Help me to make a career decision

[Former Member]

Hi All ,

I am a ABAPER with 4 Years experience. I am interested in SAP functional.

Few months ago I completed my certification in SAP FI ECC 6.0 When in my organization i asked for functional work they said only people with Accouting background can be given a chance.

As i had no such live experience in FI functional i tried to jump to another organization in ABAP. In the new org. they have put me in a SD project. I am not sure if in near future i will get opportunity to waork in sap FI project.

Some people suggested me do an MBA( which i can do next year,) , I am not sure if that will help me out.

Some of my friends suggested me to Jump to another organisation and try my luck.

Some other asked me to do a accounting course.

I am not sure what to choose. Can any one help me out.

Thanks in advance.

[ravichandran_iyer]

Hi,

First of all, you made a wrong decision to switch to Functional. With 4 yrs in ABAP, you could have branched in any new technology like Netweaver or CRM where you can get to work in environment which you can call Techno-functional. I'm not sure what made you to take the decision to switch. Also, the shift will require you to start from scratch which means you lose your invaluable 4 yrs experience in SAP.

As rightly pointed out, to be an FI Functional consultant, a mere certification will not do good. You need Finance/Accounting background as this is a very critical module integrating all other modules and also has legal implications. Also, often times you'll be interacting with top level Executives in Finane like Financial Controllers, Account Managers, Finance Managers etc. To speak at their level and convince them, you need that level of knowledge.

The next bad decision was to accept a job in SD which is neither your core competence (ABAP) nor your aspiration (FI). I would suggest you go back to ABAP and hone your skills in new dimentional products like Netweaver or CRM where you get to work both in Functional as well as Technical with inclination to Technical. That way, you dont lose your valuable 4 years of experience in ABAP.

Best of luck.

Ravi.

Edited by: Ravichandran S Iyer on Jul 21, 2010 3:06 PM

[Former Member]

Hi Ravi ,

Thanks a lot for your inputs. Actually currently i am in a SAP ABAP team for the module SD.

The main concern is that i am now finding no interest while coding.

I liked your idea of being a techno functional.

Can i have some inputs from your side , How to become a functional in SAP FI. will any MBA degree help me out.

Or is there any accounting course that i should be doing.

Thanks In Adv.

[ravichandran_iyer]

MBA in Finance might certainly help you get preference in job, but still most probably you'll be referred to ABAP related FI work and not as a pure functional. It might still take some time before you can become a full fledged Functional consultant.

The easiest way would be to approach you present company about your aspiration and ask them to staff you in any FI project as a shadow consultant or as a junior team member. This is better than applying as a FI consultant in another company because most likely you'll not be preferred if you apply now. Once you are staffed you can spend 1-2 yrs to stabilise and learn FI. An accounting course will definitely help you to get the basics right in that domain.

Also, you'll have to get to know the overall processes including other departments in a full cycle (like P2P, OTC) and understand their relationship and impact with Accounting. This is a long process but definitely possible, though in this course, it is imperative that you'll lose all your ABAP experience. You can consider if you are OK to start as an SAP fresher again.

Alternatively, you can look at modules like BI Reporting, BCS etc, which are closely tied with FI but require a lot of technical expertise. Your ABAP experience will certainly come handy if you get to work in those domains and your FI certification will be an Asset. Also, these domains do not require you to know indepth Accounting. Due to the size and complexity, you'll most likely be accompanied by fellow FI consultants so that you wont feel you are a stranger when you get in.

Ravi.