Fable of "one bottle"

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Here I want to talk about the programming culture on SAP projects. Initially, I planned to include this piece as a small lyrical digression to one of my WHY (see the introduction to one of my first posts ). But, as usual, there was a lot to say.

So, at the dawn of my SAP career, but already having some work experience, I tried to get a reputable Western company for the position of SAP SEM consultant. I went to the interview with bright thoughts. After all, I was going to change the area of ​​activity. Farewell to years of programming and digging in technical settings! I wanted to become a functional SAP SEM consultant. I shared my ideas in advance with the recruiter who sent me to that interview. He praised me for a clear positioning and said that this is exactly what his client needs. Conceptual design of the system, interviews and advising customers, the application and study of methods of strategic enterprise management - that's what awaited me, and I wanted it! I opened up new horizons, interesting things. An alarming but pleasant chill of suspense roamed inside. I thought: “Already in western offices they know how systems are being correctly implemented. They have both methodologies and division of duties, and finally everything is in the mind. ” I have already seen enough of how SAP is being introduced, and, in general, any system by Russian integrators ...

I was interviewed by some department head. At some point, he asked: “Did you ever write to ABAP?” I said no. He clucked his tongue and said: “Actually, without ABAP, the consultant in SAP is nowhere. The standard functionality is so often lacking that almost anywhere you have at least two lines, but to write. And often not two. ”I had a vague suspicion that I would not get this job. Then he began to torment me with questions like “how can we make sure that if a package comes with only a couple of erroneous records in a BW product, then it would not be necessary to delete and reload everything, because delta initialization can take a day?”. I had to moo or try to squeeze out of my vast general-IT-shnyh and meager BW-shnyh knowledge at least something that resembles the answer. I realized that the work just will not get. But at the same time and understood more.
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I realized that my idealism has no place in the Russian market for SAP Business Intelligence specialists (it is now actively used this term, and then it was simply SAP SEM or SAP BW / SEM that was spoken about). The situation in Russia, both then and now, is similar to the situation with any profession in the field of IT: you need everything at once, and in one bottle. And it does not matter what breed at the office-integrator: Russian or Western.

Now, being able to ABAP-it, and knowing almost everything about BW, I would rather agree with that boss, but I agree only partially. They probably took a BW person with experience in ABAP at that place. Maybe he was a competent programmer, but ... and then on my blog >>