Category Archives: SAP Market

a future for SAP in hardware ?

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Hardly anyone in the news and blogsphere commented on Apotheker’s outlook statement at the end of the Rose interview last week (exept Dennis Byron from ITBusinessedge.com). Maybe that’s because it’s too far fetched a statement or maybe because 10 years from now is an eternity in IT business terms. Nevertheless I find his thoughts worthwhile exploring.

Rose: “What business might you be in in 10 years time that you’re not in now?”

Apotheker: [looks surprised] “That’s a good question! Maybe we could even be in hardware. It depends.”

Rose: “Really?”

Apotheker: “Yeah, it really depends. Not making them, but shipping complete appliances (that’s another term for you).”….

Rose: “… Routers?…” [laughs]

Apotheker: “…Yeah, if you can make them intelligent with software, why not?”

One thing that really surprised me about Apotheker’s answer is that he did not opt for the obvious future scenarios, namely cloud computing, social media and enterprise 2.0. It could have been so easy! Instead, the first thought that springs to his mind appears to be along the lines of a vertical integration of commodities and services before and after the deployment of SAP software.

A very interesting idea, I find, as it would put SAP closer to a model that has been one of the main reasons for Apple’s success within the computing and entertainment market for years now – having control over the hardware and software together. Apotheker did emphasise that he can’t envisage Walldorf to churn out hardware themselves, agreed, but if SAP had more control over the hardware that their software runs on, their end product will be a faster, more stable and reliable. This might even be a neat solution for on-premise versions of a BBD release, who knows? The funny bit: After big mainframe (IBM, Digital, Wang, etc ) and later on office solutions (for example AS400) in the 70s and 80s IT would once again have come complete circle again. In those days software and hardware were also both wielded under the same roof, for different reasons, but it’s a similarity nonetheless.

But let’s keep it in perspective: Even if Apotheker’s ideas have no meaning whatsoever, at least they prove that he is willing to think out of the box.

This week in SAP (#2)

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This week’s top news/blog posts:

SAP Twitter Picks:

  • @scobleizer: “(…) Enterprise 2.0 is a new range of services that build social collaboration in from the start. SAP? No. socialtext? Yes.”
  • @ITSinsider: “ironically, SAP “gets” e20 better than most, as evidenced by its large communities. just hasn’t incorporated social into its sw.”
  • @jonerp: “While SAP is asking for a jury trial, still expect settlement. SAP and Oracle in high stakes card game, Oracle with better hand this time.” (on Oracle-SAP lawsuit)
  • @erickimberling: “Downward trends in ERP sales require software vendors to prove the measurable value of their solutions.”
  • @MyCustomer: “Could SAP cause a rift in its customer base by exempting Germany and Austria from it’s pricier support programme?”
  • @thomas_jung: “(…) SE16N (despite the N) was created by FI and not Basis – so not intended as a replacement for SE16” (on a question regarding SAP’s data query transaction SE16)
  • @yojibee: “(…) but not that I would want to give SAP my open source code to maintain” (with regards to Leo Apotheker’s  open source statements during the Charlie Rose interview)
  • @vchalana: “heard that Satyam is one of the biggest SAP consulting shops in India. India SAP job boards are flooded with resumes of Satyam employees.”

Charlie Rose interviews Apotheker and McAfee

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leo_apotheker_charlie_rose

Especially Apotheker’s comments about open source will raise a few eyebrows in the community, namely his argument that SDN members want SAP to host and look after their open source developments. Reason for this is, in his view, “the mission critical stuff.” and “Who do you call if it doesn’t work?”.

In this context, Andrew McAfee of Harvard Business School hit it on the nail here by answering Rose’s question “is everything going to be Open Source software?” with “No, but we don’t exactly know where that boundary is.”. Does SAP ?

This week in SAP

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Due to the Christmas and new year festivities this first issue of a weekly SAP news roundup is a little bit shorter.

