SAP Consulting: It’s High Time to Make the Leap

By Valeri Wickersham
Director of Human Resources, Optimal Solutions Integration, Inc.

According to a recent study conducted by the Computing Technology Industry Association, 60 percent of IT pros are currently looking for new jobs. The primary driver for this en masse job search? No surprise here – better compensation. Some 73 percent cite the desire for improved pay as the main reason for their search. It is well known that in the SAP world, experienced consultants are on a different pay scale than their corporate-bound counterparts – sometimes earning as much as 150 to 200 percent more for comparable skills. In addition to the considerable financial gain, what other factors might make it the right time to make the leap into SAP consulting?

Here are two good reasons worth considering if you’re thinking about making the leap into SAP consulting:

Taking advantage of a high-demand environment

Monetarily speaking, things are pretty good for today’s IT pros. According to an annual salary survey just published by Robert Half Technology, in 2007 IT pros will receive on average a 2.8 percent salary increase, with increases for project managers and software developers spiking to 5.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively.

This bodes well for SAP pros, who rank in the upper echelon of IT pay. While there is no foolproof way to determine an SAP pro’s exact market rate, as rates vary according to skill set and experience level, it is safe to assume that SAP work will continue paying well. Counter to popular wisdom, it is when times are good that the good get going. This means that the good SAP professionals should take advantage of consulting opportunities in today’s high-demand market!

Taking control of your future

If the dot-com bust of the 90’s taught IT pros anything, it is that salary rates are mercurial and job security is but an illusion. Self-reliance, it turns out, is often a safer bet than what seems on the surface to be a secure, permanent employment opportunity.

In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, pure-play technology skills quickly become commoditized and lower-skill IT functions increasingly head offshore. Furthermore, there typically isn’t an overabundance of opportunity to work on cutting-edge, business innovation projects in most corporate roles, and oftentimes permanent corporate jobs lead to monotonous roles that don’t build marketable skills.

Today, there are literally thousands of career-advancing SAP projects available for qualified SAP professionals. Smart SAP pros are taking control of their future now by bolstering their experience in web services, service oriented architecture and project management—all hot areas where demand will remain high well into the foreseeable future!