Today...I was reading my good friend Dennis Howlett's blog on ZDNet called The certification timebomb.
Suddenly...I realized that while I had share my thoughts on Twitter, SCN Blog and even on my Blagbert comics...I haven't actually blog about it...
Here are my thoughts...And even when I'm an SAP Mentor, take this comments from the perspective of a Senior ABAP Consultant and a SAP Customer.
I think that SAP's approach is not the best...They want to promote "Hire only Certified People"...I'm not Certified myself, but that's the main reason for me to be against this policy...I live in Perú, a South American country. Here, Certifications are very expensive and most of the time, Instructors are not even Certified, or not qualified (Experienced) enough to give a Certification course.
Most of my ABAPer friends aren't Certified either...They only get Certified when they turn to the Dark Side (Functional or Business Process)...Otherwise, we tend to be guided by experience.
My prediction is that if SAP successfully implement this policy, mainly only Certified people is going to be hired...Which means only 10% of the local ABAPers...That's not good, because that 10% are going to ask for more money claiming that they are better because they hold and SAP Certification...Then the other 90% is going to feel forced to get Certified, so eventually we're going to have 100% of Certified people...Things are going to get back to normal, because with kind of offer, prices are going to reach their normal peak...But as human beings are greedy, they're going to look for more Certifications...And it's going to be a war having people trying to get the most Certification they can...Prices are going to get higher, then lower...and so on...
Sure, you can tell me...If everybody got 2 or 3 Certifications, they're going to be great professionals and projects are going to be perform in less time and with less money...Well...I don't think it's true...People with more money are going to be able to get more Certifications...Cheats are going to become available...People with no field experience are going to flood the market and eventually chaos would arise.
Something similar happen some time ago with Visual Basic 6...There we a lot of jobs...A lot of opportunities...So everybody started to learn Visual Basic 6, get Microsoft Certifications...And suddenly, the market was so full of Visual Basic people, that right now, is one of the worst payed jobs here...I'm not saying that something as radical is going to happen with SAP's job, but it could happen.
I'm not a experience as Dennis when it comes to Business and IT...But I know my field, and my field is ABAP...I work with SAP customer everyday...And everyday I see more new ABAP consultants flooding the market...Sadly, not as experience as needed...But if they got enough money to pay a Certification...Are they going to take the jobs of the older ABAPers?
Dennis also talked about the "proposed" LinkedIn recommendations as a tool...While I love LinkedIn I have to agree with Dennis...Everyone could get nice Recommendations...So we could think about SAP's Special Recommendations?...I don't think it would do a big difference...I mean...I don't think companies are going to browse
LinkedIn searching for people who got nice SAP's Recommendations...
What I think, it's that SAP should extend a "Certified by Experience" (Actually I think we had already discuss it...Anyway)...SDN and BPX are the best places to find "Community Rock Stars"...So, they should get those Certifications based on Community activity, recommendations by other Rock Stars and so on...That would be something that could be put on a resume.
Please keep in mind that English is not my mother language...And sometimes I don't get all the information in the best way...Maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture...Maybe I'm falling into some contradictions...But that's exactly why I named this post My thoughts on SAP's Certification Policy, because it's what I'm thinking right now as an individual.
Greetings,
Blag.
6 comentarios:
Excellent addition to the debate Blag and you are absolutely RIGHT to raise those concerns. These are all issues SAP has to address. My sense is they are certainly willing to listen We can only 'watch this space' and hope they help people like yourself find a sensible pathway through that.
Dennis:
Thanks a lot for your comments...And sure, only thing left is to watch and wait...No matter how influential the SAP Mentors are...SAP got the last word, and I'm sure that whenever they choose to do, it's going to be the best thing for all.
Greetings,
Blag.
Totally agree. Here in Venezuela is pretty tough to find a decent well payed job if you're not certified. Maybe that's the reason why i'm not getting pay enough Lol. It sucks because i know a lot of people who are certified without any abap experience, not even a single-code-line, hello-world report. Sooner or later we're gonna have to get one of those certifications
Hi Alvaro,
I'm a Portuguese Freelance Senior consultant, and happens to be certified in SD. And because of this I would like to share my opinion with you all.
In my 13 years of SAP experience, I've understood and lived the fact that SAP certification does not mean excellence, does not mean good consultants, does not mean....at all, the quality our customers want from us.
This is only achievable in your work experience, projects, different situations, different realities.
Said this, I nevertheless agree on the fact that a rigid and technical certification can guarantee our customers the basic knowledge in SAP.
Reading Dennis post, I completely agree with :
"The Roche CIO....It’s my experience that the people you get with Microsoft certifications are good in general. SAP certification is not yet indicative,” she said."
This is what's missing in SAP certifications... and of course a way to make it accessible to every consultant (also here in Portugal a certificate is not something that everyone can afford :-(( )
I totally agree with your point.SAP certification is not a easy affair.Policy can be given some relaxation.
Hi Blag, I agree with you. I know too many people with certifications and no experience at all, therefore certification is almost useless.
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