Blog Editor-in-Chief

IT Labor Shortage and Automation

Despite an attractive salary and mostly regular working hours, the IT scene is also experiencing a labor shortage. SAP customers and partners are looking for suitable support, with the option to work from home being a key factor, but not always technically possible. For SAP Basis, new IT tools that automate, monitor, and control are thus in high demand. Many SAP customers have already scheduled their conversion and digital transformation, but for a successful release upgrade, users need new IT tools and experienced consultants.

Labor shortage and attractiveness

Many SAP customers and partners are very attractive employers and are suffering unjustifiably from a shortage of IT specialists. The situation is quite different at SAP itself: in a recent publication by the German magazine “Manager Magazin”, they include a list of young engineers’ favorite employers in Germany. SAP comes in a distant 39th place. For SAP, it must be disastrous to appear in such a low spot, far behind the German railway (Deutsche Bahn) and the German army (Bundeswehr).

SAP human resource management

Human resource management is a challenge at SAP. At any rate, Cawa Younosi, the HR manager for SAP Germany, is satisfied with himself and his work, as can be seen from the aforementioned article from Manager Magazin. On LinkedIn, the “Global Head of People Experience” has more than 90,000 followers and promotes equal opportunities and more diversity. In Germany, Cawa Younosi is responsible for around 24,000 employees. Cawa Younosi seems to be popular and well-known far beyond SAP’s borders—but the company itself is experiencing difficulties becoming an attractive employer for young engineers. On the one hand, SAP is celebrated for equal opportunities and more diversity; on the other, even the German railway and armed forces are more popular employers. Last year, SAP was still in 37th place in the rankings, but as the supposedly leading technology company in Germany, that was no reason to celebrate.

SolMan and ALM

Certain tools and methods can be used combat the IT specialist shortage. With SolMan, SAP introduced an IT tool for CCC/CCoE many years ago. In the SAP community SolMan is a useful tool and its discontinuation, along with the end of ECC, has unsettled many SAP customers. In certain areas, ALM, Cloud Application Lifecycle Management, can and indeed should become SolMan’s successor. However, experts and CCC/CCoE leaders are skeptical. SAP partners have recognized the gap and developed their own tools with which to successfully implement automation and monitoring in SAP Basis. The customization and implementation of some of these tools can help alleviate some of the symptoms the labor shortage is causing companies.

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Feel free to let us know in a comment below!

About the author

Peter M. Färbinger, Editor-in-Chief

Peter M. Färbinger is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher at E-3 Magazine, B4Bmedia.net AG, Munich, Germany. He can be reached at pmf@b4bmedia.net

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