tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34917966928465514152024-02-22T13:51:37.747-08:00SAP CareerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-712588139805795222010-09-30T17:37:00.000-07:002010-09-30T17:45:08.525-07:00Ex-SAP CEO Leo Apotheker - Named as New CEO and President of HPSeptember 30 2010, Thursday. Hewlett-Packard named former SAP chief executive Leo Apotheker.<br /><br />Is this going to boost the partnership of HP and SAP?<br />How about a services unit that competes with IBM?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-81125955826300126422010-08-06T15:25:00.000-07:002010-08-06T15:27:13.389-07:00Mark Hurd Resignation: Top 10 Candidates to Replace HimNews that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mark Hurd </span>is resigning as Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive is only minutes old, but already the focus is on who will be his successor.<br /><br />The company told investors during a conference call this afternoon that candidates inside and outside the company will be considered.<br /><br />Here, according to people familiar with the company, is a list of top Silicon Valley and technology-company executives that H-P could reach out to:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Todd Bradley</span>, an executive vice president who runs H-P’s personal computer business. PCs are the heart and soul of H-P and under Bradley’s leadership H-P has become the world’s largest PC company, surpassing Dell and International Business Machines. The success of the typically low-profit-margin PC business depends on keeping costs down, which Bradley has done with an iron fist. He is the former CEO of Palm (which H-P purchased this year) and he has held senior positions at GE Capital and Gateway Computer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ann Livermore:</span> An H-P veteran of more than 20 years, she runs the company’s enterprise business, which includes its highest growth, highest profit-margin products, such as technology services and corporate storage and services, including the EDS business. One possible strike: Livermore was passed over for the CEO post when Hurd got the job in 2005.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Joyce:</span> He is a managing director at Silver Lake, a technology focused private-equity firm, sits on H-P’s board and used to work at IBM.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cathie Lesjak</span>, interim CEO. She’s telling investors this afternoon that she’s not interested in the full time job. In her 17 years at H-P, she’s worked in the company’s Treasury department helping managing the company’s books.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bob Wayman</span>, former H-P finance chief who retired in 2006. He was H-P lifer, joining the company in 1969. He served as an interim CEO after Carly Fiorina stepped down in 2005.<br /><br />Here are possible external candidates, which include stars in the tech world.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ned Hooper</span>, chief strategy officer and M&A chief at Cisco and potential heir apparent to Cisco CEO John Chambers. Cisco has been grooming him for the eventual top spot, but the chance to run H-P–fast becoming one of Cisco’s largest competitors–could be irresistible.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve Elop</span>, chief of Microsoft’s business division, which handles MS Office. He was formerly chief operating officer of No. 2 networking company Juniper Networks. Known as a no-nonsense taskmaster, Elop is a veteran in the technology industry, having served in senior positions at Adobe Systems and Macromedia.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ray Lane</span>, Oracle’s former CEO who left in 2000 after a spate with company founder Larry Ellison. Lane now works at venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Greg Brown</span>, Motorola co-CEO, who has been cited as helping to turn around the long struggling mobile phone company.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kevin Johnson</span>, former head of Microsoft’s online and Windows operations. He was heavily involved in Microsoft’s failed push to buy Yahoo in 2008 and left that year to become Juniper’s chief executive.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-32779691213888308422010-03-23T23:46:00.000-07:002010-03-23T23:49:29.347-07:00Accenture's Country Manager RetiresBusiness process outsourcing (BPO) firm Accenture yesterday said its Philippine head, Beth G. Lui, has retired and was replaced by Manolito Tayag as country managing director and George Son Keng Po as head of the local Delivery Center Network (DCN) for Technology. “[Ms. Lui] has made an invaluable contribution to the company and leaves a legacy of excellence and leadership in Accenture over the last 31 years,” the firm said in a statement. Mr. Tayag will have “overall operational responsibility for the growth and sustainability of the business in the Philippines,” which has 15,000 workers. Mr. Tayag was a member of the board of directors of the Philippine Software Industry Association from 2006 to 2007. Mr. Son Keng Po, meanwhile, has been with Accenture for 23 years and “brings tremendous solutions delivery experience and leadership in application management, custom and package design and installation, data conversion, and software re-engineering in the resources and financial services sectors.” As head of the DCN for Technology he will be “responsible for the overall operations, delivery, and business results of the delivery center.” Benedict Hernandez remains as BPO operations chief.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-31468673645836745952010-03-23T23:36:00.000-07:002010-03-23T23:46:10.866-07:00Apotheker resigns as SAP's chief executive<p><b>The chief executive officer of SAP, Leo Apotheker, has resigned his post and from the company's board, after the board declined to extend his contract. </b> </p><p>The resignation, which was reportedly by mutual decision, is effective immediately. </p><p>To replace <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39068978,00.htm" title="SAP expands executive board -- Wednesday, Jul. 31, 2002">Apotheker</a>, the SAP's board has appointed co-CEOs: Bill McDermott, head of field organization, and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development. </p><p>"The new setup of the SAP executive board will allow SAP to better align product innovation with customer needs," SAP Chairman Hasso Plattner said in a statement. "The new leadership team will continue to drive forward SAP's strategy and focus on profitable growth, and will deliver its innovations in 2010 to expand SAP's leadership of the business software market." </p><p>Stung by <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62053682,00.htm" title="SAP software revenue skids in first quarter -- Thursday, Apr. 30, 2009">lower sales and earnings</a>, SAP actually beat expectations in the final quarter of 2009. The company in January reported sales of 10.67 billion euros (US$14.9 billion), 8 percent lower than the 11.56 billion euros (US$15.82 billion) from 2008. </p><p>Despite the downturn, overall fourth-quarter sales and especially those from software-related services beat estimates from both the company and analysts. Operating margins for the full year also were better than expected. SAP attributed the improvement in part to cost cuts and layoffs it had announced earlier in the year. </p><p>Apotheker was appointed co-chief executive in 2008, serving with then-current CEO Henning Kagermann. He took over the role of CEO in 2009 after 19 years with the company.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNETAsia </span><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-76969744726689009532010-03-07T18:08:00.000-08:002010-03-07T18:11:37.460-08:00SAP bets on software for sustainability<b> What's an enterprise software company doing getting into sustainability? After all, the environmental footprint from software production pales in comparison to resource-intensive industries such as power generation or even running data centers that deliver Web services such as search.<br /><br /></b><p> SAP is trying to get ahead of the curve in environmental sustainability strictly for business reasons, according to Peter Graf, who last March was named chief sustainability officer at the Germany-based software heavyweight. </p> <p>SAP's customers are businesses, which need to comply with regulations, such as reporting greenhouse gas emissions or tracking hazardous substances it may use.