Tag Archives: SAP

scratches on the Alloys?

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After the re-branding of “Atlantic” into “Alloy” we have now been given a launch date (March 2009). So what can Alloy bring to IT departments, developers and -most importantly- to Notes/SAP users?

First of all it’s going to create some work for IT departments on the Notes side, as a minimum of Notes 8.02 server side is required (info as of TechEd 08). Especially SAP/Notes experienced IT departments with a large homegrown Notes app suite won’t be too happy about this, as there is a lot of testing effort for mission critical Notes applications.

In addition, development teams that have Notes development expertise might not migrate older Notes apps into Alloy, as there is probably not enough business benefit. The holiday and approval apps have probably already been built using pre-Alloy technology, SAP integration might have been achieved using Lotus Notes Connector. However development managers will be all ears when it comes to new developments, integrating new Notes/SAP workflows in those areas where business benefits can be discovered. Alan Rickaysen’s blog on SDN indicates that Alloy is primarily aimed at HR implementations, but nothing holds developers back to use Alloy to integrate CRM workflows, for example. As an aside, Rickaysen also clarifies what Alloy can do:

This product is not a mashup – it’s an alloy

Which is a more apt description, compared to claims that Alloy is an enterprise mashup.

Another benefit is that Alloy users tend to find their information in one space (Notes) rather than having to swap between Email, SAP Client and web browser all the time. However, my own experience with Notes is that integration of non-Lotus software is not always as good as it could be. Everyone who has tried to view MS Office documents in (older versions of) Notes might know what I am talking about. In terms of developer skillsets, some companies might also find challenges here, as very often Notes and SAP development is done in separate teams.

On the whole, I do believe that a lot of SAP/Notes shops will find a fair amount of milage in Alloy, especially the ease of converting SAP Workflows. Therefore it can enable users to collaborate even better when using Alloy. However, migrating existing Notes workflows will be harder and thus less beneficial to migrate. Whether a pre-installed selection of leave and other approval apps is enough to entice customers to ditch their homegrown applications in favour of Alloy remains to be seen. And if customers are partial to Microsoft products then there’s also the Duet offering.

This Week in SAP (#3)

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Interesting SAP related news links from the last 7 days:

  • SAP’s worker’s council wants job guarantee (Achtung, German! – english translation here, albeit Leo Apotheker translated as “pharmacist”). via, @rwang0. Isn’t the worker’s council trying to square the circle here?
  • “Never.” SAP US boss Bill McDermott interview predicts a SaaS disillusionment. A fairly misjudged and badly interpreted interview, or, as @jonerp put it: “SaaS true believers portraying SAP as legacydinosaur“.
  • SAP and SaaS: SeekingAlpha’s Jeffrey Kaplan sees SAP in denial. I thought this article lacks real insight into what products such as BBD deliver. Also, what’s wrong with being cautious about ERP in the cloud? For instance, the idea of SAP SaaS snap-on’s to work toegther with SAP ERP is a good one, as it could ease customers into SaaS.
  • this week also saw the go-live of the Enterprise Geeks website with interesting contributions from Craig Cmehil, Dan McWeeney, Ed Hermann, Rich Heilman and Thomas Jung. I’ve certainly subscribed to their feed.
  • This doesn’t come as a big surprise, as SAP customers had to continue facing the music: a survey by Panaya Inc showed that 75% of all SAP upgrade projects are still going ahead as planned, some with lower budgets. Main driver appears to be support cost avoidance.
  • SAP confirms it has won UN implementation project. Might just be a drop in the ocean financially, but bums on seats is always good PR.

This week’s Twitter Picks:

  • @jonerp: As of January 1, 2009, Business Objects is no longer “Business Objects, an SAP Company.” It is now: “SAP Business Objects.” Noted. 🙂
  • @dahowlett: “When SAP asked me how I felt about eSOA last year, I retorted something along the lines that I’d rather have an anal probe by Rosa Klebb“
  • RajeevTrikha: “India’s outsourcing revenue is $50B and Satyam’s take was $2B. But definitely the impact on India’s reputation seems to be bigger than 4%.”
  • @rooreynolds: “Facebook is about people you used to know; Twitter is about people you’d like to know better”

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 ?

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.

use Twitter to find SAP contracts within EMEA

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Initially it was Oliver Kohl’s idea to have a Twitter feed that would push out any SAP jobs straight to you. I then thought that my “Yahoo Pipe for UK SAP ABAP jobs” might come in handy for this. A few minutes and messages later I had a play with Twitterfeed.com and not very long after that I was able to expose the result of the Jobserve.com RSS feed, which is captured by Yahoo Pipes and then converted into Twitter tweeds by Twitterfeed.

I am planning to discect these feeds a little bit more by role and location, but for now please check or follow Twitter user @pixelbase_jobs for regular updates on EU SAP contract ABAP jobs (via Jobserve.com).

Eh presto! Pixelbase has got a new service offering ! Thanks to Oliver for the inspiration (I know that he is working on a version for himself, which you can eventually reach under @SAP_jobs )