounge is the new "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. All ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and special guest co-host Quinn Brennan of Translink.net, for this 70 minute fifth edition as they tackle reader questions on the relevance of SAP job boards, and then move into an in-depth discussion of how SAP consultants should approach their career paths - with detail on job offer negotiation, resume effectiveness, and the kinds of skills that are getting job offers in a tough market.

Translink is one of the leading providers of SAP consulting talent to key "Tier One" players like IBM and Accenture, which gives Quinn an inside view on the skills that are most compelling in today's market. During the podcast, Jon and Quinn also define SAP recruiter lingo such as "jumpers," "passive job seekers," "bird dogging," and "mercenaries."

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin and let us know what you want us to cover. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here.

Welcome to the fourth edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting, the new podcast series from JonERP.com! The ERP Lounge is the new "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. All ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and special guest co-host Michael Doane, author of The New SAP Blue Book and the now-released SAP Green Book, for this 60 minute fourth edition as they tackle reader questions on the hot SAP skills of 2010, and then head into a freewheeling discussion of how SAP will fare in a SaaS world, how SAP consulting is changing, and what Michael means when he talks about "gain share" consulting. 

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin and let us know what you want us to cover. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here. For the timeframe of this episode and more on the topics covered (as well as some links to topics cited in the podcast), read on. 

Note: two companies mentioned in the podcast as SAP consulting and/or "SAP consulting in the cloud" innovators: CumulusIQ and Vivido Labs.

Welcome to the third edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting, the new podcast series from JonERP.com! The ERP Lounge is the new "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. All ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and Brian Trout for this 65 minute third edition as they tackle reader comments and questions and then delve into an in-depth ranking of the skills demand in SAP CRM (Customer Relationship Management, SRM (Supplier Relationship Management), PLM (Product Lifecyle Management (PLM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). Get the insights into why some aspects of these products are hotter than others and the industry trends that are driving adoption. Also get the latest take on "SAP Skills that are Hot/and "Not." 

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin and let us know what you want us to cover. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here. For the timeframe of this episode and more on the topics covered (as well as some links to topics cited in the podcast), read on. 

Welcome to the second edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting, the new podcast series from JonERP.com! The ERP Lounge is the new "long form" podcast series that features uncensored, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. From this point forward, all ERP Lounge podcasts kick off with reader questions from listeners like yourself!

Join Jon Reed and Brian Trout for this 60 minute second edition as they take a no-holds-barred look at the consulting layers that make it difficult for independent SAP consultants to go directly to end customers and get the rates they are seeking. Find out why these layering problems exist, what kinds of reforms should be happening, and what to do about it in the meantime. Hear Brian and Jon talk about the importance of rate transparency in consulting deals. Also get the latest take on "SAP Skills that are Hot/and "Not." 

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin and let us know what you want us to cover. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here. For the timeframe of this episode and more on the topics covered (as well as some links to topics cited in the podcast), read on.

"Debut Edition - The Role of the Independent SAP Consultant, SAP Skills that are Hot (and Not), and How to be a Consultant, not an SAP Contractor"
Podcast Interview Date: July 16, 2009
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]

Welcome to the first edition of The ERP Lounge: Misadventures and Opportunities in SAP Consulting, the new podcast series from JonERP.com! The ERP Lounge is the new "long form" podcast series that features freewheeling, in-depth discussions on the hard truths and real opportunities in the SAP skills marketplace. Join Jon and Brian for this 55 minute inaugural edition as they take you inside their vision of The ERP Lounge. Learn why they decided to create this new podcast series, what the structure of the series will be, and listen in on the regular features like "SAP Skills that are Hot/and "Not." This first edition also includes a tribute to the SAP independent consultant, and a hashing out of the differences between a "do as you're told" SAP contractor and a "tell the truth" consultant. And yes, this special series gets its own rockin' musical intro!

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the RSS feed for The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. You can also pose questions live to Jon on his real-time @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed which is updated no later than 24 hours after the podcast posts here. For the timeframe of this episode and more on what inspired this series, read on.