</p><p> But that's just the beginning. SAP is designing software to manage environmental and social aspects of a business, which can contribute to the bottom line or lower risk, argues Graf. For example, an obvious way to hedge against the volatile price of oil is to use less of it, he says. But that's just one of many natural resources--water, metals, food, energy--that companies can manage more intelligently. </p><p>That's where software comes in. Enterprise applications make their mark in business by automating processes such as managing a supply chain. Now, there are tools to manage the natural resources companies use. Last month, SAP released a hosted application called Sustainability Performance Management, a dashboard to track factors such as a company's carbon footprint or water use.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>ZDNet Asia's sister site CNET spoke to Graf about SAP's internal push around sustainability and industry at large.</p> <p><b>Q: A lot of companies don't have regulations that force them to lower their carbon footprint or make efficient use of natural resources. So what's the pitch to them for your software?</b><br />Graf: The pitch has been evolved through observation after about 100 customer interactions so far. I usually divide people into three categories. The first category are people who ignore the topic as long as they can. They consider having to move when there is a law or a supply chain partner [forces them]. By the way, SAP customers demand information from us so they can continue doing business with us. They want to be sure we have human rights policies, we have an environmental policy--specific requirements. The business case for these people is to comply at the lowest cost and risk. </p><p>That's about half the market today. The other part, which is about 45 percent, is who I call the opportunistic guys. They optimize their productivity in terms of resources such as energy, water--any natural resource--because there is price volatility which is dramatic in oil, water, food. That's happening because we are adding 2 billion people who all want their fair access and, since there is only so much that the planet can produce, prices are going up. </p><p> The other side of the opportunistic thinking is to think in terms of products. Anything from laundry detergent to electric cars, sustainably produced shoes, anything you can think of. The reason here is that consumers are becoming so much more aware and they are really driving this conversation. They demand accountability, they demand information, they demand that organizations are transparent. And there is a branding aspect to this, which helps attract employees. </p><p> The third group are the ones that go about this strategically--I always mention Nike, Coca-Cola, or Nestle. These companies have figured out that if you do not change the way you operate, you're putting your business model at risk. So for SAP, we think we need to change our software because we think it will be harder to sell software systems that don't have sustainability built in them in a comprehensive way. For Nestle, to make very high-quality food they need to have a working planet that's not polluted and there is a reliable supply of natural products. Coca-Cola is very aggressive around water and water protection--the vast majority of the water they use goes into watering sugar cane. Nike, which has a lot of outsourced manufacturing, can't afford to have any irregularities in terms of human rights, because it hurts their brand. </p> <p> <b>It seems like there's been a higher awareness among consumers about global warming over the past few years. But you're saying that that may not be the biggest motivator for a business to take environmental sustainability seriously. </b><br />Even if a business doesn't necessarily need to be concerned about global warming, [they need to be concerned with the environment]. In principle, a car doesn't need a working planet. Why would a company that produces cars look at [sustainability], apart from the branding issue and the ability to sell a product? Well, [consider] the resources you need to produce that car. Today we put copper cables--and copper prices have really gone through the roof--into the car. Then it comes back, it's crushed, it's melted. And now you have a lot lower-grade steel because there is copper "pollution" in it. The problem is that to retrieve that copper, which gets more and more scarce, the cost is so high. </p> <p>There's something wrong in the cycle. If you want to produce cars in a hundred years that use copper, you're going to find a way to retrieve that copper. Otherwise we'll be in the landfills not far from today digging out natural resources. Right now, it's a linear chain: we extract stuff from the ground, we go and process it, we consume, and we dispose of it. That's the thing that's concerning people. It needs to be a cycle. </p> <p> </p><p><b>So what's the business case for managing natural resources? </b><br />Right now, it's all about mitigating risk from volatile prices.</p> <p><b>So what sort of software have you developed to deal with this?</b><br />Carbon impact is an application that allows an organization to assess and act on information about energy and carbon--how much energy they use globally and what carbon impact comes from that. </p><p> That's one of the applications where SAP creates information--just like in an HR system you would have information about attrition, or a financial system would have margin and revenue information. So sustainability is about managing all of this, creating a view where you can look at the entire organization on aspects of social, environmental, and economic impact.</p> <p> It's about setting targets, it's the monitoring targets, it's about benchmarking against others in the company--plant A versus plant B--and others in your industry, and finally reporting on this information. </p><p> <b>Has SAP become more sustainable since you became chief sustainability officer? What have you changed in the process?</b><br />Graf: I would absolutely say so. There are a couple of areas. There's a change on the internal side of the house--in other words, what we do ourselves. And there's been a change on the enabler side of the house, which is what we do for our customers. </p><p>The most important thing is that we now have a mindset and targets and an understanding of sustainability that is managed and elevated to the strategic level. We used to be tactical in sustainability since 1996.</p> <p><b> What's the difference between a strategic and tactical approach to environmental sustainability?</b><br />Tactical is defined as partnering to develop some point solutions, helping people comply with regulations--more the reactive stuff. (SAP bought <a title="SAP buys into carbon management -- Tuesday, May 12, 2009" href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62053945,00.htm">carbon accounting software company Clear Standards</a> last May.)</p> <p>When sustainability is part of corporate strategy, you want to have visibility into the business at a level that is much higher than you need to just comply with regulations. You want an ability to manage a performance, report, and predict outcomes. You need to understand the operational elements, extract information, and give people insight and then take action.</p> <p>I see that many times companies have sustainability going on in the marketing department but not in the operational divisions. As a sustainability officer, I work where value is at a software company, which is the creation of the software. That's really the shift that has happened. I think sustainability officers are best served in this sort of situation. So if you're in a consumer goods company, you should probably have responsibility for product management. If you work in chemicals, you should probably know how energy is used to run your plants.</p><p><br /></p>Related Links:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/strong-demand-for-sap-skills-in-asia.html">Strong demand for SAP skills in Asia</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/worth-leaving-accounting-for-career-in.html">Worth leaving accounting for a career in SAP?</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 78%;">Source: ZDNetAsia</span></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-35519061261026113542010-03-07T18:01:00.000-08:002010-03-07T18:02:45.236-08:00Small vendors specialize to compete in BI<p><b>HANNOVER--Amid the BI (business intelligence) push from software giants, a smaller BI vendor says it is standing firm through specialization.</b> </p><p>Speaking to ZDNet Asia at the company's CeBIT booth on Tuesday, LucaNet consultant Ramon Munoz Gonzalez said the company is targeting businesses through specialization in legal consolidation tools. </p><p>Gonzalez explained that the process of legal consolidation is a reporting audit function mandated by the German government, and companies need to perform this to comply with the law. </p><p>The 10-year-old company's intimate knowledge and focus on this area are its differentiation, he said, which has allowed it to target companies across industries. </p><p>Furthermore, smaller companies may be intimidated by the costs involved with some of the larger software vendors, such as SAP, he said. </p><p>LucaNet targets SMBs (small and midsize businesses), and makes its tools compatible with ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems and databases from some of the bigger boys--namely, Microsoft and SAP--to allow smaller companies to plug into existing systems, without embarking on larger implementations, said Gonzalez. </p><p>But the software giants, which offer the gamut of IT backend software, tout ease of integration across their portfolios. </p><p>In an interview with ZDNet Asia, SAP platforms solutions sales specialist, Oliver Hillermeier, said standalone BI vendors cannot guarantee tight integration with existing systems because these are out of their control. </p><p>Standalone BI implementations also have to start the data extraction process within customers' databases from scratch. On the other hand, a BI tool from an ERP vendor can provide the reporting and analysis as combined content through the front end, said Hillermeier. </p><p>SAP had 24 percent of the BI market last year with its <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62033202,00.htm" title="SAP's acquisition makes some sense -- Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007">Business Objects acquisition</a>, according to Gartner figures. </p><p>The company is also making BI more accessible to more workers through customized reports for different job functions, said the SAP executive. </p><p>"The openness and usability of our reports have been much improved than what we offered before, and that allows us to reach more workers," he said. </p><p>SAP, in previous interviews with ZDNet Asia, said BI adoption is providing an <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62056035,00.htm" title="BI paves the way for ERP -- Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2009">inroad for SAP into organizations</a>. </p><p>In an interview last month, SAP also said BI will be the <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62061078,00.htm" title="SAP leadership change just 'business reality' -- Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010">fastest-moving segment</a> for the company in the Asia-Pacific region, with BI revenues contributing to half of the company's earnings in the region. </p><p>Fellow German software giant, Software AG, has also been on a push to make its products more accessible to users. In a <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62061540,00.htm" title="Software AG wants to be 'Apple' of BPM -- Tuesday, Mar. 02, 2010">press conference yesterday</a>, its CEO expounded the company's direction to take its software to more office workers down the chain, through user-friendly dashboards and displays. </p><p>In an IBM poll last October, 87 percent of CIOs in Southeast Asia said <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62058846,00.htm" title="Asean CIOs list biz intelligence top priority -- Friday, Oct. 23, 2009">BI and analytics were a top priority for them</a>, and saw the use of these tools as a crucial way to enhance competitive value for their organizations.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: 78%;">Source: </span><span style="font-size: 78%;">ZDNetAsia</span><br /><span style="font-size: 78%;"></span><br /></p><p>Related Links:<br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/strong-demand-for-sap-skills-in-asia.html">Strong demand for SAP skills in Asia</a> </p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-48527783079657092332009-11-26T13:15:00.000-08:002009-11-26T13:17:24.154-08:00SAP trainee has hard time finding job<span style="font-weight: bold;">Q. I am an SAP trainee (Abap), working on in-house projects since June 2008.</span><br /><br />Although I want to continue my carrier in Abap, I seem to have a harder time, now, looking for SAP-related employment.<br /><br />What can I do to improve my employment chances in IT?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Career advice from Tay Kok Choon, country manager of JobStreet Singapore:</span><br />The employment market is definitely getting tighter than before. However, I would advise the public not to lose heart as the economy will turn around and get better in time.<br /><br />It is important to progress in one's career. Move along from the basics, progressing gradually to the more complex tasks.<br /><br />Expand your horizons to include applications other than SAP. For example, at the "system analyst" type of training (explained below), skills are no longer simply applications specific; rather, relevant business knowledge is more appreciated at this level.<br /><br />However, while continuous training will be beneficial for career development, one should not to fall into the trap of overtraining or undertaking training that is irrelevant.<br /><br />There are, broadly, three levels of SAP-related training:<br /><br /> 1. User-type training: For people who want to use specific modules or applications, which the IT professional should be able to master within a very short period.<br /><br /> 2. Basic system training: Relevant for entry level staff doing configuration of the application to be implemented in an organization.<br /><br /> 3. System analyst-type training: For people who have sufficient technical depth and business knowledge so that they can advise others on how best to exploit the application to its fullest.<br /><br />In our opinion, IT professionals should aim to attain item (3) within a longer period of maybe two to three years.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/career-resources/0,3800009355,62054992,00.htm"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Source: ZDNetAsia</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-44507805523058806462009-11-15T06:17:00.000-08:002009-11-15T06:20:37.126-08:00SAP: Days of the database are numberedA top executive at SAP has predicted the eventual demise of the database, as solutions that allow for information to be stored and accessed directly via servers and other forms of hardware begin to mature.<br /><br />Speaking on Tuesday at the SAP TechEd 2009 event in Vienna, SAP executive board member Jim Hagemann Snabe told an audience of press and analysts that as businesses move increasingly towards an "in-demand" world, there will be more demand for solutions that enable information to be accessed faster and faster.<br /><br />"I can imagine a future where people don't even need a database," said Hagemann Snabe, who heads up the business solutions and technology division at SAP, one of the world's largest database developers.<br /><br />In April, SAP announced a partnership with Californian data-analytics company Teradata to work on products for in-memory data management and other technology. In-memory databases eliminate disk access by storing and manipulating data in the main memory, and do not require caching.<br /><br />SAP is working on similar projects with renowned Berlin-based technology think tank Handelsplatt.<br /><br />Hagemann Snabe said SAP is rethinking the traditional database architecture to reflect the growth of technologies such as cloud computing and the move towards on-demand services, as well as the more collaborative approach to solutions development being demonstrated by the open-source fraternity.<br /><br />SAP also announced in Vienna that it had joined a number of projects with the Apache Software Foundation, an independent group focused on open-source software initiatives. The software company said it wants to foster a more open relationship between SAP and developers.<br /><br />However, Hagemann Snabe quipped that the company was not likely to be getting into the business of "free software" any time soon.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39841092,00.htm">ZDnetUK </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-82582747250946740982009-02-23T17:21:00.000-08:002009-02-23T17:25:03.561-08:00SAP: Clueless Consultants From Accenture And IBM Giving Us A Bad Name (SAP)My first job out of college was as a consultant for Accenture (ACN), still called "Andersen Consulting" in those days. And after a whirlwind six weeks of training that had nothing to do with ERP, I was designated an expert systems integrator on PeopleSoft, the ERP system later devoured by Oracle (ORCL). I learned what "ERP" meant about 36 hours before I showed up on my client's doorstep.