SAP Twitter Picks:

  • @rwang0: “stop spending time in your SFA tool and start selling!”
  • @consultingpulse “Trust – the best run companies run SAP – the message – Do you trust their judgment?”
  • @mcornell: “Google needs to push its weight vs Enterprise systems (ala SAP Netweaver) which doesn’t support IE7 on versions < 7 IE6 user !”
  • @pac_mac: “SAP makes me sick” (no more maple syrup for him then 😉 )

Economic slowdown and a Ford Fiesta

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Memories !

That's what it looked like... Memories !

Back in 1990 when I was starting out in IT as a RPG-II and COBOL programmer, I invested most of my hard earned cash into a silver 1978 Ford Fiesta Mk I. The Fiesta had seen better days and especially on wet winter mornings its spark plugs and cracked wires usually played up. So every year between October and February I usually went to bed at night, having just watched the weather forecast and wondering if “Silver Shadow” (no, I did not call it that!) would start up the following morning. It was a gamble, a struggle and a daily unknown for me. Many a days I found myself outside in the cold morning mist, spraying WD40 contact spray under the bonnet or pushing it down the hill in a desperate attempt to jump-start it.

This little anecdote is not too dissimilar from what the economic outlook is like at the moment. The economy is more or less like that old car of mine back in the 90ies: Battered, bruised and nobody can make a guess at this point in time if it will start-up when we need it. Once people have attended to their Christmas shopping and paid their credit card bills, will it “wake up again” and take us where we want to go? Of course the economy will not go into some sort of Snow White-like eternal hibernation, but the question certainly is “will something or someone kiss it awake again?”. 2009 will certainly keep us all on the edge of our seats, that’s for sure.

Why SAP Consultants should not go for niche

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Don't put all your eggs into one basket

Don't put all your eggs into one basket

During these gloomy economic times not a day passes by without another analysis and prognosis of how the current slowdown is going to affect the permanent and contractual (global) SAP job market. Make no mistake: It is important that industry experts try to make sense out of the current market situation. Let me look at this from a freelancer’s point-of-view. From where I stand, a lot of opinions and outlooks are made from restricted angles. Let me clarify this: when I say “restricted” I mean a limitation in terms of location and SAP sector. As a result, some advice might be perfectly reasonable in one location or sector, but not in another.

SAP Freelancing markets differ from country to country

For example, the legal and cultural environment that a contract ABAP generalist or Netweaver Architect finds himself in Germany, the Netherlands or United Kingdom can differ quite significantly. Labour market regulations, contractual specifics and a general approach/tradition in the use of contract workers, to name but a few, all have an impact on the individual market situation in each country. For decades the UK has already enjoyed a more flexible labour market, where use of contractors is far more commonplace and accepted as in Germany, for example, although things are improving in SAP homeland. In the US the picture might be similar or different altogether. In addition, government rescue plans in individual countries might support or restrict the future of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), a group to which freelancers belong.

Why am I saying all this? Well, I am trying to point out how complex the market can be. Whilst the current explanations and outlooks are all justified and important, I feel that the number of “unknown’s” in all of this are still very high. Obviously this also depends if questions are being asked (ie are companies interested in specific areas such as the “SAP contract market within EMEA” ?). I also want to set the scene for my own antithesis, namely that I think that not all SAP consultants (both permanent and contract) should go and find a niche to specialize in – at least not yet. This is in contrast to a lot of current suggestions and advice.

Why should an experienced SAP development consultant go for niche at this moment in time?

If you’re already a specialist in one particular area of SAP, say IS Utilities Configuration and Development, then you’re in pretty good shape during these current hard times. But industry solutions and niches always have the danger of becoming overcrowded or (more likely) saturated. So if you’re contemplating a move into a niche then be aware that aquiring the skills can take some time. By the time you’re in the game the depression might be over, most implementation projects are over, are bedding in (with only outsourced support work left) and you could have lost out by not being flexible enough to get out off your niche again. Niche might also mean that you have to do a lot of travelling to find those niche companies.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

On the other hand, remaining a generalist in these times could mean that you’ll be able to work on different levels (analysis, development, training, mentor, team lead, project management, etc). There’s IT departments out there who have snippets and short-term work available during hard times that could keep you afloat until the time things are picking up again. This might also mean that you do not have to travel as far as a specialist, whose work might be scattered all over Europe or the US, for example. I am basically saying you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.