We’ve heard the keynotes and read the clippings: yes, we’re entering the eSOA and NetWeaver era of SAP. But what does that really mean? eSOA is a vast umbrella of emerging technologies, and NetWeaver is a broad technical landscape with a number of different components.

When it all comes together someday, it should be pretty dreamy, bringing an unprecedented level of integration and business adaptability to SAP customers. ERP as we know it won’t be the same.

But we don’t have that kind of time. Today’s SAP professional faces a much more immediate challenge: how do you make the right project choices and obtain the skills you need to stay marketable?

In the months since TechEd 2007, I’ve been compiling a list of specific SAP tools and aptitudes that SAP professionals "want to have." My goal was to come up with a list of skills enhancements that are available on most projects now, or will be soon. In some cases, you can even get exposure to these products online via the SAP SDN and BPX online communities.

My goal for this list was to avoid generalities that don’t help us move forward. For example, we know that it’s important to get SAP upgrade experience, so it’s useless to list that. Either we’re lucky enough to be on an upgrade project, or we’re not. But are there tools commonly used in upgrades we can get exposure to? That’s where a list like this gets interesting. Another headline we see a lot: mashups are hot! But what does that mean to the average SAP professional? What skills are needed to make mashups happen in an SAP environment?

I will do my best to stick with technologies that are available now, with the understanding that it’s not always easy to access some of these eSOA tools if your company hasn’t installed them yet. I’ll try to avoid too many references to "pie in the sky" products that are nowhere near general release.

Of course, different products apply to different skill areas. I’ll note some of those distinctions as we go. Historically, there has always been a big difference between the skills SAP folks need to pursue, depending on whether their focus was functional or technical. That’s starting to change as we move into the era of the "Business Process Expert." Many of these new "gotta have" skills represent the convergence of the IT and business skill set, but this is a gradual evolution, so I recommend pursuing the areas most relevant to you.

This list is not in any particular order; I wouldn’t put something on this list unless I felt it had real potential. I couldn’t hope to compile a complete list of hot SAP technologies on my own. If you have some you think I should add, please contact me. Take me to the SAP Skills You Want to Have list.