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img class="float_right" src="http://static.10gen.com/businessinsider/%7E%7E/f?id=498b3661796c7a8f00e284ce&maxX=300&maxY=198" alt="Apotheker_leo.jpg" title="Apotheker_leo.jpg" width="300" border="0" height="198" /> </div><p>Over the next several years, I worked on four so-called "full life-cycle" ERP implementations. Every one was delivered late, over budget, and with more bugs than a youth hostel in Bangkok.</p> <p>Did the projects fail because I (and the tens of thousands of entry-level consultants in the same position) weren't trained before our first assignments? ERP giant SAP (SAP) now thinks it's a problem, and wants the so-called "experts" certified. SAP co-CEO Leo Apotheker:</p><p>“I don’t give a s**t if it’s Accenture or IBM. I care about the customer. I find it shocking people are walking around talking to customers and have no experience on [SAP]. [Consultants] get hired of people and have no clue. It’s annoying but that’s a fact. Let’s start by certifying people,”</p><p>Obviously I have a biased perspective as a former systems integration consultant, but there's plenty of blame to go around for the problems that always come with ERP integrations. Yes, consultants who don't know what they're talking about are an issue, a problem clients can and should avoid by demanding to see resumes of integrators in any project proposal. But the underlying software is maddeningly complex and buggy (at least in the 90s, SAP had a reputation in the US for issuing error messages and critical alerts in German).</p> <p>And then there's the clients. SAP software in particular "wants" its users to run their businesses the "SAP way." The core of most cost/time overruns stems from CIOs committing to ERP, but middle managers insisting after implementation is already well underway that the software be changed to accommodate legacy business processes rather than the other way around.</p> <p>Ultimately, while the idea of certifications is an amusing conceit, we don't think it will happen. Leo himself admits "we are not a university" and SAP can't effectively manage a certification program.</p> <p>And then there's the business problem: It's easy for Leo to talk a big game on the Internet about "not giving a shit" what IBM thinks. But SAP is hugely dependent on firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers or Ernst & Young to steer business its way. If SAP makes it difficult for its system integration partners to make money -- which they do in part by sending inexperienced people to client sites -- the firms will seamlessly redirect business towards ERP companies who will play ball, like Oracle.</p><p>More Links:<br /></p><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/sap-consultant-asks-pay-question.html">SAP Consultant Asks Pay Question</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">Move to SAP field not a bad idea</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/worth-leaving-accounting-for-career-in.html">Worth leaving accounting for a career in SAP?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: BusinessInsider </span><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-64918430575527148212009-01-17T00:09:00.000-08:002009-01-17T00:15:16.212-08:00Accenture RP lays off 500 workers from Inquirer Article<span style="font-weight: bold;">MANILA, Philippines </span>– Outsourcing firm Accenture said it is laying off at least 500 workers in the country due to a "redundancy” program.<br /><br />In a statement sent to INQUIRER.net, the company said it is implementing a redundancy program "to balance the skills of its workforce against the demand from its clients".<br /><br />This affects approximately three percent of its total workforce in the Philippines or approximately 500 out of a total headcount of more than 16,000 employees.<br /><br />Accenture, however, said the reduction applies only to certain "excess" skill sets within its outsourced technology services unit.<br /><br />The company added it continues to recruit in the Philippines for other skills to meet client demand.<br /><br />Accenture has been operating in the Philippines for more than two decades and has ramped up workforce in the last few years due to the outsourcing boom.<br /><br />The company operates eight delivery centers locally, its most recently established site located in Cebu City.<br /><br />The Philippines has the third-largest headcount in Accenture's global network, next to the US and India.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090116-183804/Accenture-RP-lays-off-500-workers">Inquirer.Net</a></span><br /><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-is-future-of-sap-technicalabap.html">What is the future of a SAP technical/ABAP programmer? </a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/02/sap-vs-oracle.html">SAP vs Oracle</a><br /><br />This is because of recession. And it had made impact on IT demands not only in Philippines but in India and Singapore as well. I would like to hear your reactions on this news, add comments please, thanks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-66780661584327779652008-11-29T20:58:00.000-08:002008-11-29T21:04:17.420-08:00A trainee program to better your career<p><b>Q. I had five years of programming experience before I decided to take up ABAP training and certification. Now I seem to have a harder time looking for SAP-related employment.</b> </p><p>What can I do to improve my employment chances?<br /></p><b>Career advice from Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director of management and technology consulting firm <a href="http://www.iss-consulting.com/" target="_blank">ISS Consulting (M)</a>:</b><p> </p><p>I would suggest you join a trainee program in any one of the SAP partners and take your career in SAP from there. </p><p>It may be a temporary salary cut, but usually after the training, the salary rise is quick and you will catch up very fast with your career.</p>More links:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/sap-consultant-asks-pay-question.html">SAP Consultant Asks Pay Question</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">Move to SAP field not a bad idea</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/worth-leaving-accounting-for-career-in.html">Worth leaving accounting for a career in SAP?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;">Source: ZDNetAsia<br /></span><p><br /> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-68248689431705933472008-10-18T23:19:00.000-07:002008-10-18T23:25:34.910-07:00SAP shares free-fall on third quarter warningSAP warned its third quarter revenues are expected to come in below Wall Street's projections, driving its stock down by a whopping 17.6 percent in intra-day trading.<br />The enterprise software behemoth noted that a preliminary review of its financial performance indicates its third quarter software and software-related service revenues are expected to range between 1.97 billion to 1.98 billion euros (US$2.66 billion to US$2.68 billion), a 13 to 14 percent increase over the same time last year.<br /><br />However, Wall Street had been expecting the company to post revenues of 2.863 billion euros (US$3.87 billion), according to Thomson Financial.<br />Henning Kagermann, SAP co-chief executive, had this assessment in a statement:<br />"The market developments of the past several weeks have been dramatic and worrying to many businesses. These concerns triggered a very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity at the end of the quarter."<br /><br />More Links:<br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/interview-with-sap-ceo-on-youtube.html">Interview with SAP CEO on YouTube</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/logica-eyes-more-sap-business-from.html">Logica eyes more SAP business from Europe</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/which-one-to-take-sap-abap-oracle-dba.html">Which one to take: SAP ABAP, Oracle DBA or CCNA?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/technical-background-necessary-in-erp.html">Technical background necessary in ERP consulting?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/philippines-faces-it-skills-shortage.html">Philippines faces IT skills shortage</a><br /><br /><br />"Throughout the third quarter we felt quite positive about our ability to meet our expectations. Unfortunately, SAP was not immune from the economic and financial crisis that has enveloped the markets in the second half of September, causing us to report numbers below our expectations," Kagermann added.<br /><br />On the bright note, Kagermann noted that while revenues contracted, the business fundamentals of its operations remain intact.<br /><br />"SAP did report double-digit growth in software and software-related service revenues for the quarter and we expect to have gained further market share," the co-CEO said.<br />Nonetheless, SAP fell 17.6 percent to US$37.60 a share in intra-day trading, as investors bailed on the stock.