Veteran SAP career expert Jon Reed has fielded quite a few questions from ABAP developers concerned about SAP’s apparent focus on Java over ABAP. Indeed, things have had a distinct Java-flavor lately, which Reed discusses in depth in his most recent guest column, What SAP says about the future of ABAP.

As a follow-up, he asked Thomas Jung, who presented “ABAP Development: Update Your Skills to SAP NetWeaver 7.0” at TechEd Las Vegas this year, to take a look at the column and add any clarifications. Here is what Jung had to say:

Jon, nice article. I did see one thing I thought was interesting. You said, ‘But there’s no question that when it comes to designing new enterprise services, Java is the language of choice in most cases.’ You might want to ask someone at SAP what nearly all of Business Suite and Business by Design Enterprise Services are written in. You will find that the answer isn’t Java. But you make an excellent point in this article: does it really matter if the Enterprise Services themselves are written in Java or ABAP? No, not as long as the results are ‘open standards based.’

Jung went on to add:

Yes, to the outside world, it really doesn’t matter if it is ABAP or Java, since either way, the services are exposed via open standards. That is true. But at the same time, it is important to note that we continue to leverage the investment SAP, its partners and its customers have already made in the business logic written in ABAP.

Our eSOA strategy doesn’t mean that you have to discard that investment. Quite the opposite. You can continue to gain benefit from that investment while also extending it to new and open opportunities.

Perhaps the most important point Jung wanted to get across to us, and to the readers of this blog, is that the question of whether Enterprise Services are written in ABAP or Java is not the most key issue. Jung wants us to remember Vishal Sikka’s message that the underlying programming language is not as crucial as understanding how SAP is “wrapping” the code and exposing applications via Enterprise SOA.

So how do we summarize the question of whether ABAP is dead? We can start by saying that you can’t answer it completely in one blog entry. We’ll return to this topic frequently as more information comes to light.

But for now, we can safely say that ABAP is not going anywhere. It’s also becoming clear that whether you’re an SAP ABAP person or an SAP Java person, if you don’t make a commitment to understanding the latest generation of modeling tools (CE, Visual Composer, Aris for NetWeaver, etc.), and how they fit into the emerging Enterprise Architecture, you’re going to be left behind.

As of this writing, the final word on “is ABAP dead?” is not “yes” or “no.” The answer is that we’re asking the wrong question.

Jon Reed & Matt Danielsson

Yesterday’s TechEd keynote featured a demo of the “visual modeling tool of the future,” where business process folks will be able to draw up processes like they would on a whiteboard while the SAP back-end code is automatically generated as they go. We asked several TechEd attendees what they thought about it, and the vast majority answered along the lines of: “I’ve heard this ‘fully-automatic’ tune before, and it sounds too easy. I’m not buying it.”

We caught up with analyst and veteran SearchSAP.com expert Naeem Hashmi for his take on the matter.

“For a general purpose solution, it’s the right move on SAP’s part,” Hashmi said. “I estimate some 60-70% of applications can be developed using this kind of tool, and that’s not bad.”

If SAP comes through with a final product like the one showcased yesterday, we’re really starting to tap the full power of the SOA vision, he said. Non-ABAPers can tap the repositories and do a lot of smaller-scale work themselves. This frees up the developers to focus on the remaining 30-40%, which involves working with the core. Nesting, looping, control and so forth requires going beyond painting pictures on a screen, and that will not change, Hashmi said.

“The trick is going to be avoiding redundancies,” he said. “If you let the FI guys loose to do their own thing, and the HR guys, and so on, you’ll end up with a mess. Each team should work closely with the architects to make sure the business process experts pull in the same direction.”

Matt Danielsson
Editor

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Good luck!

Matt Danielsson
Editor

We recently ran an article where ABAP expert Rehan Zaidi shared some best practices for breaking into professional SAP application development. But more information is always better, so we checked in with Matthew Billingham, our resident ABAP guru on the Ask the Expert panel, to see if he had anything to add. Here’s what he had to say about ABAP job prospects, certification programs and getting your foot in the SAP door.

