For a number of months, SAP Mentor Abesh Bhattacharjee of SAP Labs and I have been plotting a podcast together. We're excited to finally release it, and right on the heels of the release of his new book on Implementing and Configuring SAP MII from SAP Press (co-authored by fellow SAP Mentor Dipankar Saha)!
During this twenty-four minute podcast, Abesh gives his insight on the importance of SAP MII and shop floor visibility to SAP users. I also get Abesh's take on the following: what are the keys to becoming a successful SAP developer? Why is SAP MII becoming such an important piece of functionality? And what do technical SAP folks need to learn from functional specialists and vice versa?
Here is the podcast in the Quicktime player:
(If for any reason the player doesn't work, you can download the podcast using the "download media" link on the right hand side)
(Trouble downloading? if for some reason it's not playing in its entirety for you, check out the version on JonERP.com in the meantime.)
Podcast Highlights
Here are a few highlights from the podcast. If you want to see full text detail on the podcast topics, check out the version on JonERP.com.
1:10 How SAP Labs manages to stay connected to customer needs and requests during the development process.
4:50 Abesh has an unusual set of SAP programming skills. Most SAP developers know either ABAP or Java (perhaps through Portals development). Abesh knows both but doesn't focus on either. So what are his programming skills?
6:25 Abesh talks about the writing process behind the new SAP MII book, and what it took to get the book to press.
8:36 For those who aren't familiar with SAP MII, why is this functionality important right now?
10:30 SAP is becoming less and less about mastering one language (ABAP). But still, there must be characteristics that a good SAP programmer should have.
12:00 Jon flips the question around: what should a functional SAP person understand about SAP development?
13:45 What does being an SAP Mentor mean to Abesh, and how would he explain the program to those who are not familiar with the initiative?
15:05 Another area Abesh is passionate about is RIA. Abesh has been working on RIA as a hobby outside of SAP, but there is more and more RIA work impacting the enterprise. Why is RIA relevant to the enterprise?
17:20 "Making the enterprise sexy" means inspired development work. So what does this mean to SAP developers who are scared about the future of SAP programming and contacting Jon about becoming a functional person?
20:01 Upcoming excitement: Abesh is looking forward to SAP TechEd, in particular SAP TechEd Bangalore. If you have questions about what's happening at TechEd or with Demo Jam, track Craig Cmehil, SCN Community Evangelist, who has details.