<br /><br />SAP's archrival Oracle, meanwhile, also saw its stock sink, as investors worried SAP's woes is an industry problem and not just SAP-specific.<br />Oracle fell as much as 10.5 percent to US$17.43 a share in intra-day trading, compared to Friday's close.<br /><br /><br />Source: ZDNetAsiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-71084615384281910062008-09-17T23:33:00.000-07:002008-09-17T23:42:17.866-07:00Study course to SAP<strong>Q. I have roughly one-and-a-half years of post MBA (Marketing) experience in IT procurement and client servicing with a software development company (400 people) in Delhi. What will be best-suited module with regards to my present job profile: I prefer SCM-procurement (MM) or sales distribution or CRM.</strong><br /><br />I am not comfortable with <a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/too-late-to-start-programming-career.html">programming</a> and the other related IT skills. Please let me know whether I need to go back to the basics or not?<br /><br />Now the most important aspect: the choice of learning center. As I understand it, <a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-is-sap.html">SAP</a> has partnered SISL and Genovate to provide education in India. A rough idea of the certification and course fees in those learning centers will help me to manage my finances.<br /><br />Nirupam Bhowmik<br /><br /><strong>Career advice from K Srini, human resources head-strategy of global consulting and IT services provider, </strong><a href="http://www.satyam.com/" target="_blank" included="null"><strong>Satyam Computer Services</strong></a><strong>:</strong><br /><br />Hi. You can look at both SCM (MM) and CRM as options.<br />You might not necessarily have to go back to programming days but there would be a bit of technology learning on the module(s) that you choose.<br /><br />Genovate has a 24-day <a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/08/prospects-of-sap-certification.html">certification </a>course which costs about INR300,000 (US$7,500). As this is an approximate figure, you should check the cost directly with the provider.<br /><br /><br />More Links:<br /><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-is-future-of-sap-technicalabap.html">What is the future of a SAP technical/ABAP programmer? </a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/02/sap-vs-oracle.html">SAP vs Oracle</a><br /><br />Source: ZDNetAsiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-24028393937324433892008-09-03T07:16:00.000-07:002008-09-03T07:32:06.224-07:00Is going the SAP way the best option?<b>Q. I currently work as an administration manager with a business process outsourcer. I have eight-plus years of experience in general administration and facilities.<br /><br /></b><p>My qualifications are B.Sc (PCM), Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA) and an MBA. </p><p>I plan to change my career to IT as I am not happy with my current career growth. I have heard that SAP is a good option. </p><p>With my admin profile as it is, people have suggested different options to me, like human resources (HR), sales and distribution (SD) or materials management (MM). </p><p>Others suggested that I cannot do SAP as my profile does not suit any of the available modules. </p><p>Therefore, I am little confused and unable to make a final decision. As the money and time involved will be huge, I want to make the right decision. </p><p>SAP is one option, but I request you to suggest other options too. Also, please suggest some short courses. </p><p>I am also fine with settling outside India. </p>I am desperate to come out of admin. <br /><br /><br /><b>Career advice from K Srini, human resources head-strategy of global consulting and IT services provider<br /><br /></b>Every career change is always a painful process-–and there is never any guarantee of success in such an endeavor. <p>What you should be mindful of is that you have enough finances to tide you through the entire phase--in this case for the costs of education and thereafter job hunting--assuming you continue to serve in your current organization. </p><p>But the tougher part is managing the emotional turmoil which you are going through now until you achieve and succeed in you goal. </p><p>I urge you to be pragmatic-–the distaste of the current work you do is more palatable than being out of a job. So no knee jerk reactions, unless of course you have a huge inheritance! </p><p>As for where to go from here, you could become a functional consultant in SAP(HR)--a certified training module should not be too much of a trouble for you given your experience and educational background. </p><p>If SAP positions are available within your current organization, I urge you to go for it-–you would be better off with the experience before re-entering the "real world", plus you have the chance to get educated on company money. </p><p>Alternatively, you could transition into a complete HR professional-–starting off with a role in the HR team-–with C&B (compensation and benefit), recruitment, et cetera-–possibly branching of into training if the area excites you. </p><p>You could always revert back to the SAP track, given your rounded experience in HR and admin. </p><p>Another interesting field is in the area of facility management. With international accreditation, multinational corporations like CB Richard Ellis, JLL, et cetera, are top recruiters for such people. You could research about this. </p><p>I suggest you also read the book <a href="http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=hXfX7tch5ukC&dq=What+Color+is+Your+Parachute&pg=PP1&ots=fIk7YQGU4n&sig=PntP5I0nATbxXBN_zP_WP014PSM&hl=tl&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPR9,M1"><i>What Color is Your Parachute</i> </a>by Richard Bolles, for a little soul searching on what you want to do in life.</p><p>More links:<br /></p><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/sap-consultant-asks-pay-question.html">SAP Consultant Asks Pay Question</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/move-to-sap-field-not-bad-idea.html">Move to SAP field not a bad idea</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/worth-leaving-accounting-for-career-in.html">Worth leaving accounting for a career in SAP?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;">Source: ZDNetasia</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-78843189149525918542008-08-16T07:31:00.000-07:002008-08-16T07:34:12.267-07:00Where skill, mindset and work-life balance come together<b>Q. I have been a logistics manager for the last nine years, and have a Management degree. As logistics has limited vertical scope, I am planning to switch to either business development or consulting.<br /><br /></b><p>My first option is to pursue ERP, but the concerns are: </p><table id="mbox2" width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td><b>a.</b></td><td>it will make me restart my career</td></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td><b>b.</b></td><td>I will be "a visiting husband and father"--my understanding is that during initial phase as an ERP consultant, I will have to travel both with my family and alone. If one has a child who is schooling, then it's difficult to move family as per a project.</td></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td><b>c.</b></td><td>I am not an engineer </td></tr> <tr valign="top"> </tr></tbody></table> <p>My second option is to pursue an executive MBA course. This would give me the edge of starting better as far as placements would take me, at better positions and my current experience. But it's costly. Still, if I take a look at the investment returns, it is very good. </p>I am confused because ERP is growing and everyone is talking about it? Can you help me to choose the best in terms of current and future monetary and non-monetary perspective?<br /><br /><br /><p><b>Career advice from Tay Kok Choon, country manager of <a href="http://www.jobstreet.com.sg/" target="_blank">JobStreet Singapore</a>:</b><br /></p><p>You will need to examine your mindset, work-life balance, skills and prospects when you are considering a career change. </p><p>Let's examine each of the above in relation to your question: <br /></p><p><b>Mindset</b>: You have concluded that logistics has limited vertical scope. In reality, as we progress along our career path, the pinnacle gets sharper and opportunities at the top become less abundant. You will face the same challenge in any other career that you plan to pursue. </p><p>The way that many people overcome this is to ensure to be the best in the field. Our experience shows that the best always prevails--they never fall out of the game.