2014 Dec 17 12:13 PM
Hello All,
I started my career as SAP Basis consultant in a MNC 1 year back. As you all know, I am doing usual tasks what freshers do at MNC in first year and moreover i'm in support projects. After seeing what my seniors/SMEs do, I'm not getting any satisfaction or joy from Basis works. I enjoy programming and very good at it in Schools/College. Basis looks like administration(if I'm not wrong). Hence I'm thinking of moving to programming career. I am asking all those techies & friends here to put their knowledge/advise whether is it good to move from SAP Basis to programming (Java, C, etc. wanna stay away from SAP as of now).
I guess many people would have come from programming to SAP. I guess my Basis Knowledge will help if I wanna move to SAP again after several years. Please put your thoughts and experience.
PS: I'm new here to SCN. But I searched for similar questions but I couldn't find anything.
2014 Dec 23 7:27 PM
In general, I find it very beneficial to have some system / network administration background for the developers. But as far as employability goes - in our area I see more ads for Basis than for ABAP and pay is also better (although depends on the skill level). So if you have financial obligations you'd need to be very careful about any career changes.
Usually I find it easier to transition to the new skillset within the same organization. Maybe there is a project that needs help or some extra work you could take on for another team. If you completely leave the job for another opportunity it will definitely be more difficult to get back to where you were or switch again to something different. Diversification of skills without a complete career change is a safer option IMHO. And I believe any decent company would also support their employees in acquiring new skills within the company.
Also if you're just thinking that programming might be of some interest to you, I'd suggest to learn basics of Java because it's an object-oriented language and relatively easy to learn on your own. At least few years ago all I needed was a free complier and 'Java in a Nutshell' book. In case programming is not for you or is not what you thought it was I think you'll see it immediately then.
Good luck!
2014 Dec 17 12:27 PM
2014 Dec 17 12:47 PM
Yes. But SAP looks very closed or fenced to me. I can work only on SAP but no other knowledge where one can build their own product or (small) softwares.
Interestingly, it's very hard or not possible to move from Basis to ABAP or anything within my Organisation(may be some unwritten policies).
2014 Dec 17 1:48 PM
Hi Mohamad
You appear to have thought through your career a bit. SAP Basis is known as "System Administration". Your current level of work would be quite repetitive and may take a little while before you "step up" to next levels. It is quite a varied are (System build, performance issue, admin tasks, client copies, backups, upgrades, transports, background jobs, etc). Most Basis colleagues I know don't have time to get bored.
However, if you have observed your senior colleagues and do not feel this is a career path for you then by all means find something that you are passionate about.
My only confusing is this is SCN = SAP Community Network....and you are asking for career advise for non-SAP? It sounds like you want to become a more generalist/diverse and not be tied down to SAP. Some member might be able to provide you with advise about programming to help you but your might get more assistance by seeking out a non-SAP forum?
Is part of this decision that you want to find more fulfilling work that you are passionate about but at the same time you want to keep a door open should you ever wish to return to a SAP job?
Regards
Colleen
2014 Dec 17 2:51 PM
You understood well. I do transports, batch jobs, printer creation and little performance issues as well.
My only confusing is this is SCN = SAP Community Network....and you are asking for career advise for non-SAP? It sounds like you want to become a more generalist/diverse and not be tied down to SAP. Some member might be able to provide you with advise about programming to help you but your might get more assistance by seeking out a non-SAP forum?
I asked few programmers (java, .Net, etc) working in both support and development stuffs. They don't know what SAP is and what we do? But here people came from all areas. That's why I put it here.
Is part of this decision that you want to find more fulfilling work that you are passionate about but at the same time you want to keep a door open should you ever wish to return to a SAP job?
That's because i'm 1 year old in SAP. It's not about keeping the door open but will my Basis (technical) experience help in later time - I hope it will or I have to forget about it.
2014 Dec 18 2:40 AM
HI Mohamed
In your first post you ended with
I guess my Basis Knowledge will help if I wanna move to SAP again after several years.
But now you say
That's because i'm 1 year old in SAP. It's not about keeping the door open but will my Basis (technical) experience help in later time - I hope it will or I have to forget about it
Okay, what is your actual motivation here: your don't want a career in SAP or you want a more-fulfilling/future proofing career that gives you longevity and good prospects?
You mention that you would "forget about it" if you Basis experience no longer counts? Do you mean no longer counts for non-SAP development work or for a chance to re-enter SAP?
Things to consider in the SAP space (and by no means these should be reasons for you to stay)
But at the end of the day, if you do not want to work in SAP then your Basis experience is really work experience. You might be able to transition basis to other system administration roles in non-SAP products. However, if you truly want to become a developer then the focus should be on what language(s) you learn.
Why do you think SAP is "closed fenced" and what do you mean by this?
