Introduction
In February Juan Reyes posted a blog to launch the idea to rebrand SAP Netweaver Administrator to "Basis General". The blog received a good amount of comments but the conclusion of those comments was that rebranding would not be sufficient to actually change anything about the issues.
Issues described like double posting on the forum and community members that get confused about where they should post and end up posting in the wrong section. Besides those two issues there is also the fact that there are a lot of categories and that some are overlapping making it hard to find the right category to post in.
It was certainly visible that there are community members that care deeply about system administration. As a result of the blog and the comments we (Juan Reyes, Martin English and I) decided to put our heads together and talk about the rebranding and how we can get more awareness that there are system administrators active on SCN.
Our place on SCN
While SCN started out mainly as a place for developers, it has evolved and now also includes other community areas such as the BPX (Business Process Expert Community).
I tend to believe system administrators are an important part of the whole SAP ecosystem. They keep the SAP systems running, enhance the performance, perform troubleshooting, update the software etc. They perform multiple roles, system administrator, database administrator, operating system administrator, architect, designer etc. They have knowledge on different technologies and provide guidance to the customers how to implement the SAP products.
If they are so important where is the space for SAP system administrators on SCN then?
When I look at the content featured on events, hands-on sessions and so on I often see functional use and development topics but there is a need for technical content and hands-on sessions as well.
Many of my colleagues and fellow system administrators would love to attend a hands on session on how to configure Root Cause Analysis. While I can organize such event on a small scale there should be content like this in major SAP events such as TechED. I’m convinced those seats would be filled in no time.
Calling out
Because of the above reasons we are calling out to our colleagues all over the world to show that you are a SCN community member who wants to have a SAP System Administration space and post a comment to this blog, vote for the idea on idea place, react on twitter using hash tag #SAPADMIN and spread the word.
Martin created a dummy page to show how to space could look like.
The next step
If there is enough reaction we can get our own space on SCN and create content for it. It can also be the necessary wake-up call to show that there is a need and demand for more technical content. I have heard from other SAP system administrators that TechED doesn’t offer enough technical hands-on sessions and that they mainly go for networking purposes. It’s great that you do networking but the event should also handle the demand for more technical content.
In order to do that feedback is essential. If you don’t step up and let your voice be heard, things are not going to change. So please yell “This is IT!”. React to this call to join forces and change things.
You can use any or all of the available platforms to spread the message. Comment on this blog, vote for the idea on idea place, post your system administration blog with the #SAPADMIN hash tag, tweet using #SAPADMIN on twitter and even create additional initiatives you can come up with to spread the word.
You will find blogs tagged with #SAPADMIN appearing to launch the idea.
