Another ComputerWorld.com article with a viewpoint from Foote Partners – linked to this previous post.

Companies have largely failed to develop SAP talent in-house, and a shortage of skilled SAP workers on the open market is forcing IT departments to pay premiums to get those few that are available, according to Foote. It’s not uncommon for SAP jobs to stay unfilled for nine months, he says.

“What they’re telling us is … when hiring developers, analysts and configurators, it’s not unusual to be faced with having to pay 20% more to attract them than the people [they] currently have in those jobs,” Foote says. “That’s the price you pay for not having staffed adequately for your needs.”

SearchSAP.com’s Jon Franke interviewed David Foote of Footpartners in a Podcast, a market research group that tracks value of IT skills since 1999.

I think his separation of the SAP growth areas into 3 skills based sections (see below) is a big help for SAP professionals out in the field in order to find the path for the next 3-5 years. However, as a reader/listener I think you have to remember that his views are obviously strongly influenced by the North American SAP market.

Foote (left) observed a specialisation in functional areas: he says their research shows that a lot of newly created functional roles within SD, HR, FI, BW and Netweaver in general do now absorb the classical programming as well as analysis roles. “They’re essentially ABAP developers doing analyst work.”

The following areas are seen by him as the key areas for the next 4-5 years:

• integration and reduction
• data management, Data Warehouse, BI and BW
• modelling – “Enablers”, Architect, Business Analysts, Process Information Officers – “more or less a play for ABAPers” (Foote)

Integration and reduction: Basis admins should be looking at the integration side of things – gain consolidation skills. I would probably add that this can also (still) be a worthwhile areas for ABAPers to get into, ie SAP XI.

According to Foote, managers of large data repositories will have key skills in an SOA enabled future – current BI/BW specialists could be the key people here.

The general move into modelling tools to develop next generation apps and UIs is in general a good opportunity for ABAPers or any non-SAP developers in general. This is already gaining momentum as we speak (WebDynpro, Muse, Duet, etc.).

One interesting points obviously is how might SAPs big push into the midmarket affect SAP professionals? Foote thinks that if you’re looking for more responsibility and a wider range of skills then you might want to look at a move to a smaller company. However I doubt that a lot of SAP professionals might want to delve into a position that per se promises to be such an overly pressurising environment.

Foote also mentions that consulting companies are looking for a lot of new people and talent right now. These consutling firms are worrying that they are continually understaffed within the SAP area, he adds. People looking to move into the consulting market will find a strong demand for it within the next 4-5 years, Foote reckons – however they have to weigh up the lifestyle issues due to travelling etc.

Foote’s view on outsourcing as a danger for SAP professionals? The closer you are to the “family jewels”, the more likely it is that companies keep the work on-site rather than outsource. I really like that comparison !

In general, Foote sees SAP as a great area to work in. He encourages people to press their employers hard for retention and remuneration, as his observations currently indicate an “employees market”. However he also has some slight warnings ready as he points to the boom and bust of IT security specialists after 9/11.

Dan McWeeney pointed on his blog towards a very interesting Newsweek article about SAP. On the whole a well-crafted feature, which summarises SAPs rise onto the software scene as well as describing the software giants’ challenges for present and future .

SearchSAP’s Matt Danielson makes some interesting points here – although CRM has been hailed as the SAP Dev Consultant’s saviour for some years now, it seems to be an alternative that’s growing slowly but surely.

However there is little to suggest that a move into SAP CRM would be that beneficial. From a SAP Development Consultant’s perspective, it rather prolongs the inevitable. Moving into new(ish) areas such WD4A and especially XI would be far more profitable and gives you better career longevity – if there is such a thing these days. A lot of SAP CRM customers are experienced R/3 users and therefore might stay clear off any custom developments within their CRM module once it has been implemented.

Having said that – it can only be an advantage to have CRM under your belt.

Whilst Ovum reported last month that the UK IT sector is set to grow within the next 7 years, another link on contractoruk.com to a study by Ovum is now suggesting that the UK will be without IT sector by 2016.

Some clarification is needed, it seems.

David Mitchell of Ovum, a market research company, reported on OUT-LAW radio podcast that the market for large enterprise software is set to grow at up to nine per cent a year until 2010. Based on Ovum research, large industrial-scale software such as that produced by SAP or Oracle was the business to be in.

Podcast and transcript can be found here.