</p> <br /><p>More Links:<br /></p> <ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/11/strong-demand-for-sap-skills-in-asia.html">Strong demand for SAP skills in Asia</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/abap-trained-mba-holder-eyes-sap-based.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-computing-graduate-go-into-sap.html">Can a Computing graduate go into SAP?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/road-to-erp-career-in-hrfinance.html">Road to an ERP career in HR/Finance</a></li></ul><br /><br /><p><b>Work-life balance</b>: This is seriously considered as part of today�s career pursuit. In other words, people will not blindly choose a career and neglect their family life. I see that coming across in your question--that is a healthy move. </p><p>Like all new career moves, we need to spend an extensive amount of time to familiarize ourselves with the new environment and getting into the details of the job. That will expense a huge amount of time/nergy and to some point neglecting of your family.<br /></p><p>Please ensure your family fully supports this new venture. </p><p><b>Skills</b>: It poses the least problem of all issues. Our capacity to learn and acquire new knowledge has been very much enhanced by the Internet and further learning. Upgrading of skills may be necessary to keep up with your peers in the job market.<br /></p><p><b>Prospects</b>: All job opportunities provide good prospects. We need to seek out what best suits us and pursue it with passion. <br /></p><p>Having considered all of the above and assuming your family is in full support to turn your dream into reality, our feel is that an MBA program will be relatively more useful. It will position you well for either a business development or consulting career. For these careers, a strong technical foundation within a vertical like logistics will be extremely helpful. </p><p>To re-establish yourself in the ERP field may come across as a longer path to your goal.</p><p><br /></p><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />Source: ZDnetAsia</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-57220917058970671492008-08-16T07:18:00.000-07:002008-08-16T07:21:39.906-07:00The prospects of SAP certification<span style="font-weight: bold;">Q. I am very keen to get into the SAP consultant career. However, my educational background is totally different from IT/computing.</span><br /><br />I am a Master of Science degree holder majoring in industrial chemical science.<br /><br />What are the career prospects available to me if I decide to take up a certification course?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Career advice from Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director of management and technology consulting firm ISS Consulting (M):</span><br /><br />Well, you can join an SAP organization's trainees program and take it from there to grow your SAP career. (In Malaysia, for example, a trainee’s monthly salary is usually about RM2,000 or about US$620.)<br /><br />Alternatively, you can do a certification course directly with SAP. You need to contact the company for course details and costs. With your certification, you can join any SAP organization as a junior consultant and grow from there.<br /><br />Career prospects are bright if you have the certification and the experience of handling at least two full cycles of implementation. You will be much in demand by SAP organizations.<br /><br />More Links:<br /><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/07/sap-brings-e-certification-to-spore.html">SAP brings e-certification to S'pore</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/01/sap-brings-hosted-erp-to-asia.html">SAP brings hosted ERP to Asia</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/05/sap-and-oracles-referral-programs-have.html">SAP and Oracle's referral programs have different focus</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNetAsia</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-59038955247438435882008-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:002008-08-04T08:14:07.914-07:00An expense that's worth it?<p><b>Q. I am male, about 35 years old, and have been working in a finance position for six years doing accounts payable.</b> </p><p>My company is moving to Luxembourg and my friend promised me a job as an SAP data maintenance staff in Luxembourg. It is why I am going to do an SAP course in Singapore. </p><p>I have to pay all the tuition fees. Do you think it is worthwhile to pursue the course and work in SAP data maintenance? Will I get a high salary or is it the same level as an account payable job?<br /></p><p>More Links:<br /><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/peoplesoft-consultant-moving-on-sap.html">PeopleSoft Consultant Moving on SAP</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/abap-trained-mba-holder-eyes-sap-based.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a></p><p><b>Career advice from Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director of management and technology consulting firm <a href="http://www.iss-consulting.com/" target="_blank">ISS Consulting (M)</a>:</b> </p><p>Definitely SAP Certification carries a lot of weight if you want to pursue a career in SAP. </p><p>The money you spend to get certified will soon pay back with your new SAP career. </p><p>The prospects are definitely better and the pay is better.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNETAsia</span></p><p><a href="http://www.netsuite.com/portal/products/crm_plus/main.shtml">Netsuite CRM</a><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-89962540449233841852008-07-17T22:27:00.000-07:002008-07-17T22:35:42.613-07:00SAP brings e-certification to S'pore<strong>SINGAPORE--Software giant SAP launched Wednesday the online version of its global certification program in the island-state, targeting working professionals who wish to pursue certification at their own pace.</strong><br /><br />The German vendor partnered the SIM University (UniSIM) to set up the UniSIM-SAP eAcademy, targeting to train and certify over 200 ERP (enterprise resource planning) consultants each year, Kowshik Sriman, SAP's vice president and Singapore country manager, said during the official launch. UniSIM is run by the Singapore Institute of Management Group.<br /><br />Noting an increase in global demand for ERP consultants over the next few years, Sriman said around 6,000 SAP-certified consultants would be needed in Singapore by 2010, up from the current 4,000.<br /><br />As conventional certification programs are held routinely and require working professionals to commit to a fixed schedule, the eAcademy provides a "real viable option", he said.<br /><br />Besides providing flexibility in learning hours, he noted that the course fees, ranging from S$9,480 (US$6,958) to S$12, 360 (US$9,072) are significantly lower than conventional classroom-based learning.<br /><br />"We're saying that the course fees are 40 percent cheaper, but we haven't factored in the opportunity cost [such as] salary, risk of [unemployment]…that makes the eAcademy's value proposition a lot higher," said Sriman.<br /><br />The UniSIM-SAP eAcademy will offer six tracks, five of which--financials, human resources, order fulfillment, procurement and production planning--are ERP modules. Advanced business application programming (ABAP), a programming language developed by SAP, is also available to programmers.<br /><br />To attain the certification, participants will be required to spend between 200 and 250 learning hours over four months at the eAcademy. They must also achieve a score of above 70 percent for a certification examination, which will be administered at the end of the course.<br /><br />Although the lessons are conducted without an instructor, students can send queries through Web-based tools to SAP-certified professionals.<br /><br />Sriman told ZDNet Asia that the UniSIM-SAP eAcademy is different from the University Alliances Program rolled out in April across the region, including Singapore. The earlier initiative does not include certification, he said, and SAP-related course components form only part of the curriculum.<br /><br />According to Man Mohan Kapur, SAP's director of education services for Southeast Asia, Singapore is the third country in Asia--after India and Malaysia--to offer the online version of the SAP certification program.<br /><br />Kapur added that SAP is also planning to roll out the initiative in several other Southeast Asian countries. The company is currently in talks with potential institutions in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and expects to set up eAcademy programs in these economies by end-August. There are also plans to seek a partner institution in Thailand, he said.