Recent Trends in SAP Career

Many experts opine that although it is good to learn SAP and even work on ERP package, SAP has lately started losing its sheen and it is not as lucrative as it used to be. The trend has changed now as most of the big and medium scale industries have already implemented SAP. Further, as a number of companies are into SAP implementation, market price has fallen. As a matter of fact, SAP itself has agreed that it is now left out with only small and medium sector units. Salary earned by SAP professionals during early 2005 was three-four times higher than what today companies are offering for SAP entrants.

So despite the predictions of experts, the core ERP areas continue to appear pretty strong as far as SAP career paths go. In the end, ERP is shifting from a transactional system to a strategic system that leverages that transactional data for strategic purposes. Further, the Internet will be a driving force, providing a means for companies to extend their enterprise and let partners and customers access their data without the need for complex integration efforts. Of course, the shift to the Web services-friendly Net Weaver architecture is of great scope for all SAP consultants, especially the more technical ones. So doing your homework on how Net Weaver impacts your area of SAP is imperative.

In the ultimate analysis, it is less consequential what area of SAP you are working in compared to how strategic and mission-critical that work is. The more you help your business to remain competitive in its industry, the better valued your skills are. The more you are simply helping a company process back office transactions, the more you run the risk of becoming a part of a dispensable market that may even be outsourced sooner or later. The one key factor is to stay current. Even though it may be difficult to do that, the fact remains that the SAP professionals who are proactive about learning new technologies and skills will have the best chance to succeed - and that is also the way it should be.

There is no denying that functional SAP consultants generally have more stable and more lucrative career paths. But there are also some technical SAP experts who are doing exceedingly well. It needs to be stated that the choice between functional and technical should come down to individual skills and interests more than any other factor. If there is such a thing as a techno-functional SAP consultant - someone who is about 50% on each side - then it is certainly worthwhile. Particularly in smaller companies where people wear many hats, the presence of a broad techno-functional skilled person does make sense.

Is SAP training worth the money? This is the question that bothers many folks trying to move into the SAP field. The experienced consultants are also wondering how much formal training they need. There is no denying that any serious SAP consultant needs to spend a percentage of his earnings into training and further up-gradation of skills. Sometimes that means attending conferences and seminars, other times a formal certification is helpful. Over the years, those courses can add up and look impressive on a resume. Training and certification can certainly help you land in your first SAP project, but you have to be careful about understanding what training can do for you. There are instances of lot of aspiring SAP consultants who spent heavily for training and still not able to land on their first SAP position. What you have to do is to select the SAP training course that is directly relevant to your core skills and takes those skills into new areas.

Global Opportunity

SAP is widely distinguished as one of the best places to work. We are offered team of sole individuals working for a unique company that offers exceptional opportunities just about the globe, including:

Enterprise Resource Planning (R/3) Middle Market Solutions - Business One and All in One SAP Industry Solutions Financial Management Solutions Lease Asset Management Human Resource Solutions Supply Chain Management and Advanced Planning Solutions Customer Relationship Management Supplier Relationship Management Product Lifecycle Management Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence and Strategic Enterprise Management Portals and Cross-applications

2007 was an exhilarating time for SAP and SAP customers alike. SAP ERP upgrades, enterprise SOA adoption and MDM plans were among the top SAP trends in 2007, and all signs point to these interrelated trends gathering steam in 2008.

A December survey of 175 SAP users from 23 countries found that in spite of a hefty price tag, companies are planning SAP upgrade in 2008.

"The results of this survey forecast a growing number of SAP upgrades after that year as companies face greater than before maintenance costs and seek better application performance for their growing SAP databases," stated the survey, which was conducted by Gamma Enterprise Technologies, a creator of application data management software for companies using SAP applications.

In all, 37 percent of the respondents said their associations plan to upgrades to a new SAP version in 2008, while an extra 17 percent have upgrade plans for 2009.

Of those respondents who are going ahead with an upgrade, 43 percent claimed the reason was to decrease maintenance costs, which "can consume 80 percent of SAP operational expenses annually," said the survey. In addition, 58 percent of respondents said they expected the upgrade would increase application performance profits.

According to the analysis, however, the price tag for an SAP upgrade is substantial: More than 85 percent of survey respondent statements that their associations plan to spend up to $25 million during the SAP upgrade procedure.

The third-annual survey also noted the size and difficulty of users' SAP systems. "Gamma found that the percentage of respondents with databases larger than 500 gigabytes grew from 66 percent to 82 percent in this year's survey," according to the data. "The percentage of respondents with databases larger than 2 terabytes has increased from 14 percent to 24 percent this year."

At SAP, improvement and entrepreneurship define our individuality as the world's leading software provider. That's why we take on smart, ambitious people who are looking for a place to raise their careers. They are hardworking and industrious with a practical idea of success.

Being a part of SAP means being a part of one of the largest part successful companies in the world, a recognized market leader. It also means being challenged like not at all before, taking risks, growing, and succeeding.

Employment Options

2. Apply for any more IT-related position in companies currently using or intending to implement SAP products or similar products of other vendors.

Your SAP-skills and business-knowledge will be observed as a very valuable 'add-on' to your profile and might make the important difference! The practical exposure to those products will also be the basis for other employment options (after 6 to 12 months) either inside this company or in other companies.

3. Follow a career as 'SAP-expert'.

Your SAP-skills and business-knowledge will be served as a very valuable 'starting-point', but you will need further training and experience to the software. You can achieve this either through option 1 or 2, or by finding a company or consultancy who is willing to invest in you, or by investing in your SAP-skills. You will have a competitive benefit, because you have already gained valuable skills at UTS.