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Author's profile photo Caroleigh Deneen

Simone Milesi – SCN Member of the Month August 2016

Simone Milesi is an ABAP expert and the go-to guy for all things SAP at Serioplast SpA. I am pleased to recognize Simone as the SCN Member of the month for August, 2016! Based in Italy, he is the in-house SAP technical referent and developer, where he is presently using SAPUI5, ABAP and Javascript to help re-build the company Intranet. He has a great sense of humor, and engages on the community to share knowledge, help keep an eye on quality, and weigh in on topics important to all community members. In his own words:

I believe in Open Source and CopyLeft so if I take something from the community, I feel it’s my duty and pleasure help the community too.


Since I accepted the new job last February, I shifted my skills and attention to UI5 and web development: we are rebuilding from scratch our intranet and SAP has a big role in the scenario. It’s completely new to me and surely challenging, but this is the kind of work I love to do: try out new things, mixing technologies and playing with them. Right now I’m mixing Python within Django framework with SAPUI5, the good old ABAP and some Javascript.

When I’m at home, I’m committed to my family: with a wife and two kids of 8 and 5, there aren’t enough hours in a day! But I cut some time to read books: give me a well written SciFi or Fantasy book and I’ll stay in the corner without bothering you for a whole day!

The real fun fact is that I became an ABAP developer for pure luck: I lost my job in 2004 and I sent my resume to my previous company for another position. During the interview they told me the position was close but if I wanted to give a shot, they would pay the mythical BC400 course for me and… now here I am. And even more funny is that my first meeting with SAP was during a high school stage in a company using an 3.something release… let’s just say it wasn’t love at first site.

SimoneWithLauraOnComoLake.jpg

Simone with wife, Laura, at Lake Como

SimoneWithPoldo.jpg

   Simone with dog, Poldo

When did you become a member of SCN and which areas are you most active in?
I relied, and still rely!, on SCN to find out solutions to new issues I never faced: I’m “lazy” and I find it really useless to “reinvent the wheel” each time, so SDN previous and now SCN is the perfect place to “steal” some good ideas.

After I became more confident about my skills, I started to try helping other members and tried to follow interesting projects like FALV or ABAP2XLSX. Since 2008, the year I created my account, I’m active in the ABAP space: it feels like home to me! Lately I started to follow and use SAPUI5 space too but I’m not so expert yet to share any valuable help in that field!

I see you recently started blogging about your journey to UI5, in addition to your steady answers to ABAP questions? What motivates you to contribute so actively?
About my blog, as I stated, I’m lazy.  And a bit chaotic when it comes to notes or documentation. So having a place to store my notes that hardly I could loose, it’s the perfect solution for me! Why I named again laziness? Because during my journey, I found all the answers someone getting the ropes with UI5 needs, but they are scattered in tons of places! And not all of them are easy to find! After putting a lot of time in myself a couple of months ago, I thought how valuable it would have been to have a guide with all the main points, and how many days I could have employed in something different!

So, I somehow helped myself (because I know I’ll forget something important in next weeks!) and, well, it’s also funny! Even more, I laughed a lot when in some comments a user pointed out how fun my writing style was to him. It’s a nice thing to read…and pumped my ego too: I like to face problems with a smile and a good laugh.

As last point, I believe in Open Source and CopyLeft, so if I take something from the community, I feel it’s my duty and pleasure help the community too.

Speaking of UI5, I loved your Lego analogy. Tell us more about your journey from ABAP to UI5. What are the most important things SAP needs to do to keep customers enthusiastic, and what do you think some of the biggest challenges are?
The most important thing to keep customers enthusiastic? Choose a way and a vision for more than 2 years. Seriously. Sometimes it happens that the customers (at least the technical ones like me) waste their time in learning something new SAP proposes like the deus ex machina for all the problems… until the next innovative solution after just some months.

Look at SAP products: could you deny that some of them are orphan children almost forgotten? Please, understand me! I like to learn new things, but I would also like to learn profitable ones! UI5 seems a nice try for the web/app road, something objectively SAP is a bit behind on. My boss doesn’t like SAP too much because it’s complicated but the FIORI design approach and the fact I can hide SAP in some other boxes with UI5 is changing (at least a bit) his mind.

So if SAP is able to keep this road without creating a crazy moloch the users will go mad with, I believe UI5 could be a really wild card, pretty successful. Another thing I loved so much was the ABAP Development Tools in Eclipse: great move! The developers thank SAP team each day for that!

The biggest challenges will be a bold move to force/invite the customers to move towards newest releases. There are many customers which work, like me, on the oldest releases (in ABAP space I read questions about 4.6!) because “the program works, why have I to change?”. I do not like Windows10, I restored my Win7, but Microsoft’s move is right: move everyone on the next level so you can cut the dead branches and focus on new technologies and tools.

