How does SAP freelancerfind a project that is not tough?
As a senior SAP freelancer,I look for new SAP projects every year. I am over 35 years old, and my physicalstrength and energy are far inferior to those of the post-1995 youth. So everytime when looking for a new SAP project, I try to find those projects that arenot so tough, and tries to avoid those private enterprise projects that workovertime without bottom line and integrity.
I believe thatthere are several criteria that can be used to judge whether an SAP project is toughor not.
1. SAP Projectswith short project cycle will definitely be tough.
When looking forprojects, I will try to avoid those projects for three or four months' cycle.In my opinion, such short cycle projects belong to very barbarous projects, thecustomers of those SAP projects intent to reduce the project cost through shortcycle. In fact, the SAP project cycle is too short but the project workload isnot necessarily small. Therefore, in order to complete the delivery of theproject on schedule, working overtime is indispensable for SAP project team.
When I look for newSAP projects, I try to find projects with a cycle of more than half a year,such as projects with a cycle of more than 8 months. Of course, if it is aproject of one year or even longer, it will naturally make me very excited. Ifthe project cycle is less than half a year, I basically pay no attention to it.
2. SAP projectsthat do not require foreign language interview will definitely be tough.
Many projects, foreignlanguage interview is not required during the interview phrase. Most of themare projects of domestic private enterprises or state-owned enterprises.
Private enterpriseshave no capital injection and investment from government and are solelyresponsible for their own profits and losses. Therefore, many private enterprisesare very cautious about IT (information technology) investment and want tobreak a penny into two petals. Even those private enterprises that have becomebigger and stronger, they want to improve their management level and workefficiency through the implementation of SAP system, they also want to spend a smallmoney to do big things. When private enterprises invite consulting company inbidding, they often choose the consulting company with the lowest quotation.Therefore, the common characteristics of SAP implementation projects of privateenterprises are short cycle, tight budget and no any restriction in workingovertime. In my opinion, such SAP projects are more suitable for newlygraduated youth to practice and accumulate project experience.
I haven't done muchfor projects of state-owned enterprises. However, I have heard from my peers orcolleagues that the projects of many state-owned enterprises are also verydifficult and tough to do. These customers are very disgusted that SAPconsultants speak English at work, so the interview naturally does not need aforeign language interview. For SAP projects of some state-owned enterprises,working overtime is very serious. It is common to work from 09:AM to 21:PM forthose SAP projects. Although state-owned enterprises have plenty of money, itis difficult for consulting company to earn their money without taking off alayer of skin.
3, SAP projectsthat are not roll out will definitely be tough.
I especially liketo do global roll out SAP projects, especially for the customer ofmultinational companies headquartered in Europe and America. These projectshave perfect global templates, working in the rollout SAP projects for the Chinafactories of these customers, SAP consultants need make a gap analysis betweenthe global templates and local requirement, more than 90% of the local businessprocesses directly adopt the global templates, and only a few local developmentis necessary. For such projects, there is no need to do too much enhancementand development, so the technical challenges are relatively small, and some projectseven have no any technical challenges. SAP consultants only need to do a goodjob in communication, local training, testing, master data collection, etc.such projects are more suitable for middle-aged consultants over 35 years old,which is naturally my favorite.
As long as it isnot a rollout SAP project, it means that there is no global template available,and everything needs to be designed and developed from scratch. Such a projectwill have big technical challenges. SAP consultants need to work closely withlocal business teams to fully communicate and tap local requirements. For thoserequirements that cannot be supported by SAP standard functions, they can onlybe realized through a large number of secondary development and enhancement. Sucha project need lot of enhancement and development, it will not be very easy.
For one project, ifthere is a strict foreign language interview in the interview, and if it isalso a global roll out project with a cycle longer than half a year, then is itan easy (not tough) SAP project? The answer is yes, high probability. However, it'snot absolute.
I did a seeminglyeasy but super hard/tough SAP project a few years ago. The project had a strictforeign language interview, it was a global roll out project and had a longcycle. One month after I joined this project, I found that the customer'sglobal template was extremely imperfect and basically unusable. The key usersof the local business team were senior SAP users who had used the SAP systemfor many years and were familiar with the SAP system, so they were veryresistant to adopting the global template of the headquarters. They required usto develop many enhancement and function according to local requirement. Thissituation resulted in me working overtime on the project for more than 3months, which was unbearable.
Therefore, if SAP freelancerwants to find an easy SAP project, he/she should also have good luck. Do youthink so?
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