ABAP certification
ABAP certification only demonstrates that a certain level of knowledge has been achieved. It does not give any indication of how to apply that knowledge, and certainly does not demonstrate that the certificate holder has any ability at the generic art of programming. If I was recruiting a trainee developer, then certification would be a plus, because I’d have some assurance that they at least could talk using some of the same terms as me. But the value of real-life experience quickly overtakes any certification; if you can show two or more years of good results, whether you have certification or not is completely irrelevant.

Breaking into the field
That leads us to the next issue: Getting your foot in the door. As you probably know, this is and always has been the hardest part of the SAP world. The best bet as a newbie is to go through a consultancy. Or, if you’ve already got some commercial skill, finding a company that uses that skill but also uses SAP, and angle for some cross training. ABAP is different from many programming languages in that it doesn’t just sit in a vacuum, waiting for applications to be developed. The applications are already there - in the shape of the classic R/3 modules, BW, SEM etc. Our job is to make those applications do more than originally designed by SAP. That requires understanding of those applications; the data structures, the flows etc. And you only get that through hands-on experience.

Business vs. technical SAP
Historically in SAP, the technical side and business side have been seperate. This is unlike much of the rest of the IT industry, which spawned such roles as the “Analyst Programmer” to have people who could do the technical side, and yet still communicate with the business. A programmer who doesn’t appreciate commercial concerns won’t go far within SAP. An understanding of business processes - or at least, a willingness to understand them - is key to be able to provide the customer with what they need. For clients to productively use the newer tools, such as Visual Composer, they’ll need people with development skills (programming is programming regardless of whether you use a GUI or an editor to write the program) - but these people will have to have business knowledge. I think the paradigm of “Analyst Programmer” has finally made its way into SAP!

Two distinctive traits of good ABAP professionals
In the past five years, I regret to say that while the number of developers has increased in the SAP world, my experience is that the percentage of those that are “good programmers” has declined. And so have the expectations from the more business-oriented part of the industry. Generally, I think we developers don’t have a good reputation. The tendency is to write code that works on day one. Few care what happens on day two. If you want to make a career out of SAP development, rather than just using it as the entry to becoming a functional consultant or manager, then I think you’ll need some distinctive traits to put you ahead of the majority of your programming colleagues. The first of those traits is a deep understanding of business, commercial realities and processes. The second trait is knowing the art of careful program design, so that when your programs need to be changed, you can do so quickly and easily, without introducing more bugs. Keep your focus on these traits, get as much real-life experience as you can, and you’ll be on track for a bright ABAP future.

You can submit development-related questions to Matthew here, while SAP career-related questions should be addressed to Jon Reed.

Matt Danielsson
Editor

We recently ran a news article called “ABAP development done right” that focused on how aspiring ABAP developers should take those first, crucial steps towards a fulfilling career. Well, there’s also a number of people looking to break in as a workflow consultant. Indeed, skilled workflow experts have excellent prospects and may be less in the crosshairs for being outsourced in the years ahead, making this an attractive career option.

We checked in with veteran workflow expert Alon Raskin for some quick tips using the same approach: What does a beginner need to know in order to get started on the right foot as a workflow consultant?

First off, you need to really master the SAP workflow engine. There are many different ways to implement the same thing in SAP, and each approach comes with distinct implications. An ‘under the hood’ understanding of the way the SAP workflow engine does things can be very valuable when deciding how to model a particular business process.

Secondly, a strong technical workflow consultant should also have a strong functional understanding. It may sound strange, but as a workflow consultant, you spend a lot of time modeling business processes so an understanding of those processes is key.

Finally, don’t sweat the certification programs. It’s simply not worth the money and effort. Real-world experience is what counts out there.

Bottom line: Hit the books, make a conscious effort to straddle the technical and functional sides, and above all — do whatever it takes to get your hands dirty as soon as possible.

Matt Danielsson
Editor

You’ve probably seen the new guest expert feature called On The Spot we launched last week. First out was SAP jobs expert Jon Reed with his words of wisdom on topics like the next big thing in ABAP careers, how to become a techno-functional consultant, and how a U.S. developer can ask for a raise without getting the pink slip.

We’re now taking questions for next month’s installment, this time featuring BI/BW expert Gary Nolan. Gary just released his latest SAP Press book: Efficient SAP NetWeaver BI Implementation & Project Management, and he is a frequent conference speaker with many years practical experience. Read his bio, then submit your toughest SAP BI/BW questions.

Matt Danielsson
Editor

Gartner recently released a report on how they predict the SAP CRM situation will play out in the year ahead. From news editor Jon Franke's article:

"Through the end of 2008, 25% of CRM projects will be postponed or cancelled, according to Gartner. This rate of postponement and cancellation is largely a result of a CRM skill shortage — of consultants and systems integrators in particular — the Stamford, Conn.-based research firm says in a recent report."

Interesting stuff, especially in light of the lean times that seem to be more rule than exception in many areas of the SAP world today. There are plenty of ABAPers, Basis admins and consultants feeling the outsourcing pinch on one hand and the downward monetary pressure on the other. This probably won't change in the immediate future, so the question is should you consider a strategic move into the CRM space? And if so, what would that entail? 

Certification is not necessarily the only route to go, according to SAP career guru Jon Reed. It's more a matter of whether your current job can be mapped to the necessary CRM skills. For the Basis folks out there, you may be interested in this post about the options for a Basis guy looking to get into CRM. Do you need knowledge of the SD module to make it in CRM? Nope, says Reed; it helps, just like certification does, but the right background is infinitely more important. 

While the CRM route is by no means a universal path to SAP bliss, it may be worth a closer look. Check out Jon Reed's SAP career section to get a handle on how your current skillset may mesh with a CRM role, then visit the CRM topic section for the latest stories, tips and expert advice on SAP CRM.  

Matt Danielsson
Editor

This is the fourth an final part in our series about the new SAP job roles outlined by SAP executive Shai Agassi in his TechEd 2006 keynote speech. What is a disruptive innovator? What are the job prospects? And how do you establish yourself as one? Get the scoop here!

Disruptive Innovators
As an SAP professional, the obvious first question is: how do you differentiate the disruptive innovators from the composers?

Most composers will own specific processes, like procurement, HR, manufacturing or other, clearly defined areas of responsibility. Their goal is to optimize their process to near-perfection, maintain it to meet changing needs and so on.

The disruptive innovator, on the other hand, needs a much more strategic mindset. This person is something of a maverick, looking across the entire company for areas with opportunities for disruptive innovation. It can be a new product, a new business process, or whatever it takes to move the company to the next level.

"The disruptive innovator has to be a hunter," Inbar said. "While consolidators have the luxury of tending to their niche of expertise, the disruptive innovator must be constantly on the move, looking for the next big thing."

This role is perhaps the hardest to define of the four; there's really no specific skillset to talk about beyond the fact that this person must have outstanding IT and business knowledge, and proven ability to think outside the box.

"Keep in mind that this is how SAP wants the world to be," Reed said. "In reality, some corporate cultures will embrace this kind of role more readily than others. Some cultures don't reward or even penalize people who step out of the box, so make sure you know your culture before you position yourself as a disruptive innovator."

Having said that, Reed thinks SAP is trying to convey the message that they're empowering users to do more with the SAP building blocks than ever before. It is an ongoing process and SAP isn't quite there to deliver everything they're talking about quite yet, but they're getting there, he said.

"The other roles seem to be more hands-on, but I see the disruptive innovator as a manager or Team Lead," Reed said. "You need a broader view as well as organizational leverage, ie. decent corporate status, in order to make things happen."

A Project Manager with good overall knowledge of how the technology supports the business side would make a good candidate. But all things considered, it doesn't really matter whether that person came from a technical or functional career path prior to shouldering this new role; all that really matters is the current understanding of both sides of the fence, Reed said.

This is the last part in our next-generation SAP jobs series. If you haven't done so already, make sure to check out the articles about composers, repository keepers and consolidators. 

Matt Danielsson
Editor

This is the third part in our series about the new SAP job roles outlined by SAP executive Shai Agassi in his TechEd 2006 keynote speech. What's the difference between a developer and a composer? How can a SAP developer position oneself to benefit from the new modeling movement? Find out here!

