The Market AS-IS: The market for SAP has gone slow these days. Jobs are very hard to get by. If you ask consultants who have been looking out for jobs since Oct-08 you will very well understand where their search is going. There have been numerous incidents where consulting companies and even SAP denying this, but lets face it – The number of jobs is a very good indicator of how well the market is doing.
However, on the bright side, there are subtle but sure indications coming from the industry about recovery. The financial giants are repaying their loans, small industries are opening up to the market and jobs in other IT sectors are starting to grow up again. What this means for those of us seeking jobs in the SAP market space is that we have something good going on for us. But to understand where the market is , first we have to understand who SAP’s customers are.
SAP’s Customers : Being an early starter in the industry , SAP is well established with the Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies – A majority of them use SAP as their core ERP. Now, obviously there are M& As during a bust time like this and that just means more work for the SAP consultants sitting in these and other affiliated companies. However, the bulk of the growth is not in these giants. Its in the Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs ). Ever since the recession started, sales have been pretty flat for SMEs except for some really innovative ones. And they are not willing to move off of their ‘QuickBooks-Kinda-Software‘. SAP has been moving aggressively into this space with very aggressive pricing ( SAP’s Margins vs Oracle’s Margins ) and according to SAP, they plan to increase their revenues by at least 50% by 2014.
Room For Growth: Now come to think of it.Where can the market share come from ? The Fortune 500 companies ? Definitely not. They are set in their ways and have a set amount of revenue that they bring in. SAP can definitely work on profitability but cutting costs and driving efficiencies up, but there are limits to it. The bulk of the growth in Revenues has to come from new customer acquisitions and new Fortune 500 companies are not born as fast . Its SMEs – They hold the key to SAP’s growth and ultimately to increased Job market . SAP already has more than 65,000 small and mid sized customers worldwide. For a 50% increase in revenue they have to taken on at least as many more. And thats where Jobs would come from. With tough competition from tier-II/tier-II ERP vendors SAP has to do a good job of course to beat the customers expectation.
I am looking for a Job in SAP. What to do now ? : There are many fresh and experienced consultants looking for jobs in the SAP market space. And frankly at the moment many of them are on the verge of giving up (Typically Freshers). My suggestion ? Don’t give up yet. You might ask why ? My answer would depend on whether you are a fresher or an experienced consultant.
- For Freshers : Here is the cold hard fact that is working in your favor – A recession is a great leveler. If you work hard enough, put extra hours in learning the basics ( Most experienced consultants themselves do not know at least one aspect that is very basic in SAP customizing because they are just so much used to what they have been doing in their verticals ). So this is a great time to learn. Visit SAP training websites. Buy books and learn. Make yourselves comfortable with the basics. Prepare yourselves well for the interviews.
- For Experienced Consultants: I have seen very many experienced consultants myself personally who have been loathing themselves and the market because they have not been able to get the job. Just for a moment, think the other way around – Why should they hire you rather than a fresh consultant with a couple of years of experience ( or probably just well trained ). Some times, it becomes much easier to just step aside and observe the market in terms of trends, demand/supply equation and hot technologies. Find out what technology in SAP complements what you already know. Sometimes lateral moves are good, and sometimes moving into a totally different vertical makes much more sense. It depends on the expectation and whether the job market can beat your expectation or not. For example, an SAP SD consultant with a certain billing rate might not expect the same in this market as he was expecting an year ago. A relatively lateral move could be learning an IS ( Industry Solution ). Now it might not make much sense for a fresher to move into IS-OIL SD or IS-OIL TSW , but his expectations are much lower as well. He/She might be content with just a job, whereas you need much more – good billing, location etc. A relatively vertical move could be moving into SAP CRM ( either technical or functional or both ) . With a good knowledge of SAP Sales, CRM should just be a step up. Similarly for FICO consultants, they could try Consolidation ( ECCS or BCS ) and a SAP BW consultant should be moving towards BI or BO .
Conclusion: The market is tough right now, but it is bound to ease up pretty soon. The demand-supply equation is pretty screwed, but it is bound to change sooner than later. SAP’s market projections and the financial market turn-around are major signals that the market is improving. But the market might morph into a different beast that might force older skills to become stale and if you are prepared, your are on your way to success.