<br /><br /><br />Source: ZDNetAsia<br /><br />More Links:<br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/07/philippine-it-workers-enjoy-competitive.html">Philippine IT workers enjoy competitive salaries</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-74357277884385873762008-07-09T06:42:00.000-07:002008-07-09T06:45:07.633-07:00SAP FICO / MM Training in UP Diliman<strong>SAP (FI-CO) Financial Accounting</strong><br />July 10-11, 2008 ( 2days )<br />Registration Fee: Php 24,000.00<br /><br /><strong>SAP (FI-CO) Financial Accounting</strong><br />July 17-18, 2008 ( 2days )<br />Registration Fee: Php 24,000<br /><br /><strong>SAP (MM) Materials Management</strong><br />July 24-25, 2008 ( 2days )<br />Registration Fee: Php 24,000<br /><br /><br /><strong>For Inquiries and reservation.</strong><br />Look for Rhea Francisco<br />Tel: (02) 920-2080<br />Email: <a href="mailto:info@ittc.up.edu.ph">info@ittc.up.edu.ph</a><br /><br /><br />More Links:<br /><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/peoplesoft-consultant-moving-on-sap.html">PeopleSoft Consultant Moving on SAP</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/abap-trained-mba-holder-eyes-sap-based.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-12258601330580233112008-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:002008-07-08T04:14:25.039-07:00Think groups, not modules, when venturing into ERP<strong>Q. I have five years of experience in marketing research, which includes B2B research (agency side), media research and IT research.</strong><br /><br />I am now working for an IT company in Dubai as a market research executive. My work profile in this company is not a technical one, it's pure marketing research.<br /><br />I have been thinking of a career shift to ERP (functional module) for some time. But since my experience is in marketing research, I am unsure about the module I choose. Expert opinion says that relevant domain experience is essential to select the module in ERP.<br /><br />I have been browsing over to match my work experience with certain functional modules but I couldn't find a related match.<br /><br />I am an electronics engineer and have an MBA degree too.<br />I am not so keen on finance modules since I don’t have much interest or skill in it. Could you suggest the right module for me? Could project portfolio management or strategic enterprise management be the right choice?<br /><br /><br /><strong>Career advice from Richard Talbot, general manager of IT recruitment specialist, </strong><br /><strong>Sapphire Technologies Singapore:</strong><br /><br /><br />Most of the major ERP systems installed have the financials modules at their core. So although this area is not the one of most interest to you, it is where much of the demand for staff comes from.<br /><br />More important than the module, in our opinion, would be the ERP product that you choose to move into. The major market products are SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft.<br />Commercially, <a title="The battle for Asia's tech talent -- Monday, Feb. 11, 2008" href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62037612,00.htm" included="null">SAP is the product with the greatest skills shortage</a> in the Asia-Pacific region. This would be the one we would suggest to you, as it's easiest to get an opportunity to work with (supply and demand).<br /><br />In relation to the specific module you are interested in, you should be aware that organizations that implement these systems rarely have consultants with skills in just one module--more often the modules are generally requested in groups.<br /><br />The primary groups that consultants have experience in are:<br />• Financials • Supply Chain • HR/Payroll • CRM • Manufacturing<br /><br />Rather than choosing a specific module it's better to choose an "area" to work in, then attempt to get training/experience in the core modules that fall into that area. The consultants most in demand are capable of conducting functional analysis around the major core modules in these areas.<br /><br />More Links:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a><br /><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-java-expert-need-to-learn-abap-to.html">Will a Java expert need to learn ABAP to get into SAP?</a> </li></ul><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNetAsia</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-7851193452041771972008-07-02T20:00:00.000-07:002008-07-02T20:07:04.223-07:00Philippine IT workers enjoy competitive salaries<strong>IT professionals in the Philippines are receiving above-average salaries compared to their counterparts in other professions, but most of them lack the IT certification their peers in the region have acquired, according to a survey conducted by ZDNet Asia.</strong><br /><br />The ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2008 revealed that IT employees in the Philippines earned an average annual salary of US$12,425 (500,736 peso).<br />This wage level, <a title="Asian firms hike salaries to lure IT talent -- Friday, Mar. 14, 2008" href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/career-resources/compensation/0,3800009355,62038969,00.htm" included="null">high by national standards</a>, put the country in sixth place after Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India, which have annual salaries of between US$13,864 and US$76,851. The Philippines is just a notch higher over last placer Indonesia, which had a US$7,709 average annual salary.<br /><br />According to the National Statistics Office, the average annual income of Filipino families in 2006 was estimated at 172,000 peso (US$3,939).<br />The Philippines, however, was ranked at the bottom in another category with just 24 percent of the respondents saying they had at least one <a title="Take responsibility for your own training -- Friday, Apr. 13, 2007" href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/career-resources/career-development/0,3800009355,61999199,00.htm" included="null">IT certification</a> from a technology vendor or institution. Hong Kong topped the list with 48.9 percent, while Indonesia was able to dodge the pit with 28.6 percent.<br /><br />A total of 2,521 IT professionals from the Philippines participated in the survey. They came from various industry sectors, across a range of job types, and from different company sizes. Some 92.6 percent of the respondents were working full-time, while the rest were contractors and independent consultants.<br /><br />The ZDNet Asia survey found a correlation between years of experience, a higher education level, and a good salary. Those who had more than 10 years of experience enjoyed an average annual salary of 95,113 peso (US$2,178). The average number of years of experience among the Filipinos IT workers surveyed was 6.3 years.<br /><br />Similarly, the survey indicated that larger companies generally gave higher compensation, compared to businesses with fewer employees. Respondents working in large companies, with more than 1,000 employees, commanded the highest average annual salary at 556,529 peso (US$12,745), followed by those in midsize companies (with between 100 and 999 employees) at 516,882 peso (US$11,837) and small companies (with fewer than 100 employees) at 456,183 peso (US$10,447).<br /><br />Among sectors, the study said respondents from the legal and finance sector commanded the highest average annual salaries with 667,519 peso (US$15,286), followed by those in IT, Web and telecom with 520,612 peso (US$11,922). Those in government, education and health had the lowest average annual salary of 290,300 peso (US$6,648).<br /><br />The study found that more than half (52.1 percent) of Filipino IT professionals had application development skills, nearly half (46 percent) have desktop/software skills, and more than one-third (38.4 percent) had Web development skills.<br /><br />The report also noted that respondents who were <a title="Contract jobs offer workers more benefits -- Thursday, Mar. 20, 2008" href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/career-resources/0,3800009355,62039167,00.htm" included="null">contract/independent consultants</a> in IT management, project management, communications, and other IT professionals, had higher average annual salaries than those who worked full-time at a company, while those in systems development and support earned less.<br /><br />More Links:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/05/sap-and-oracles-referral-programs-have.html">SAP and Oracle's referral programs have different focus</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-is-future-of-sap-technicalabap.html">What is the future of a SAP technical/ABAP programmer?