What Makes an SAP Top-Gun Consultant?

 

By Gary Hart
Vice President of Operations, Optimal Solutions Integration, Inc.

 

Worldwide IT consulting spending is expected to increase from nearly $47.9 billion in 2004 to $57.5 billion in 2009, according to IDC. SAP currently holds more than 40% of the worldwide ERP market and has the largest consulting and systems integration ecosystem among all enterprise platform vendors. Given these trends, it stands to reason that top-performing SAP consultants are in a good position to cash in over the next several years.

 

This is not to say that the heydays of the mid-90s are back or that every independent consultant with SAP skills will find him or herself commanding top dollar. Companies today are much more discerning in their consultant hiring practices, and within almost every area of SAP consulting there are individuals faring well and others struggling to get off the bench.

 

So what separates the SAP Top Guns from the SAP benchwarmers? Here are some traits shared by SAP Top Guns:

 

Experience - Module and Industry

 

The right training is critical and certification is certainly helpful, but there is no substitute for hands-on experience with multiple, full lifecycle implementations. Top Guns have paid their dues, most having at least two full lifecycle SAP implementations and 6+ years of large-scale SAP implementation experience. If these implementations occur within the same industry, it’s a net plus - particularly for functional consultants, where the Industry Solutions (e.g. IS-Public Sector, IS-Retail, etc.) come into play most often.

 

An SAP Top Gun will bring more than product understanding to the table - they will bridge the gap between business users and the IT organization by appreciating the strengths and addressing the weaknesses of both. For functional experts, the Top Gun has deep functional knowledge and SAP skills in at least one or two modules. And given the integrated nature of SAP, an understanding of integration points between modules is a necessity.

 

For technical experts, some functional understanding is very useful, but he or she must be able to demonstrate command of his or her technical area (ABAP, performance tuning, back-end BW, Portal Single Sign-On). Regardless of functional or technical expertise, the Top Gun has at least a working knowledge of all modules and their value propositions.

 

Leadership Skills

 

Implementing SAP inevitably requires teamwork. SAP Top Guns are equally comfortable being a team member or team leader. But most often their experience places them in a leadership role. After assembling the right team for a project, it's their job as a leader to make sure that everyone is in the right role, deadlines are met and goals achieved. To do this, it is essential that leaders communicate relentlessly and realistically about expectations and performance.

 

Equally important, the Top Gun has an opinion about how SAP should be implemented. Rather than being stubborn for the sake of getting their way, their opinion is rooted in experience with best practices - and having directly witnessed good SAP decisions (and therefore providing the expected return on the SAP investment) and less-than-optimal ones (which destroy the business case).

 

Continuous Improvement

 

Perhaps the most defining trait that separates SAP Top Guns from mediocrity is a passion for self improvement. Top Guns strongly believe that what they're doing is meaningful. Passion drives them to work through tough challenges and sometimes exhaustion to find and implement creative solutions to difficult business problems. They take great pride in their client’s success.

 

Top Guns have a genuine passion for SAP and an insatiable desire to constantly better themselves by learning the latest and greatest SAP functionality. They are relentless in their pursuit of experience and training in areas that build logically from their core skills. They are tireless when it comes to improving their communication skills, project management skills, and problem solving capability.

 

References

 

Every SAP Top Gun has referenceable clients. They have nothing to hide. The Top Gun should be readily able to provide names and contact information of clients that have worked closely with them and can vouch for their depth, demeanor and accomplishments. They are more than happy, and in fact prefer, to have prospective clients check what they’ve accomplished rather than simply take their word for it.

So what do you think - are you an SAP Top Gun? If you are, we’d like to hear from you - contact us today at optimal.sap@optimalsol.com.