Regards
Colleen
2014 Dec 18 5:31 AM
In addition what is suggested by Colleen with regards to ""Closed Fenced""..
I am also a programmer and works on ABAP, and many time i also felt like there is nothing much to do with this technology or language but it doesn't mean my programming career is over. If we are good programmer and have a strong basic concept we can move to any programming language without much effort. You just need to know some data flow and syntax.
2014 Dec 18 12:13 PM
You're simply great Colleen and happy to see mentor like you.
Okay, what is your actual motivation here:
That's because I'm in confused state. "The grass is always greener on the other side." If SAP looks greener to me after certain years?
Let's see what others reply especially those came from programming side.
Colleen, do we use those complicated logic, algorithms, thoughts in SAP basis or SAP?
2014 Dec 20 7:10 AM
Hi Mohamed
Zero insult on my side You never mentioned an interest in security so it would be pointless for me to attempt to provide guidance and direct you down that path. It is a risk in this space - members passionate about their area of expertise will recommend it to beginners. It's why I encourage those asking for assistance to provide as much context as possible.
That pesky "grass is always greener" and crystal ball of what will the future hold is a challenge for all of us. I have am constantly trying to improve and diversify my skill to remain current as well as challenges. I too want to have a job that I enjoy in years to come.
From your comments it's obvious system administration (basis) is not for you. It seems clear that you want to look at development. Again, I can't recommend a language. What I do recommend is that you search through SCN to see the different programming languages and development spaces (it appears Java background is useful now). You might actually find a challenging area for development within SAP that you could train and transition to (career win as well as personal fulfilment)
What you could look at doing to help you make your decision is search for MOOC (massive open online courses) and try some development courses to see what it's like. If you enjoy it the you could research a career path. For example, SAP has open.sap.com where you can sign up to some courses. Quite a few universities have them as well and programming might be a subject on offer.
Another way I look at work: if you cannot find the career that fulfills you (that you are passionate about and ticks all the boxes) then find a job that pays enough so finance a hobby. In the short term you could remain in basis and study development on the side. If you are creative, you could look at building your own apps, etc (you can even take Basis challenges and write your own code to solve them). Alternatively, choose a language completely unrelated to SAP (search job sites in your country to see what skill employers look for). Just a another pathway you could consider.
Good luck in finding your way
Regards
Colleen
2014 Dec 20 10:06 AM
Thanks Colleen and for directing to openSAP. Exactly, I wanna diversify my skills. I already joined similar open course on Java too (i researched a bit earlier) to understand whether it will suit me. Now trying to align my Job and learning activities. Already started those job searching.
Another question as reply came before I edit my previous one. May be it needs to be posted as separate question:
In Basis, is there any way to practice on my own like Kernel Upgrade, patch upgrade,etc in a system (without paying huge bucks). I hope you understand because in support projects, we cannot try even in Sandbox.
No one is replying other than two!
2014 Dec 20 10:18 AM
Hi Mohamed
I'm not aware of any training environments that you can rent for a good price. Possibly try searching to see if there are any options out there. Some training providers might rent servers but I'm unsure of cost (and trustworthingness). It is a challenge to practise that type of work if you do not have access in your job.
Few people are replying as it's that time of year (people taking leave) and it's also the weekend
Regards
Colleen
2014 Dec 20 10:40 AM
2014 Dec 23 7:27 PM
In general, I find it very beneficial to have some system / network administration background for the developers. But as far as employability goes - in our area I see more ads for Basis than for ABAP and pay is also better (although depends on the skill level). So if you have financial obligations you'd need to be very careful about any career changes.
Usually I find it easier to transition to the new skillset within the same organization. Maybe there is a project that needs help or some extra work you could take on for another team. If you completely leave the job for another opportunity it will definitely be more difficult to get back to where you were or switch again to something different. Diversification of skills without a complete career change is a safer option IMHO. And I believe any decent company would also support their employees in acquiring new skills within the company.
Also if you're just thinking that programming might be of some interest to you, I'd suggest to learn basics of Java because it's an object-oriented language and relatively easy to learn on your own. At least few years ago all I needed was a free complier and 'Java in a Nutshell' book. In case programming is not for you or is not what you thought it was I think you'll see it immediately then.
Good luck!
2014 Dec 23 11:48 PM
Good points Jelena.
Diversification of skills without a complete career change is a safer option.
In case programming is not for you or is not what you thought it was I think you'll see it immediately then.
I'm a graduate from Non-Computer Science background. So I don't have strong knowledge on anything - programming, OS, DB, N/W. If I'm strong in any of these, it would be good for Basis person. Let's test your last point. Will update here (after sometime).
We are in different parts of the globe and organisational environments are not similar. Just FYI, in my area Basis requirement is little compared to ABAP & modules. Yes that pay is higher.