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Author's profile photo Caroleigh Deneen

Sander van Willigen – SCN Member of the Month June 2015

Sander van Willigen is freelance SAP BI Consultant working for his own company, Bizzler Consulting, and the SCN Member of the Month for June, 2015.

I noticed Sander because he has deep expertise in BI and Data Warehousing, and I appreciate the polite and authentic way he interacts with and helps other members. He shares his knowledge through detailed blogs and documents, and by answering questions in the SAP Business Warehouse and Business Content and Extractors in Data Warehousing spaces. Reserved and modest, I enjoyed seeing him light up when he talked about his wife and children and their weekend adventures.

Sander_ErasmusUniversityF.jpg

   Selfie with Erasmus  – First day at Erasmus University

Sander is entrepreneurial and hard working, but finds time for his “hobby” of participating on the SCN site — even while while travelling around Europe for his consultancy — because it gives him energy. He graciously joined me for a video conference on very short notice, squeezing in time on Friday evening while getting ready to start a new engagement today at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Some perspectives he shared during our talk:

  • Don’t be afraid to participate in SCN, be respectful and polite, and share your knowledge
  • Follow your heart and do work you are passionate about
  • Technical knowledge in isolation is not sufficient in today’s environment, developers need to combine business process knowledge, consulting skills, with design thinking and solution architecture to be successful

Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, what kind of work you do, and other things you would like to share with the community (hobbies, fun facts)?
I am Sander van Willigen, 46 years old and living in The Netherlands together with my wife Golda and my two sons Marius (7 years old) and Enrique (5 years old).

Currently, I am working as a Freelance SAP BI Consultant working for my own company Bizzler Consulting (sole proprietor). I started my SAP consulting career in 1998. Before starting my own company in 2010, I worked for Atos Netherlands (9 years) and SAP Netherlands (3.5 years). My work is mainly projects for clients based in The Netherlands but I also had a chance to work in France, Finland, Germany, Italy and Poland.

Sander_Van_Willigen_Family.png

I am afraid that I don’t have so much time for other hobbies than my work. It is hard to combine with a job as an SAP Consultant but I love to spend my spare time with my wife and kids. We love going on vacation, roaming around in town, doing some sight-seeing in cities, playing and doing activities with our kids and so on. Last but not least, some of you might already have noticed my other hobby: publishing on SCN which I love to do and gives me a lot of energy in return.

When did you become a member of SCN and which areas are you most active in?
I do not remember exactly anymore. I used to have a previous account (opened around 2002 or 2003 I guess). My currently active account was opened in 2011. I am most active in the spaces SAP Business Warehouse, Business Content and Extractors in Data Warehousing and Data Warehousing.

In addition to what’s already covered in the Rules of Engagement, do you have any advice to new members on SCN “etiquette”?
Do not be afraid to participate, be polite, always treat each other in a respectful way and dare sharing your knowledge !!

Tom Van Doorslaer published a blog recently, Is there still a future in development? Given your experience as a solution architect and an entrepreneur, I wanted to get your perspective on this:

“So I’m not saying development has no future whatsoever, but it’ll be very different from what we know today. A freelance developer will have a hard time making a living, no matter how talented he is. Successful developers will have to be more, than just developers. They’ll have to be architects or entrepreneurs. And that is no easy task.”

Keeping your knowledge current is certainly crucial to stay successful in the long term. However, technical knowledge in isolation is often not sufficient. In my opinion you can be really successful and also less dependent on the latest technology if you combine it with other aspects like business processes knowledge, social behavior and consulting skills. Architecture and Design Thinking can also contribute to remain successful. Last but not least, follow your heart and choose work you love to do and you are passionate about.

Is there an SCN member you admire (OK… you can name a few)? And for what reason?
Not anyone in particular, I admire a lot of people who frequently participate in Discussions and publish Blogs and Documents on SCN.

Easy question: Mac/iOS or Windows? Or Android?
I am working for many years with Windows for the desktop or laptop. For my smart phone and tablet I like iOS very much.

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 members recognizedon the SCN Member of The Month Hall of Fame.

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      28 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Loed Despuig
      Loed Despuig

      Congratz Sander van Willigen!

      Well deserved for your contributions in BW spaces.. 🙂

      Loed

      Author's profile photo Kodanda Pani KV
      Kodanda Pani KV

      Congrats sir SANDER and congrats for MOM.