</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/peoplesoft-consultant-moving-on-sap.html">PeopleSoft Consultant Moving on SAP</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/philippines-faces-it-skills-shortage.html">Philippines faces IT skills shortage</a> </li></ul><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: <a href="http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/it_employment_trends_08/0,3800013453,62041910,00.htm">ZDNETASIA</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-45076428040899761022008-05-28T20:07:00.000-07:002008-05-28T20:16:23.333-07:00Is it good to stop working to study for an MBA?<p><b>Q. I am working for a bank as an Oracle DBA for one year. I have more than four years of experience in this field.</b> </p><p>I hold the B.Tech (I.T.) and M.Sc. (Telecommunication) degrees. </p><p>What are the career prospects of doing an MBA in ERP (SAP) if I stop working and do the MBA course full-time? </p><p>Is it advantageous or disadvantageous to make such a move?<br /></p><p><b>Career advice from Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director of management and technology consulting firm ISS Consulting (M):</b></p><p>An MBA always has more value when it is backed by good years of experience. You have got four years of experience. </p><p>Stopping work to do the MBA is not really necessary. Don’t rush with your MBA. Take it at a pace that you are comfortable with. </p><p>If you can manage studying and working (most people who do MBA work and study), then that will be the best option as it will add value to your resume and experience. </p><p>Stopping work and just concentrating on your MBA may give you more concentration but may reflect not so favourably on some future employers who may think that you cannot handle too much stress. Definitely more value is added if you study whilst working, but this is just an opinion. There are pros and cons. </p><p>My opinion would be not to stop working as when I interview candidates and they have periods where they study and work I view them more favourably. It adds on to the quality of the person’s experience and calibre.</p><br />More Topics:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/abap-trained-mba-holder-eyes-sap-based.html">An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes SAP-based job</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-short-course-on-sap-good-enough.html">Is a short course on SAP good enough?</a></li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2007/12/earning-potential-of-sap-functional.html">Earning potential of SAP functional consultant</a></li></ul><br /><p><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNetAsia</span><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-9284462743929905792008-05-21T06:23:00.000-07:002008-05-21T06:36:12.107-07:00Developers are born brave!<strong>A typical workplace scenario...I agree!</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtV8wl2n95s68aOmrRdOzwvy-ePlTE4DvNYxnZSKB84gKDaYUYGkfLnQ4Ijk8DPuRXM2jMr9E5-NP67XcacGcLbQATUlgUcXF74goFxANjTwna5usB_Yb-cHsou7SSueKhKtq8_iIkeow/s1600-h/developers.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202823996924388066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="239" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtV8wl2n95s68aOmrRdOzwvy-ePlTE4DvNYxnZSKB84gKDaYUYGkfLnQ4Ijk8DPuRXM2jMr9E5-NP67XcacGcLbQATUlgUcXF74goFxANjTwna5usB_Yb-cHsou7SSueKhKtq8_iIkeow/s400/developers.bmp" width="442" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-62488890632676483502008-05-09T04:41:00.000-07:002008-05-09T04:45:07.766-07:00SAP and Oracle's referral programs have different focus<strong>Although their recently launched referral programs are similar, Oracle's is driven by financial gain while SAP's is focused on building relationships with its channel partners, says Ovum. </strong><br /><br /><strong>SAP</strong> earlier this month announced the launch of a business referral program targeted at small to midsize businesses (SMBs), in which it will pay for leads for new business. Channel partners will get a 5 percent cut of a deal's net software license value, according to SAP.<br /><br />Oracle's program pays a similar 5 percent, capped at US$50,000.<br /><br />Warren Wilson, Ovum research director, said in a statement the programs "should pay a double dividend" in bringing in new business and helping to identify new partners for the two software giants.<br /><br />The program will offer the opportunity for the two rival companies to evaluate which of the partners will be most productive or can best fill gaps in their market coverage, said Wilson.<br />However, the differences between the two vendors' programs may be their emphasis, noted Wilson.<br /><br />"Oracle's lead message is the money," said Wilson, adding that its programs focus on increasing deal volumes.<br /><br />"<strong>SAP</strong>, by contrast, emphasizes deep engagement, building long-term relationships and two-way loyalty through co-innovation programs in which the partner helps to define the Web services that will underpin the solution.<br /><br />"Which method is more effective is a question that the market will take years to answer," said Wilson.<br /><br />More Links:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/02/sap-vs-oracle.html">SAP vs Oracle</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/03/which-one-to-take-sap-abap-oracle-dba.html">Which one to take: SAP ABAP, Oracle DBA or CCNA?</a> </li><li><a href="http://career-sap.blogspot.com/2008/04/career-shift-which-would-be-best-option.html">Career Shift: Which would be the best option: Oracle or SAP?</a> </li></ul><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: ZDNetAsia</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3491796692846551415.post-15404757909146021692008-05-05T11:40:00.000-07:002008-05-05T11:41:33.648-07:00Intel prepares to close Philippine plantRumors have been circulating since 2005 that Intel had already made a decision to pack up and leave the Philippines after the year 2010. The writing on the wall became clearer in 2006 when Intel inaugurated a US$605-million test and assembly plant in Ho Chin Minh City in Vietnam.<br />During the Vietnam launch, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett said the facility was simply an expansion and would not affect the operations of other plants located in countries such as the Philippines.<br /><br />However, the telltale signs were obvious. Among the countries in Asia where it has test and assembly plants, the Philippines was the only site in which Intel made no significant plans to invest or expand.<br /><br />Compared to the Cavite plant which received no part of Intel's US$1 billion investment plan for Asia in 2006, Intel poured a whopping US$270 million to increase the capacity of its Malaysian plants and another US$300 million to expand its facilities in Shanghai and Chengdu in China.<br />During the media interview, Barrett said the company considers "political stability" as a major factor when making investment decisions and singled out Vietnam as a favorable investment climate.<br /><br />According to various blogs, Intel had discussed the possibility of moving the factory to an IT park in the neighboring province of Laguna because the current Cavite building is structurally unsound.<br /><br />But employees dismissed this option, questioning the need to offer staff severance packages if the company had intended only to transfer to another location within the country.<br /><br />Industry observers have cited high electricity and labor costs as two major reasons why Intel is planning an exit strategy. The Philippines has the second most expensive energy cost in Asia after Japan.<br /><br />Intel's impending pullout is a huge blow to the Philippines, where the electronics market--which encompasses semiconductors--is the country's largest export earner.<br /><br />The chipmaker's decision to put up a manufacturing hub was a symbolic vote of confidence that paved the way for other foreign companies such as Texas Instruments, to locate their operations in the country.<br /><br />In fact, the current Cavite plant was where Intel's mobile processor Centrino was first assembled and shipped to the global market. Pentium 4 chips were also manufactured in the facility.<br /><br />Aside from making chipsets and processors, the local site also houses a Flash memory design factory. However, employees who specialize in Flash are expected to move to Numonyx, a joint venture set up between Intel and STMicroelectronics.<br /><br />In 2004, an Intel-commissioned study by University of Asia and the Pacific showed that the chipmaker's investments resulted in US$713 million in direct and indirect export contributions.<br /><br />The report further noted that Intel accounted for 22 percent of exports in Cavite and was the largest employer in General Trias.<br /><br /><br /><br />Source: ZDNetasiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0