Carreer advise Req: SAP ABAP MM 1 yr exp.

Former Member · ‎2011 Jan 19

Hi All,

Currently, Am working as SAP ABAP Consultant in SAP Retail, nearly for an year now. My over all IT exp is 3 years with starting years in Java/Support project and later moved into SAP.

Now many are advising me to add extra skills (BI , BO, Xi or Functional expertise) to enhance my career as not much oppurtunities lies with only ABAP skillset. And also i found it true, as i see many abaper's collegues with near to 3-4 yrs abap exp find no oppurtunities.

This is the time for me ,i can reshuffle, switch and plan my career. Pls advise me to take right decision and choose right path , so that i gain some oppurtunities in near future. Thanks in advance to all for sincere advice and guidance.

OttoGold · ‎2011 Jan 19

Suggestions (what I would do):

a) learn something about interation, like IDOC, EDI, XI/PI and this kind of stuff. Why? Because companies need these guys (I mean your current company - useful for retail - one could integrate your company´s SAP system with another system of your supplier and be able to manage stock in a better way - and if you would decide to move on, this skill would be useful for you in other companies as well)

b) learn about printing, like Adobe forms: it could be used as a frontend for the salespeople who don´t like the SAP face and would prefer something more "paper-like"

c) learn WebDynpro so you can build web based apps for SAP - this is useful anytime for everybody

d) BI/ BW/ BO - again - useful for the current employer and for the future as well. Reporting is essential for the retail, so one can understand what customers buy/ don´t buy, how long does it take to sell a piece of X, how many pieces of Y you have to throw away (broken, scratched, whatever)...

I understand this is not a specific advise, maybe it is more general than you would prefer, but I am afraid you cannot have more specific advise from the short profile you provided.

Cheers Otto

Former Member · ‎2011 Jan 19

Thanks for advise. To add more abt my profile, i worked more on Reports, BDC, Smartforms and am proficient with these. I have learnt Webdynpro a year before on my own, but i have never worked on this in my current project.

I have a chance to work in XI and IDOC in my current proj. If i do so, i have to stick to it. vl ABAP + XI vl add to my market value or should i look at the other option of learning BI/BW/BO to enhance my skill set. Am greatly confused what to opt. Pls help to clear my confusion.

Lakshmipathi · ‎2011 Jan 19

IDOC is having great demand and if you excel in this area, you can dictate the SAP market.

thanks

G. Lakshmipathi

Former Member · ‎2011 Jun 05

Hi Experts,

Back again to trouble you all with my same question on career.Please advise, am nearly 2 years of exp in SAP with overall approaching 4 years in IT.

I continued patiently in Abap itself till now. Now am more confused, whether to continue in Abap (considering the fact if ABAP's importance will come down in coming years?), Or else should i opt one among XI or BI to add my current market value. Thanks in advance for the advice, Suggestions and viewpoint from all are welcomed, Thanks.

Former Member · ‎2011 Jun 08

Hi,

ABAP will remain and won´t die. You have to add a lot of skills to your CV if you ever want to survive in everyday´s fight.

XI and BI both are Ok, but this is only one more step. Once you master these technologies you have to go on with more and more. There´s no stop. I recomend BSP, Webdynpro, ABAP OO, SmartForms or Adobe Forms and a long etcetera.

Former Member · ‎2011 Jun 08

Thanks for response.

At this point of time i want to switch from ABAP or add skills to ABAP. Please advise to choose one among BI or XI . To base further, i have the knowledge of XML and Integration process from my past exp, so i was opting for XI as its on similar lines.

Former Member · ‎2011 Jun 09

that depends on you. BI has more demand and more future but it takes longer. XI is shorter and quicker for learning but there are not many ads. Additionally, BI consultants are better paid that XI programmers. The whole spectrum for BI is based on 5 modules, each module can be learnt in a 1-week course. XI can be learnt in max. 1 week. Check at SAP Education for more information.