Composers
The confusion between "developer" and "composer" as a SAP role is understandable. The developer is your classic ABAP/Java programmer with varying business skills; the composer is a business process expert first and techie second. Their main function is to make business process innovation happen in real-time. 

In the past, you had business analysts, application consultants and others examining the processes and basically putting together specs and requests for the developers to fulfill. Today, the same business analysts can make the changes they need, or perhaps create new applications altogether, using quick and easy models without extensive technical expertise.

"This is one of the more revolutionary aspects of NetWeaver," Reed said. "Modeling may present interesting opportunities for functional folks in particular areas to get more involved in the application development process. Those with some understanding of ABAP and other programming languages will probably have an easy time picking up on the modeling tools."

Needless to say, this trend has caused some concern in developer circles. So what can today's ABAP developer do to avoid getting pinched between outsourcing on one hand and model-driven, do-it-yourself business people on the other?

"You can't do everything with models," Inbar said. "There's going to be plenty of room for skilled programmers for areas like Java and creation of new services."

Inbar suggests familiarizing oneself with the model-driven tools, tapping into the BPX-community and looking for ways to leverage superior technical skills to "move up the stack." For those who work closer to the User Interface, embrace the modeling tools and start building the next generation of UI building blocks — dedicated, highly interactive components that require advanced technical skills.

For those who are true programmers at heart, try to find the unfilled niches between SAP's productized enterprise services for specific industries, advises Inbar.

"Still, the key question for many is: will these tools decrease the opportunities for classic ABAPers? The honest answer is probably yes," Reed said. "Having said that, I think many developers can and should get on board with the modeling movement. SAP wants it to seem like a functional expert in a particular area can come in and just design all this stuff. It's not that easy; they can do a lot, but they'll still need considerable support from technical people."

Bottom line, don't be all doom-and-gloom. Instead, make it a point to be the first in the office to really master the new modeling tools and position yourself as the authority on next-generation development. There will always be room for a liaison between the functional teams and classic techies, and the more you actively seek out that role, the more relevant you will remain to the company.

Even if you don't have access to SAP's own tools, you can gain a lot of experience by using third-party modeling tools, Reed advises. Not everyone is on ECC 5.0 or 6.0, which is pretty much what you'd need to get into this on the SAP side, but you can still pick up a lot of useful knowledge by playing around with similar technology outside the SAP world.

Check back on Monday for our final part of this series to learn what disruptive innovators do and how you can become one!

Matt Danielsson
Editor

Old-school ABAP developers are pinched from two directions — outsourcing and the model-driven movement. Is there a future for ABAPers? Yes and no, says career guru Jon Reed in a recent entry in the SAP Jobs Info Center .

"It's true that SAP is hoping to reduce the amount and expense of custom development for its customers," Reed says. "However, I don't view XI as the key to this. I think the key is the modeling environments they are rolling out to allow functional folks to design programs at a higher level."

In other words, plain-vanilla ABAP programmers may have reason to fear Visual Composer. But before you start practicing the line "Want fries with that?" in front of the mirror, it should be noted there's a remedy at hand. Says Reed:

"The career prospects are not good for the 'average' ABAP programmer. But for the exceptional SAP programmer, the one who knows ABAP but also knows their way around all the NetWeaver development tools, I think there is still a good future."

Do you agree? Do you have a game plan for staying ahead of the competition? Read the full post and see what else Reed has to say about the issue.

Speaking of careers, both Shai Agassi and Peter Graf on the SAP executive team were banging the big drum for the four new SAP roles at TechEd in Las Vegas last month. If you were there or tuned into the webcasts, you may recall these were:

• Consolidators
• Repository keepers
• Composers
• Disruptive innovators

Sounds neat, but how does this translate into reality? What kind of skillsets are we talking about? What kind of certifications should you have? What background do you need to make a claim to any of these roles? Stay tuned as we pick Jon Reed's brain next week on how to best prepare for the new wave of SAP jobs!

Matt Danielsson
Editor