Interested in my journey to UI5? Read my blog! Jokes apart, it’s really, really, really hard to change the way a developer has to think about his code. Plus some concepts are extremely new for someone coming from ABAP! Again, nothing too hard to learn, but even with the OpenSap courses and the monster documentation available, sometimes I still want to cry. And, to point out my previous suggestion about the new challenges, many times the problems I’m facing are due to the old release I work on.

SimoneVisitingParma.jpg

Simone visiting Parma

SimoneAtCarExhibition.jpg

   Simone at car exhibition

I’ve seen you participating in the avid discussions around content quality on SCN and onboarding new members. What’s your advice to newer members? Top mistakes to avoid?
I’m not too diplomatic, I know, but lately there is a revamp of people that clearly do not know what they are asking. I’m talking about ABAP space where I feel more comfortable, to be clear. I cannot believe there are so many new members who cannot find the same information I can in 10 minutes of google. So the questions being asked is: are people really lazy or do people know so little what they are asking about? And this is shocking for me! My first referent when I was a consultant always demanded from me that I try out things over and over before asking.

The solution? I do not know. My suggestion for the new members is: post specific question on specific issues, clearly explaining what you did to try overcome the problem and with which result you obtained. If you already looked for a thread, link what you have found. And for the members who answer: read the question and avoid to spam links or random solutions! A silly question (and answer) is dangerous to SCN’s overall quality!

Do you feel l like your experiences on the SCN community have helped advance your career and/or professional network? If so, how?
Indeed during an interview the man behind the desk asked me if I was an active member on SCN. And I did not obtain the job so… no, SCN did not help me in my career! But I got the chance to virtually meet and get in touch with many real experts like Jelena Perfiljeva,  Matt FraserChristopher Solomon, Colleen Hebbert,Veselina Peykova, and Lukasz Peiegel, just to name the last ones I interacted with (and yes, I forgot a bunch of others: I hope they forgive me!).

Their knowledge is… well, huge! And I could only steal it from them, just reading their answers or blog or status update. Have I already said I love to learn new things?

I notice you’ve been following the plans around the upcoming changes to the community (#1DXCOMMDEST – http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-63650)? What are your hopes and dreams associated with the upcoming redesign? Have you participated in the open beta (http://scn.sap.com/community/about/blog/2016/05/17/open-beta-starts-now)? What do you think so far?
I tried to participate in the open beta but I found… confusing! Even if I am the personification of chaos, I miss the structure the actual SCN has. The tag, hashtag, crosslink stuff, so millennial-style, is something I cannot handle. I confess I give up pretty quickly so it would not be honest criticize it too much: I’ll express a more objective opinion when I’ll be forced to migrate to it.

Is there an SCN member you admire (OK… you can name a few)? And for what reason?
I already named few before, but I cannot avoid to name Horst Keller also or Matthew Billingham. All of them are real monsters! How people can match their experience and knowledge? Plus they are able to express and show their idea so well! I envy them! Where my writing is funny, theirs is just perfect!

Are you on Twitter?
Yes, but only from a couple of months: I signed up for it to get in touch with Lukasz when we talked about his FALV. @SMilesi81

* * * * *

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 recognized on the SCN Member of The Month Hall of Fame.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)?

Apart from the title, which means all and nothing, I’m involved in everything about SAP in my company, from the simple report to a whole new module to implement from a technical side, coordinating with our functional consultants.

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      51 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Łukasz Pęgiel
      Łukasz Pęgiel

      Congrats Simone!

      Author's profile photo Jürgen Lins
      Jürgen Lins

      that explains the new avatar picture. Congratulation

      Author's profile photo Matt Fraser
      Matt Fraser

      I suppose it must! Have to look respectable now... 😉

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      Respectable? This photo?

      I have to check my eyes in two weeks: want to come with me??

      Find the photos was the hardest thing...

      Author's profile photo Matt Fraser
      Matt Fraser

      Congratulations, Simone Milesi! A couple of things you said here really struck me.

      For one, about posting blogs as a way of making work notes easier to locate in the future, in a place where even I can't lose them.... that's me too! It might sound funny, but I regularly refer back to my own blogs for procedures to make sure I don't forget things, and it's easier to find my "notes" when they're public on SCN than buried in some folder on my PC, or worse, printed and at the bottom of a pile on my desk.

      And the other, how SAP seems to constantly shift attention to the "hot new thing" and leave orphaned technologies lying around (I'm looking at you, MDM). This, on top of the constant renaming, makes it a regular battle to figure out where we should be focusing. I'm sure this will resonate with many who read this MoM interview.

