The SAP HANA Career Guide – Part 1, Overview

SAP HANA is one of the fastest growing software technologies ever. It was released mid-2011 and sold $250m in the first year. In 2012, financial analysts expect $500m+ and it is expected to be a $1bn+ market in 2013. In software services terms, this is at least a $4bn market, next year.

It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that there is a huge interest in training, education and certification right now and there isn’t a good guide to what makes a good SAP HANA consultant. So, in a 8 part series special, I am going to lay out what types of consultant exist, where to get educational resources and how to get ahead in getting a job in the SAP HANA market.

SAP HANA creates a new category of consulting

It’s really important to note that there isn’t just one type of “SAP HANA Consultant”, whatever someone tries to tell you. SAP HANA, like any other technology, has a number of sub areas. My advice: first, understand the different categories and then decide – based on your experience and interest – which one of these you will be best at specialising in, and learn that subject matter.

This guide will help you understand which category you fit in, and where to find the resources to become an expert.

SAP HANA Distinguished Engineer Program

Whatever type of consultant you are looking to be, I recommend looking at the SAP HANA Distinguished Engineer Program. I’m on the council, so I would say that – but the program will support you in your learning, and then recognise you for your achievements, knowledge and community efforts. Read the FAQ for more details.

Let’s get on and discuss the different categories of SAP HANA consultant directly.

1. SAP HANA in-memory Business Consultant

Business consultants understand one or more industry verticals, and typically a number of lines of business, with a specialty – for example Retail Sales, or Utilities Supply Chain. The SAP HANA in-memory Business Consultant also understands how in-memory technology technologies can disrupt businesses and gets how to apply the technology concepts to business scenarios.

It’s fair to say that this consumes a good number of what used to be described “functional consultants”. In some instances, like the Finance Line of Business, their skills may be applied cross-industry.

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2. SAP HANA Performance Consultant

SAP HANA leader Steve Lucas and I coined this term earlier in the year because it is very emotive. The SAP HANA Performance Consultant takes the concepts developed by the Business Consultant and creates solutions, architectures and designs using SAP HANA Enterprise. Typically these include using the SAP HANA Modeller tool to create models.

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3. SAP HANA Operations Consultant

This is what in traditional terms used to be called SAP Basis, but I always hated that term and was glad that a new term could be coined! SAP HANA Operations Consultants understand technical architecture, Linux, how to install SAP HANA or migrate systems, and also have some understanding of SAP Basis.

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4. SAP HANA BW Consultant

The SAP HANA BW Consultant is fairly similar to a regular BW technical consultant but there are some specific skills about architecting, re-architecting and modelling BW solutions within SAP HANA that are essential to know.

5. SAP HANA Application Developer

SAP HANA requires a change in the way in which you develop applications, so whatever type of apps you are looking to build – be it ABAP applications using the HANA database, or mobile applications using the HANA XS Application Services layer, you will need to understand your existing development platform, and in-memory computing concepts. The SAP HANA Application Developer combines these skills to produce high-performance apps.

6. SAP HANA Security Consultant

This is a niche area but one we can’t do without. Security design, access control and security models are different because of the way that SAP HANA is designed and you need an appreciation of business security concerns, access, audit and compliance as well as SAP HANA to do this well.

7. SAP HANA Project Manager

I didn’t add this category into the original blog post but I’ve decided to add it: managing SAP HANA projects requires the usual PRINCE2-style project management experience, but combined with some elements of agile methodologies, but more importantly taking into account how SAP HANA changes project life-cycles.

Final Words

Hopefully you understand from this article which of the categories fits you best. I think it is safe to say that, provided you have the background, skills, and desire to be an awesome HANA Consultant, any of these could be a lucrative career choice.

In the following 7 articles, I will discuss each of these roles in detail, along with any relevant certification programs, training material and other self-help locations, so you can pursue your SAP HANA career of choice. Good Luck!

Credits

As usual this post wasn’t possible without the help of others. In particular, thanks have to go to the rest of my HANA Distinguished Engineer Council members: Michael Eacrett, David Hull, Harald Reiter, Jon Reed and Vijay Vijaysankar. But also to nearly everyone else I spent time with over the last 5 years.