Rules for Success as an Independent SAP Consultant:

Industry Tips from Gerrit Pruis of B2Bworkforce

Compiled by Jon Reed, JonERP.com

One of the great accomplishments in the SAP field is becoming a successful independent consultant. In terms of hands-on SAP roles, an independent consultant is the pinnacle of achievement because you have achieved a level of skill that allows you to be perceived as a true “value-added” expert on SAP projects.

Being an independent consultant is not easy. You are responsible for your own marketing, billing, and career development. It’s not easy to know what to be trained on when you consider the vast array of products in the SAP suite. In addition, you will be expected to be the “subject matter expert” (SME) for your aspect of the project, and you may find yourself without as much support as the full-time consultants and end user employees working alongside you. 

For this special to ERPGenie.com, we sat down with Gerrit Pruis, the Managing Director of SAP Solutions at B2B Workforce (http://www.B2BWorkforce.com ), and asked him to share his “rules for success” as an SAP independent consultant. With seventeen years of R/2 experience and thirteen years of R/3, Gerrit has compiled his rules from more SAP implementations that most of us will ever see.

Rule #1: Understand the Market Conditions. To succeed as an independent consultant, you need access to a steady stream of consulting positions. That means you have to understand how overall IT spending trends impact the SAP consulting market. Despite some signs of economic slowdown, Gerrit is optimistic about IT spending. The reason? “Information Technology is now perceived as a key to competitive advantage and not just a cost center. This, in turn, fuels investment in SAP,” says Pruis. Gerrit sees IT spending holding steady with a larger upturn later in 2008, but as an independent, you should pay attention to IT spending trends, as they affect your livelihood. “The greatest cost of any IT investment is not the hardware, software or service contracts, but the staff expenses for resources needed to develop applications and manage and support these assets,” says Pruit. “In fact, more than 70 percent of total IT spending is spent on internal labor.”

Rule #2: Map out Your Business Model.  As you enter the market as an independent consultant, you need to know how you fit into the SAP staffing model. For example, in most cases, you can’t “go direct” to an end client - you have to establish relationships with third parties like B2B Workforce that place consultants on project sites. “There are few opportunities for an independent consultant to bill directly to an end client,” says Pruis. “Typically, there is always a middle man of some kind to serve as the vendor of record.” As you navigate the market as independent consultant, you need to have trusted relationships with staffing firms that can represent your interests and project priorities. “In a sense, while you are an independent consultant, you are never truly independent,” says Pruis. “The SAP market is really an interdependent network – the key is forming the right partnerships.” 

Rule #3: Find a Niche and Become an Expert. “There is now a good supply of experienced SAP consultants, which gives employers a choice over who they want to hire,” says Pruis. “It’s not enough to have SAP skills, you need to find a niche and excel in that area.” As you become a subject market expert in a marketable area of SAP, doors open.  “This simple truth is that experts can charge more than non-experts,” says Pruis. “Experts get called in for the most exciting projects. If you excel in how to use your knowledge to address the needs of your clients, you will be compensated accordingly.”

Rule #4: Use Product Knowledge to Choose The Right Projects.  “It’s important to study up on the SAP product line, and then choose projects that keep your skills on the cutting edge,” says Pruis. In Gerrit’s experience, the consultants who focus on skills as their top priority and rate as their next consideration fare better than those who do the reverse.

Rule #5: Position Yourself with Project References. “In a competitive market, your project references need to be stellar,” says Pruis. Independent consultants need to be skilled in self-promotion, and there’s no better way to promote yourself than through written testimonials from SAP customers you had an impact on. Testimonials from peers can be helpful also. In Gerrit’s experience, the consultants who present hiring managers with the phone numbers of “blue chip” client references have an edge in the market.  So compile those references!

Rule #6: Always Put Your Client First. “One of the biggest mistakes is  being too prescriptive and not focusing on the needs of the client,” says Pruis. “You should think inside the box instead of outside of the box. Put the client first! Listen to what the client’s needs are, and then adapt your experience to the problem at hand, rather than imposing your own agenda on the client.” Gerrit points out that all SAP clients are looking for ROI, and that return on investment cannot be achieved unless you take a close look at that client’s particular circumstances. Years of SAP experience is mostly a good thing, but Gerrit warns that it can become a liability if it causes you to assume you know the answer from day one instead of listening to the client.

Rule #7: Know Your Limits. “The biggest error independent consultants make is not knowing their limits,” says Gerrit. “You have to know which pieces of your skill set are relevant and which are deficient. You have to be willing to say ‘I don’t know’ and then help to find the solution. Don’t try to be an SAP superhero - clients don’t want that.” It pays off to call on more experienced team members when you get stuck, or go out and find the answer on an SAP discussion forum. It might seem awkward to say “I don’t know” to a client, but Gerrit reminds us that no one knows everything about SAP, and clients want a problem-solver, not a know-it-all. “Overconfidence can really hurt you,” says Pruis. “A better approach is to treat the client as a true business partner.”

Rule #8: Identify Your Skills Gaps and Fill Them. “Take note of the things you are not good at, and make a point of filling those skills gaps,” says Pruis. Every consultant has areas of strength and areas where they need to grow. The differentiator between a good consultant and a great one is not the level of current knowledge, but the level of commitment to self-education.

Rule #9: Use Online Forums to Build Your Network and Expand Your Knowledge.  

There are more sources of online SAP information than ever before. There are great discussion forums on sites such as SAPfans.com (www.sapfans.com). SAP’s own SAP Developer Network (sdn.sap.com) and Business Process Expert community (bpx.sap.com) are two other great places to discuss issues and get questions answered in areas where you might be deficient. In many of these forums, you can remain anonymous until you are comfortable posting your own contributions. Over time, you can build a valuable business network that will help you to get your questions answered when you are in a pinch. Gerrit also likes the resources available on ERPGenie (www.erpgenie.com) and ERPTips (www.ERPTips.com). Of course, beyond the online forums, there are numerous conferences and in-person networking opportunities that can expand your knowledge and contact base, including ASUG, SAPPHIRE, and the SAP Insider “Expert” series. 

Success as an SAP independent consultant doesn’t happen overnight. But with Gerrit’s “rules for success” as a roadmap, you should find yourself heading in the right direction.

Gerrit Pruis is the Managing Director - SAP Solutions at B2B Workforce (http://www.B2BWorkforce.com ), an SAP Premier Service Partner. Gerrit has spent twenty five years in the SAP field, with eight years of project management level. He has extensive experience in SAP NetWeaver and eSOA assessments, and deep functional skills in most SAP modules, including FI, CO, SD, MM, PP, and PS. Gerrit lives in Boca Raton with his wife Barbara and 2 daughters, Tanya and Bianca. Gerrit is a keen rugby follower and played the game for 15 years. He also is a music lover, over the past 20 years involved in writing and playing music in the old rock styles like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath to name some. On occasions you can find him in South Florida playing music (Drums and Keyboards) in some of the beach clubs.

Jon has been publishing SAP career analysis for more than a decade. He is the author of the popular SAP Consultant Handbook, and he serves as the "Ask the Expert" on SAP careers for searchSAP. Jon's new web site, www.jonerp.com, addresses the career issues facing SAP professionals through interactive blogs, podcasts, and trend analysis. Throughout the industry's ebbs and flows, thousands of SAP professionals have tracked the market through Jon's commentary. Jon can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .