SAP PORTAL

[Former Member]

I am a SAP certified SD consultant

Can you please suggest how good it is to work in a supporing project involving SAP UI or portal at the front end instead of the SAP screens...Its all into complete customization.

Is this helpful for my career move

[OttoGold]

It would be a BIG switch in a career. Why: I understand you´re working as SD con, that means functional, right?

But the portal stuff, that is the technical part. Java Connectors, administrations, iView, packages, publishing, authorizations and all that stuff. I would love to know some portal basics, but since that is technical a lot and needs some practise (which one can achieve through days and days of cliking around in the portal), I was not able to find a combination suitable for a start:

- you need a portal (what is not available for trial download I believe)

- you need to be the big banana regarding the authorization - a portal admin to "get" the stuff

- you need to have some integration and basis knowledge

- you need to know about the SAP standard content for the portal and how to develop a new content

- of course there are always some tricky things you cannot learn before they happen, like portal roles synchronization, connection betwenen the portal and the BW and some other fancy stuff.

Why did you chose the portal course of your career? Maybe you could use your experience in some other field in a better way? What do you think about it?

Regards Otto

[Former Member]

Thanks A lot afor the advice on the same...Its good to see in the said perpective ...

However I am actually missing the SAP screens its tools and other stuff...

Right it will benefit me in my career ..to learn new things about the portal!.

[OttoGold]

The questions is: do you want to be a developer?

Do you want to get a task and start programming the interfaces using one of the many available technologies? There are dynpros (SAP GUI screens), WebDynpros (web face), BSP (old web face), Adobe forms (Adobe forms integration into SAP apps), various Java development kits and technologies including integration to pure-Java (Java connector) and stuff.

If you would pursue that so-called "portal career" then you would become an administrator. You would publish what SAP offers for the problem or publish what the developers has created.

Tell me the goal, where are you going, where do you want to be in 5 yrs or something like that.

Regards Otto

[Former Member]

Hi Otto,

Thanks for your comments for taking time and repling to my queries.

I am a functional Consultant SAP SD & PS & MM working in Big-4 US consulting firm but on internal firm project with 5 years Work-ex.

So I want to be in the functional side of the projects.I understood there are lots and lots of oppurtunies for the Technical side,

However my ultimate aim is to become a BPX or Process Consultant leading industry verticals down the line for the next 5 years or so.

Please advice what should be best for my career path...in right track.!

Thanks Again!

[OttoGold]

From my point of view (which is probably close to yours) the best shot is to understand how the altenative Guis and Gui technologies work, what are the advantages and disadvantages and what time it would take the developer to use a technology to create some "model" tool/ transaction/ solution. BPXer/ architect don´t have to be able to create something with all that Guis and technologies, he only needs to decide and then ask for a technical youngster to develop it for him.

I am not sure what is the situation in your country, but in mine very few projects are run by the GUI people, mostly some technical guru is in the lead and that affects the resulting solution a lot (the users don´t like the way they have to do things, don´t like how it looks like, how it smells, works... well, mostly users don´t like a thing, right?:)).

I don´t know if you understand my point. You can become a good BPXer if you can become a team lead, that means you´d better find a module or technology that is the driver of the projects, you need to become an expert in the field which runs the project and where all other people only support your fundamental development (without which one the project would be useless). I feel my language knowledge limits me here to express myself. Sorry about that. Otto

[mohdtaufiqaqmal_binabdulg]

That's a really good guidance. Thanks Otto

[OttoGold]

A blog post to let all the people interested in career like your can benefit:

/people/otto.gold/blog/2010/04/23/xy-from-mmsd-functional-to-bpxer

Regards Otto

[Former Member]

Thanks A Lot