Despite the economic circumstances of the present, I feel very confident in the future of BI for a number of reasons. First, we know that the current demand for BI on SAP job sites is strong. A recent search on “SAP BI” on Dice.com yielded more than 700 job openings. That’s not even counting variations like SAP BW or even Business Objects related positions.
The second reason BI looks good is the level of emphasis SAP is placing on the product. John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects, gave the keynote address at TechEd in Las Vegas this year. SAP’s Business Objects acquisition, the largest acquisition in SAP’s history, is yet another indication of how strongly SAP feels about this market going forward. The third reason I like BI? Because it fits in well with industry trends concerning what ERP customers are looking for in their products. ERP customers want better value out of their transactional ERP systems. They want to turn all that data into actionable, intelligent information that can be used for smart decision making at every level of the enterprise.
So, we can feel optimistic about SAP BI. I like BI both as a skills focus and as a great “skills tool” for a consultant with a broader SAP focus. However, BI will come with its challenges. Obviously, the BO acquisition is going to create a number of changes in the ultimate SAP BI product line. For the consultants, this will mean mastering new applications and not just resting on their “Business Warehouse” laurels. Going through all the possible BO skills combinations with SAP would take a book length article, and much of it is speculation at this point anyhow. But one thing we can be confident in is that BO’s user-friendly reporting solutions will be very attractive to SAP customers as they are tied ever more closely into NetWeaver.
That gives you some idea of what to look for in the market. Now, about your question about which modules really work well with BI. I’m going to assume you are referring to what we think of as the classic “functional modules” of the SAP suite. In theory, all of these modules go well with BI. In practice, however, I would suggest a focus on the areas in SAP that have the strongest needs for reporting data. SAP Financials goes well with BI, in particular the BEx Analyzer, because many financials users like this kind of Excel format. This is traditionally where SAP has done the best on the reporting side. Two other areas where reporting seems very important: SAP HR/HCM and SAP CRM. Technically a Business Suite component, I’m throwing it into this answer as well for consideration. We also see some interesting BW-APO integration roles from time to time.
As BO’s tools are integrated more fully into SAP, I expect we will see SAP having more success spreading its reporting tools farther into the enterprise. For now, financial reporting remains a stronghold, with a few other areas also looking promising. The trick for the consultant is striking the right supply and demand balance. One way of doing this would be to have some good experience in BI along with Financials, and then also bring in an emerging area like EPM or GRC (Enterprise Performance Management and Governance, Risk and Compliance). This way, you are building skills that less consultants have while also keeping your core strong.
by Jonathan Reed
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