      So, welcome to the MoM club! Another worthy entrant. 🙂 I've enjoyed our discussions in comments on... status updates, 😆 , among other things.

      Author's profile photo Colleen Hebbert
      Colleen Hebbert

      congrats Simone. Very well deserved and another case of didn't realise you hadn't been nominated earlier 🙂

      Thanks for recognizing me. I love interactions on status updates and times when I cross over into ABAP space.

      posting blogs was my trick along with answering questions. I used to Google "GRC XXXX issue: "Colleen Hebbert" 2015 site:scn.sap.com to find what I wrote

      Saved me so much time looking for something I solved or mentioned to someone.

      Author's profile photo Matt Fraser
      Matt Fraser

      Heh. That was why I eventually created a "personal" blog with nothing but a list of links to all my blogs, so I could keep track of them.

      Author's profile photo Christopher Solomon
      Christopher Solomon

      Whoa! I got a shout out!!!....surely it was a mistake. 😆

      Congrats Simone....VERY well deserved! I appreciate having folks like you that actually see and want to be involved (and at times, protect!) the community. You "get" it....and it shows! Keep it up....just cause you got MoM, do not go padding your resume never to return here again. hahahahahaha 😈

      Author's profile photo Jyoti Prakash
      Jyoti Prakash

      Congratulations! Simone Milesi

      Author's profile photo Sai Vellanki
      Sai Vellanki

      Simone Milesi : Congratulations! 😀 Glad to see you elected as Member of Month for August. Your blogs are really interesting. Especially 'My Journey to UI5'. 😉

      Author's profile photo Gali Kling Schneider
      Gali Kling Schneider

      Congratulations Simone as all the comments attest this was well deserved!

      Great job Caroleigh too as I loved reading the post and feeling that I got to 'know' Simone a bit. There are many points raised throughout that I will be mulling over for a while.

      I also hope Simone that you will indeed give Beta another chance and perhaps Jerry's new post Finding What You Need will help a bit with the navigational element.

      Best, Gali

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      Hi Gali 🙂

      I think I'll have to give another chance if I want to get the ropes of it before the official switch from the good old SCN to new Beta 😀

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

      And the announcement is published on beta too, so you should definitely check it out again: Simone Milesi - SCN Member of the Month August 2016 - SAP Blogs

      Author's profile photo Ankur Chauhan
      Ankur Chauhan

      Many Congratulations Simone Milesi - SCN Member of the Month August 2016 keep up the good work..

      Author's profile photo Steffi Warnecke
      Steffi Warnecke

      Great addition to the MotM club! Welcome, Simone!

      Even if we don't share the same technical area, our views on how to work and community spirit are the same. Although I'm quite the opposite to chaotic when it comes to documentation. 😀

      Which book did you read last? Are you also oldschool here and go with paper books or did you already switch to e-books? ^^

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      I'm relying on public library at the moment, since I'm gifting friends and father with ebook readers and I'm the next on my list to receive one of them 😀

      I have no fetish for paper book, so i'll switch soon to ebooks which has the big plus to a bigger catalogue of books in english (many titles i'm interested in are not translated in italian, like half of PTerry's books).

      Last book? I re-read Anne McCaffrey's Pern triology: I found the first book in a flea market 20 years ago and i did all i can to retrieve the other 2 🙂

      Once my ebook reader will be available, i'll have to recatch with Vaporteppa's catalogue (Vaporteppa is an indipendant little editor only digital focused on steampunk-scifi-dystopic literature)

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      Thanks all for the congrats but I still think many other deserve this honor more than me!

      It has been a real pleasure working and talking with Caroleigh Deneen and I hope my bad english don't pull you away the interview 🙂

      Now, someone told me that being member of the month grants me the access to the secret pot full of cookies: where are them!?

      Author's profile photo Steffi Warnecke
      Steffi Warnecke

      All gone. Sorry.

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      *sniffs* You illuded a poor developer! It's still 8:45 here! I've to eat something to start the day!

      Author's profile photo Volker Wegert
      Volker Wegert

      Simone Milesi wrote:

      Now, someone told me that being member of the month grants me the access to the secret pot full of cookies: where are them!?

      On every single $EXPLETIVE web site you visit these days 🙂

      And BTW, congratulations!

      Author's profile photo Veselina Peykova
      Veselina Peykova

      Congratulations, very well deserved, indeed!

      Is your English the reason why I see no video recording? 🙂

      If you really want to read an e-book, you don't need to wait until you buy a reader (don't make such excuses), I see Vaporteppa sells also in epub format, which you can read directly in your browser with a small add-on, and Calibre has a reader for mobi files, not to mention epub reader apps for Android.

