Florian Henninger – SCN Member of the Month July 2014

Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, who you work for, and other things you would like to share with the community (hobbies, fun facts)?

I live near Würzburg where I work for the FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH. We are a SAP one-stop provider. Our focus is in the German, Austrian and Swiss technical wholesale sector, but we also have some industry-independent solutions. But I don’t want to advertise my company here, so if you are interested in more details visit our website.

I’m a member of the technical innovation team. My job is divided in 3 parts. I’m part of the SAP-team where I spend most of my time implementing new systems. Additional I’m discovering new technologies and such that are new to the market, for example at the moment all things UI5 or HANA are big. Last but not least I’m responsible for quality management. This means I help my head of department to prepare presentations and more and provide new employees in our department with the information they need.

I already told you in my BIF entry how I became a developer. If you read through some of my status updates you will see that I’m a fisher. I love to be outside without a cell phone ringing. I know, very hard for most of us but in my opinion it is important to unplug every now and then. The people around you will get used to it over time.

Other hobbies are my motorcycle and the motor home. A fun fact about me is that I kept my first computer, an Amiga 500, and use it from time to time. My favorite game is Infogrames North and South.

You are just back from a vacation in Italy. Can you share some highlights about your travels? How did you like it without Internet access?

Oh yes, there are a lot. We traveled with the motor home to Rome, Pompeii, Nepal and a short visit to the Amalfi-coast. I just focus on Rome here because it would be too much to tell everything. Rome is awesome. There is a lot to see and it is very impressive what people could build that long ago. We were looking for the Spanish Steps and (according to my wife 😉 we got lost somewhere in between, but at least we found two impressive buildings and we have no idea what they are because we couldn’t find them in our travel guide. The lesson I took away from it: sometimes getting lost can bring you somewhere worthwhile. We also visited the museum of modern art and I wondered why I became a developer if you can earn money by placing a toilet seat upside down on the floor and calling it “art”…

Like I mentioned before I like to unplug every now and then so it wasn’t hard to be without Internet access and spend the time sightseeing with my wife.

When did you become a member of SCN and what brought you to this community?

I became a member in 2009 when I started with ABAP. First I was just searching for solutions or trying to find improvements to my ideas. Additional to that I read a lot to learn new things and to see what was happening in the community. At one point I thought I should give something back and that was when I started my first blog.

Now I’m pretty happy about contributing my knowledge. There are always interesting discussions. Also, I was able to organize a Codejam which was an awesome experience!

Can you tell us in which areas of SCN you are active in?

ABAP in Eclipse, Output_Management, SAP_Interactive Forms by Adobe, SAP Lumira and of course ABAP Development.

These are my main areas but I also make time to read about other spaces and see what’s going on there. For example SD or MM spaces are also very interesting.

How do you find the time to contribute on SCN?

I try to spend less time watching bad (in the eyes of my wife) television shows. It is a win-win situation. I earn free time and can use it to learn something new. I try to learn something new every day.

Note from Caroleigh: I’d like to thank Florian’s wife for encouraging Florian!

Is there a particular contribution that you’re most proud of?

Yes, there is. I think it is Be a Better Developer. And not just because it was a featured content.

I read in your Blog it Forward post that your army-mate Major Grießbaum helped you understand how to get your dreams to come true. Can you share more about that?

He was my commander during my time in the Bundeswehr and always had a lot of things to do, but for some mysterious reason he always had enough time to learn new things and make time for every single soldier. Once while we were in the field during a maneuver I asked him how he managed all his duties without forgetting anything. Afterwards he visited me once a week in my office and taught me how to organize my day and how to use time management to free up time for evening classes. He also taught me how to learn content using a whiteboard. All this helped me to shape my future and end up where I am today.

Is there an SCN member you admire (OK… you can name a few)? And for what reason?

Susan Keohan for inviting me to the BIF-Chain and the DWB mission

Tammy Powlas, for spending so much time sharing her knowledge

Thomas Fiedler I just say ABAP in Eclipse…

Matthew Billingham he put a book under my pillow…*haha*

Bruno Esperança his Github made my day a few weeks ago

And lots of others, but you said I can only name a few… so I just named a few

Easy question: Mac/iOS or Windows? Or Android?

Windows, I need to use it at work and I also own a windows phone. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t prefer Mac, I also have a macbook, but I only use it from time to time. And I am pretty jealous of my wife who gets to use iMacs at work all the time.

Are you on Twitter?

Yes, I am, but I’m not overly active. I just do not know what to tweet about. I like to use Twitter for information purposes and use it to direct me to new topics

@flohen_for_sap

Florian and I enjoyed an extended conversation following the recorded interview. We talked a lot about the benefits of un-plugging from time to time, for adults and children. We are both looking forward to watching the World Cup Championship on Sunday – Florian is predicting a victory for Germany. Congratulations Florian, and thanks from the SCN Community for your valued contributions!

Every month, a member of the SAP Community Network is recognized for exemplary behavior: sharing knowledge with peers, being helpful and taking on additional tasks to support community engagement. See the list of previous SCN Members of the Month.