Breaking into SAP consulting |
 |
EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Jon Reed
|
|
|
|
| > |
QUESTION POSED ON: 09 December 2004
I am an Oracle database guy. I work on database design/development. I have been thinking of breaking into SAP consulting for some time now. What course of action would you suggest? Which modules are better for somebody who is a beginner as far as SAP is concerned?
|
|
| > |
EXPERT RESPONSE
I think some people get confused; they see that SAP is having one of the best years of any software company, and they assume there must be a lot of opportunities to break into SAP. That's not the case. The SAP consulting market is extremely competitive, and for the most part, the vast majority of people who are getting their feet wet in SAP are simply lucky to be in the "right place at the right time" with a company that decides to implement. So, what are the implications for someone like yourself? Is there still hope to get into this field? Yes. But you must recognize the competition and be strategic. And your strategy is this: find the aspect of your skills that is most relevant to SAP environments and use that as the means to obtain your first SAP project. From your question, I can't tell if you're aware or not that about 70% of SAP implementations -- including the largest installs -- are running on Oracle databases. Therefore, your Oracle DBA skills are relevant to many SAP environments. In the SAP world, Oracle DBA skills are a subset of the SAP systems administration, or Basis, toolkit. So, your Oracle DBA background might help you break into Basis, and from there, you can pursue other SAP-related technical specialties. Your goal is to apply for full-time Oracle DBA positions in SAP shops. You probably won't have many consulting opportunities, but there should be some full time positions that fit this description. I recommend doing some serious research into the nature of the SAP technical work and SAP's evolving technical architecture before you apply to any positions. This Web site has a lot of free resources that can help you on your way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and
answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
