Today I'm happy to feature petr.solberg in our SCN Moderator Spotlight, which is our way on SCN to thank significant moderator.
Andy Silvey is a relatively new moderator for NetWeaver Technology Platform space. In the interview below Andy will tell us about himself, SCN experience and insights, career and personal aspirations.
[ Summer cycling weekend in the Czech mountains]
Where are you from?
I am originally from the UK, Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.
Forest of Dean is a beautiful region with fabulous countryside sandwiched between the meandering river Wye and the formidable river Severn with its daily 13 metre tidal rise and fall and powerful annual bore.
For the last 15 years I have been based in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic, as a result of relocation for Logica at their Prague office in 1998. I live near Prague with my wife and two daughters (6&1/2 and 8&1/2).
Where do you work?
Since September I work for Novartis in Prague, as an employee. This is my first employee role after a 14 years run as a contractor. I am enjoying it a lot. I would recommend Novartis to anyone who is looking to work for an IT company who specializes in SAP.
When did you join SCN?
I joined SAP community in 2002 when it was using Iview Studio platform and everybody was scrambling to connect EP5 Portal to an R/3 backend and the discussion threads were full of such questions.
Subsequently the SDN arrived, and was a world away from Iview Studio. You had blogging capabilities and full blown discussions. I blogged some introductory BSP topics, and in those days we got t-shirts for blogging. I still have those old SDN 250k and I'm Blogging t-shirts.
What motivates you? Why did you join?
I'm motivated to learn more and more about SAP. I am humbled every day by how much I don't know. One of the greatest resources for learning about SAP is the SAP Community. Along these lines, I joined the Community to expand my SAP knowledge. In the beginning, I was taking more from the community than I was giving, and over time, during the path of my journey this position was reversed to giving more than taking from the community.
What spaces do you moderate?
I moderate in the NetWeaver Technology Platform space with focus on the NetWeaver Architecture category . NetWeaver Architecture has been a challenge in the Community and in collaboration with others we are establishing and building up the NetWeaver Architecture presence on SCN. The NetWeaver Architecture Category is providing a home for NetWeaver Architects and anybody interested in Architecture to engage in discussions and contribute content around the NetWeaver Architecture subject.
Is there another moderator or community member that you've found incredibly helpful?
There can be only one, and that is Marilyn Pratt. There should be an SCN Mission to try to be like Marilyn. It's really hard to summarize what Marilyn does, what she brings, what she leads, the example she provides. We all have so much to learn from her leadership, humility, equality. SCN really needs to start cloning Marilyn. But who can fill those shoes?
If you could offer one bit of advice to new members or new moderators what would it be and why?
Enjoy the community, be thankful for it, use it and don't abuse it and you will see the beauty of it. A community is a community anywhere and in any community you reap what you sew. One area we all need to improve, is, if we ask a question, and subsequently we find the answer, then let's go back to our question and post the answer for the benefit of everyone. It can become extremely handy in a case of escalation and management and business are demanding fast solutions. One will be very grateful to the person who provided him with the correct answer. So let's all start fixing those I solved it myself threads and when we solve our problems let post the solutions and remember, he who sews shall reap.
What would be your advice for new moderators?
I would suggest following the path I am taking, don't be in a hurry to be Robocop, rather go slowly and learn from more experienced colleagues. I am not perfect, and in my SCN journey, I have had content moderated, blogs removed for not following the protocol and received guidance from the moderation team. Having experienced both sides, I hope I will bring balance like the other moderators.
What do you think are the key elements for a successful project?
- Proper planning and preparation
- Realistic expectations
- Realistic budget
- Realistic number of resources
- Realistic timeline
- Scope creep management
- Adherence to the methodology
- Good design
- Thorough testing
- A good cutover plan
- Good communication
- And more.
[ Christmas homemade Bacon wrapped Turkey breast with sausage meat stuffing]
Which 5 things do you absolutely want to achieve in life?
- Do fun things with my great grandchildren
- Be at peace with life
- Try to do something new every year with my family
- Help those around me
- Successfully pass to my children the lessons I have learned in my life and those lessons I learned from my parents
What is the best lesson your parents taught you?
- With hard work and dedication you can be and do anything you want
- Nobody is above you, nobody is beneath you
- Treat others as you would wish to be treated
- Do your best in anything you do
- There are many more, but these ones are the fundamentals.
If you were not in your current position, what would you be and why?
That's a good question. The grass always looks greener on the other side. And other professions look more attractive and that job has that and this jobhas this, but when you look in detail all careers, roles, jobs have their respective worries and challenges.
What/where would I be? I guess I would be wherever life had taken me based upon the decisions I had made and the effort I had put in during the journey of life.
Moshe:
I would like to thank Andy for an interesting interview, insights and great pictures:).
- SAP Managed Tags:
40 Comments
