SAP Remote Consulting - Is it really used?

[stefan_koehler]

Hello guys,

i am wondering for a long-time, if SAP customers are using SAP remote consulting nowadays to get special knowledge for a short time.

There are several articles about that like these ones:

[SAP Remote Consulting: The practical way to get quality consulting at affordable prices|http://architectsap.com/blog/sap-remote-consulting-the-practical-way-to-get-quality-consulting-at-affordable-prices]

[SAP Remote Consulting : Practical ? Are customers doing it ?|http://architectsap.com/blog/sap-remote-consulting-practical-are-customers-doing-it]

Maybe remote consulting for a short period (hour-based or just one day) is very difficult for development, but i can imagine that this concept is pretty well for providing technical consultancy (like solving specific performance problems, etc.).

There are also some sites like [Bitwine|http://www.bitwine.com/], which provide some platform to get in contact. Maybe Bitwine is not that platform for SAP remote consulting, but it goes in that kind of direction.

I am interested in your ideas / experiences / attitude:

- Are you using such services as a SAP customer?

- Are you providing remote consulting services (if yes in which way, which platforms are you using, are you a freelancer or employed by a company, how do you get in contact with customers, how do you get access to their systems, etc.)?

Please don't missunderstand .. the remote services should be "consulting" (not provided by SAP) - not for providing support.

Curious about your replies.

Regards

Stefan

[Jelena_Perfiljeva]

The two articles mentioned are actually written by the same person and seem to be meant to promote such consulting services (read - outsourcing). It's nothing new or revolutionary and has been going on for years with mixed success (and not just in the SAP world).

I've had some limited experience working with remote teams. In one case Basis support was done by a US-based company and in another case the SAP module support (functional and ABAP) was partially handled by an India-based company. In both cases the consultants did visit the office in person occasionally. In the first case for most part the support was very good (as far as I could tell) and staff was knowledgeable. In the second case there was so much staff turnover in the India office that the support was hardly adequate. Just as someone was starting to learn all the business process, he/she was gone. I personally thought it was very ineffective.

Also we had some very skilled consultants working remotely, but only after they worked in the office for some time and the management was comfortable with their work. But the same company did not really allow their own employees to work remotely, so probably the company policies and traditions play the role here as well. The company that is OK with the employees working remotely would also be more inclined to hire a "remote consultant".

If I was a manager, I'd be OK with that, but such consultant would have to have a solid reputation and references.

[Former Member]

Short and sweat consulting jobs which can be done remotely are the best work I usually hope for. They are generally also more lucrative due to the short notice and short term and sometimes not even a contract in place.

Unfortunately I am not aware of any online platform either which provides a SAP specific flavour for this. One could argue that it is infact SDN and the ponits system... or reputation with the help of SDN and contacts to be contacted for such specialized work.

In my experience it is very difficult to go looking for this sort of work, at least when it gets to security related topics. You need to wait for the telephone to ring and keep yourself busy but flexible while doing so.

Cheers,

Julius

Edited by: Julius Bussche on May 29, 2010 7:38 PM