Becoming a Successful SAP Consultant

Its a dream in the current market scenario for everyone to become a successful SAP Consultant and always keep exploring the ways and means of achieving the same.

How do I succeed in this career?

First of all I would say that you need to be deterministic in this field of SAP. People always see the flashy salaries / perks that a SAP consultant would get. I say that you need to see the difficulties before you determine this path.

In SAP Consulting. You get the chance to earn a good fortune, reputation, variety of business domain, different countries etc but you need to be aware of the Work Pressure, Stress, Work Timing etc.

In my opinion before you make any decision on a career path, it is always better to review the pros and cons and then finalise the same. The decision thus taken will enable you to achieve the best career in SAP.

In my project experiences, I have seen people moving from Finance domain into SAP and after one project or mid-way through the project move back to their original domain. This is because of not planning in advance about the pros and cons before moving into SAP.

In continuation to the above point, have seen people moving from Finance Domain from the position of Finance Director, Manager etc into a Consultant role and find totally a different environment. You need to be a realistic / practical person who can accommodate to the new environment else you will end up in frustration.

The other area that needs focus is attitude and have seen prima facie people failing in the field of SAP. The mantra for success is "Attitude determines Altitude" and that works perfectly in SAP field. As most of the people moving from domain area into SAP area find it difficult to move with clients and ultimately fail. We need to remember Gandhiji's words "Customer is RIGHT" and we have to give importance to their requirements.

Communication Skills is definitely a point to be considered in this arena of SAP. The communication would include both Oral and Written and have seen people miserably failing in this area. You will have to undergo Communication Skills training and sharpen your skills before you venture into the SAP market.

Honesty is the best policy

I have seen in my 10 years of SAP experience that many people come into this field with high aspirations and fake resume. Unlike other fields, SAP is a different area where to become a Consultant you require real hands on Domain expertise. Without the expertise, you may not be in a position to map the requirements of business into Business Process Re-engineering of SAP. You need to have experience in both Domain as well as SAP system, else the solutions delivered will always be more of bespoke, as the consultant is not aware of what SAP can offer. Bespoke Solutions are acceptable to a certain degree and as Consultant it is the prime task to roll out Standard SAP for better maintenance and efficiency.

Few phrases to remember:-

Avoid Dilemma in Career Planning for SAP

Sailing on Silent Seas doesn't give Skilled Sailor

Thinking is Winning, Winning is Achieving and Achieving is everything

The above mentioned points are few of the important tips for achieving a successful career in SAP. Keep looking for my blogs on this topic.

By Ramesh Padmanabhan (Senior Consultant - SAP)