"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
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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
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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
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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.