      Thanks,

      Phani

      Author's profile photo Sanil Bhandari
      Sanil Bhandari

      Congrats Sander van Willigen for being MOM

      Regards

      Sanil Bhandari

      Author's profile photo Vengal B
      Vengal B

      Congrats Sander.

      Regards,

      Vengal.

      Author's profile photo Nandakumar S Nair
      Nandakumar S Nair

      Congrats Sander... 🙂

      Regards,

      Nandakumar S

      Author's profile photo Harish Allachervu
      Harish Allachervu

      Congrats Mr. Sander, you're right person for this recognition 🙂

      I really admired your words, I saw/following you in SCN, your're apt for what you said here!

      Do not be afraid to participate, be polite, always treat each other in a respectful way and dare sharing your knowledge !!

      All I can say keep sharing your knowledge with fellow SCN members.

      Thanks & Regards,

      Harish

      Author's profile photo Kamlesh Kumar Arya
      Kamlesh Kumar Arya

      Hi Sander van Willigen,

      Congratulations for becoming MOM. 🙂

      I enjoyed your conversation and the way you have explained. Your kids are so nice and their wearing style I liked it most.

      Most important is which you have mentioned as under:

      Do not be afraid to participate, be polite, always treat each other in a respectful way and dare sharing your knowledge

      Kind Regards

      Kamlesh

      Author's profile photo Raman Korrapati
      Raman Korrapati

      Congrats Sander for joining MOM club.

      Your well deserved and happy to see MOM from BW area.

      Caroleigh Deneen

      Small correction at starting paragraph. You mentioned Sander is MOM for May instead of June.

      please check on it.

      Author's profile photo Caroleigh Deneen
      Caroleigh Deneen
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Raman for bringing this to my attention. Corrected:)

      Author's profile photo Sander van Willigen
      Sander van Willigen

      Thanks to all SCN members for the Member of the Month recognition. It was totally unexpected but I am very happy with it and consider it as a great honor.

      Thanks also to you Caroleigh Deneen for all the effort of coordination, the interview, the advice, the after care, etc. You did a great job.

      Author's profile photo Caroleigh Deneen
      Caroleigh Deneen
      Blog Post Author

      Sander you made it easy! You were so gracious and easy to work with, glad to have you as a Member of the Month:)

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congrats Mr. Sander,  it was very inspiring to go through your journey to MOM.


      Thanks,

      Arun

      Author's profile photo Nitin Jinagal
      Nitin Jinagal

      Congratulations Sander 🙂

      I liked reading about your interests of spending time with family. I too have an year old daughter and I can feel the joy.

      All the good luck!

      ntn

      Author's profile photo Mehmet Metin
      Mehmet Metin

      Gefeliciteerd Sander! 🙂

      Maybe you are the member of the month, but you are the SAP BI consultant of the century.

      Author's profile photo Benedict Venmani Felix
      Benedict Venmani Felix

      Congratulations Sander!

      It's a great honor knowing you. All things I know about LSA comes from your knowledge that you shared.

      Benedict

      Author's profile photo Omar Ali
      Omar Ali

      Gefeliciteerd,

      It is funny, I was a student at Erasmus School of Economics, Rotterdam, in 2010.

      All the best!


      Omar

      Author's profile photo Jeanne Carboni
      Jeanne Carboni

      Congratulations Sander and thank you for all of your contributions to SCN.

      Jeanne

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congrats Sander..!

      Author's profile photo Gajesh Nagesh
      Gajesh Nagesh

      Congrats Sander...

      Author's profile photo Anshu Lilhori
      Anshu Lilhori

      Congratulations Sander.Really happy to see you as a MOM.

      Your contributions on BW forums is remarkable and i keep learning new things from them.

      Author's profile photo vamshikrishna srirangam
      vamshikrishna srirangam

      Congrats Sir Because of you only i came to know BW my self from SCN I am very big fan of you sir. Thank you Sir

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Van harte Sander.

      Hopelijk kunnen we in de toekomst wel nog een keertje samenwerken 😉

      Author's profile photo R Sampath Kumar
      R Sampath Kumar

      congrats  MoM sander....

      Author's profile photo Nishan Dev Singh
      Nishan Dev Singh

      Congrats !

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congrats ! 🙂

      Author's profile photo Prashanth Konduru
      Prashanth Konduru
      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hai Sander,

      Nice to read...and congratulations.

      Author's profile photo Andre Nakratzas
      Andre Nakratzas

      Hey Sander, leuk om een bekend gezicht te zien. Gefeliciteerd!