Ask the SAP Career Expert Archive

SAP Career Questions for B2B Workforce, December 2007 edition I am considering specializing in an SAP industry solution. I was thinking about IS-Media or maybe EH&S, perhaps with some GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) exposure. What do you think? JR: Industry Solutions are a tricky area to specialize in within SAP. Once you pick an industry solution as a focus, you are in a narrow area of specialization, which might be problematic in terms of making sure you are eligible for a wide range of positions. Of course, it all depends on how much demand there is for the industry solution you are pursuing. Let's start out by making a distinction between specializing in an industry and specializing in an industry solution. Not all SAP customers in a particular industry are actually using the industry solution for that industry. In this case, the question pertains to the ability to implement and configure SAP's industry solution. So one aspect of our question is: which industry solutions are the most popular within SAP currently? Where is the demand for skills the highest? The recruiters I have spoken with tell me that IS-Retail is currently the hottest SAP solution in terms of consulting demand. We see a lot of public sector installs in SAP these days, but again, that doesn't necessarily mean that there is specific configuration of that industry solution involved. Aside from SAP Retail, I'm not sure I see many industry solutions that are hot enough to support a consulting specialty. Perhaps SAP Aerospace and Defense would be the other. We used to see IS-Oil a lot (now most often called SAP for Oil & Gas), but we're seeing less demand for this background in recent years. Of course, SAP has more than twenty five industry solutions, so there are a lot of areas to choose from. And in each area, there is a group of elite consultants who are able to secure projects in their particular industry specialization. The lesson I take from this? If you have a genuine passion and expertise for a particular industry, you can certainly make it a focus and do well. But you don't want to find yourself competing with other industry experts unless you share their desire to excel in that particular marketplace. One thing that gets a lot of SAP consultants in trouble is focusing too much on what's hot and ignoring the strengths of their own background. For example, if your background is in the defense industry, then you might do very well pursuing the Aerospace and Defense industry solution. If your background is in petroleum, then the Oil and Gas industry solution might be the one for you. That's why I tend to encourage SAP consultants to worry a little less about chasing the most marketable skill and instead pursuing the one that is most relevant to their overall background. Perhaps the key is to find a balance between pursuing the most lucrative or marketable area of SAP and the one you have the most proven strengths in. Looking ahead to the next ten years in SAP consulting, we can certainly be confident that more industry specialization will be expected of senior level consultants. Mastering a particular industry gives your SAP skills a broader context, and that's becoming more and more important to SAP customers who are thinking in terms of outperforming their competitors. SAP is now more about business and less about software, so the industry experience implementing that software is vital - whether or not there is configuration of an industry solution involved. At this point, when we talk about IS-Media or EH&S, we're talking about industry solutions that might be a good part of a "skills toolkit," but might not be as effective as a sole focus. Many of the best SAP industry experts combine their industry solution know-how with some type of core functional expertise. As a general rule, that's how I like to see industry experience in SAP on resumes these days. If it's part of a broader focus, that can help you to secure good projects without becoming too narrow. As for GRC, GRC is a broader area, involving compliance issues across many areas of SAP. GRC could eventually become very hot, but right now, I also see this aspect of SAP as feeding into a broader skill set. A handful of experts may find themselves specializing in this area, but for most consultants, GRC will remain in the same category as most other industry solutions - a nice addition to a skill set, but perhaps not in demand enough to place at the center of your skill set. In each case, there are enough exceptions to remind us that any career advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, I think the person that asked this question is wise to take a hard look at how they can add an additional level of specialization to their background. The key is to make sure you don't overspecialize, and to do your best to make sure that the new skills you acquire tie in nicely to the core SAP skills you already have. I have nine years of IT experience, which includes six years in ABAP. I am certified in ABAP. I am puzzled about what I should do to move forward. Should I get myself into functional modules like SD or FI, or move into the tech side. My heart beats for the functional modules. Which is the best functional module to pursue? JR:This question fits in nicely with the last one. You answered your own question when you said, "my heart beats for the functional modules." If you have that kind of passion for functional SAP work, you should pursue it. The key to success in SAP is not really different than any other field: find the best balance between the work you are passionate about and the work that is most marketable. In your case, that looks like the functional modules. I would like to say to our readers that I don't advise every ABAP programmer to make a functional shift. There are ways to remain marketable without abandoning technical SAP work for functional roles. But in this case, the question comes from someone who really does want to make that move. Remember, however, that you'll be most effective as a functional consultant if you continue to leverage your ABAP experience. You would be a great person, for example, to work as go between, relaying functional requirements to the technical team. So that ABAP experience is still relevant. I think you'll be a lot better off shifting your emphasis than abandoning ABAP entirely. The next part of the question is: which functional area to pursue? I would answer this part of the question less in terms of what is the hottest area of SAP, and more in terms of which functional area matches up best with your overall background. In this case, I don't know much about your background, so I can't necessarily give a foolproof recommendation. But, given the current emphasis on upgrades to the enterprise core, I'd choose either SAP Financials or the SAP logistics/supply chain functionality. If neither area is of interest, SAP HCM might be the next best choice. These core modules won't be the hottest areas in SAP forever, but in the midst of the upgrade cycle, it's understandable that the core areas of SAP would be back in the spotlight. Of course, as an ABAP programmer with six years of experience, you probably ended up programming more in one or two modules than the rest. Those modules where you did the most programming are likely the best ones to pursue for your functional career path. It makes sense - you probably know more about the functional side of SAP in those areas you have programmed the most in. Therefore, those are the areas you should target for functional work. This way, you are building on the exposure you already have. When in doubt, always go for the area that fits in best with your existing skills. Ask the SAP Career Expert Archive