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      Veselina Peykova wrote:

      Congratulations, very well deserved, indeed!

      Is your English the reason why I see no video recording? 🙂

      It could be 😛 but I see the recording 😀

      About ebooks, I already read them from my laptop but it's not so easy and agile compared to an ebook reader.

      So since i can borrow books from all Bergamo county's libraries from a single webapplication, for now i rely on them 🙂

      Author's profile photo Veselina Peykova
      Veselina Peykova

      Aaaa.. again a video showing only in http by default, thanks for the hint 🙂 .

      Your English is absolutely fine, you are too modest.

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      LoL, and you are too kind saying such lies! 🙂

      Author's profile photo Matt Fraser
      Matt Fraser

      Yep, I don't have an "official" e-reader, Kindle, whatever, but I have an iPad and an iPhone, both with the Kindle app on them, and that works fine. But.... I admit to being a bit old-school, I still prefer actual printed books ("trade" paperback is my preferred format), and I'm a bit of a collector. However, I'll switch back and forth between the formats without a problem, and I love the e-reader for traveling.

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      My ideal room would have walls all this way

      https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/98/24/35/982435810b610128e0995b7153e4a7dd.jpg

      But ebooks are more easy to store (and alot cheaper!)

      Author's profile photo Matt Fraser
      Matt Fraser

      Working on it... 😉

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      Oh! Wonderful!

      Author's profile photo Sanil Bhandari
      Sanil Bhandari

      Hi Simone Milesi

      Congrats

      Regards

      Sanil Bhandari

      Author's profile photo Yüksel Akçinar
      Yüksel Akçinar

      Congrats Simone!

      Welcome to MOM.


      Regards,

      Yuksel AKCINAR

      Author's profile photo Alfredo Murguia
      Alfredo Murguia

      Congratulations Simone!!! Greetings from Mexico!

      Author's profile photo Raphael Pacheco
      Raphael Pacheco

      This year is having good choices for MoM! Congratulations Simoni! Your participation here is very important to us (and also funny in the comments of the status) 🙂

      P.S.: You actually became more "serious" with this photo.


      BR,


      Raphael Pacheco.

      Author's profile photo Jelena Perfiljeva
      Jelena Perfiljeva

      Thanks for the shout-out, Simone! Congratulations and welcome to the club! 🙂

      Glad to know I'm not the only one in "refuse to go to Open beta but reserve the right to complain after the go-live" crowd. 🙂

      if I take something from the community, I feel it's my duty and pleasure help the community too.

      If only everyone felt the same way then SCN would be a better place. Clearly, this is the right path for becoming a member of the month. You deserved it.

      Author's profile photo Vengal B
      Vengal B

      Congratulations Simone...

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congratulation Simone Milesi

      Author's profile photo Andrea Brusa Restelletti
      Andrea Brusa Restelletti

      Congratulazioni Simone. I'm honored to know a star 🙂

      Author's profile photo Loed Despuig
      Loed Despuig

      Congratz Simone Milesi!


      Regards,

      Loed

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congratulations. All the best! 😉

      Regards,

      Francesco

      Author's profile photo Jakob Flaman
      Jakob Flaman

      Congratulations Simone. Hope to see you at the 1th SAP INSIDE TRACK in Bern 🙂

      Regards

      Jakob

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      i just bought the train tickets and reserved the hotel room: you are so unlucky you'll meet me in Bern! 🙂

      Author's profile photo Jakob Flaman
      Jakob Flaman

      Uffff. You drink beer or wine 🙂

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      I drink good beer and even better wine 😀

      Author's profile photo flavio ciotola
      flavio ciotola

      Hi Simone Milesi,

      Congratulations! Well done and well deserved.

      I like your blogs very much, too. 🙂

      Keep up the good work!

      Ciao,

      Flavio

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi simone,

      Congrats and keep going.

      Ms 🙂

      Author's profile photo Devlabs Alliance
      Devlabs Alliance

      Congrats Simone !!!  🙂

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congrats as well. I didn't realize that SCN does recognition like this. I'll check back.

      @glenn_a_allen

      https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennallen

      Author's profile photo Siva kumar Devana
      Siva kumar Devana

      Congrats Simone!

      Welcome to SCN MOM.

      Author's profile photo Zeeshan Chaudhry
      Zeeshan Chaudhry

      Congrats Simone....

      Author's profile photo Farrukh Saeed
      Farrukh Saeed

      Congratulations Simone, Well done you are a great inspiration for all members who want to achieve the same goals as you got.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Congratulations Simone - Was a pleasure to meet you at #sitBERN.

      Author's profile photo Simone Milesi
      Simone Milesi

      i could not match your skills at all! I was just a listener who stoled alot of your knowledge 🙂