Created by Daniel GraversenMarch 2015

Learning path to SAP XI/PI/PO

PICourse.com

2015

A report on how you got started with SAP Integration

Background of the Current Survey................................................3

Background of the Survey Participants........................................4

Learning Path..................................................................................7

Current Learning and Experimenting..........................................11

Conclusions...................................................................................14

TABLE OF CONTENT

FIGAF

The motivation behind the creation of this survey was the need to understand how people started using SAP PI/PO. I see that in the future we will have a lot more PI developers. Companies will integrate their existing systems and new cloud-based systems in order to create more streamlined enterprises. This will require a new generation of developers - a generation that is able to work with both cloud-based technologies and on-premises technologies.

My goal with this survey was to learn what is the best method to become a better developer. How do you obtain that magical ingredient that makes you a better developer and grants you excellent integration skills?

In the survey I was asking about SAP PI, but this designation also covers SAP XI and SAP PO. The products are used similarly and learning how to use them is the same. I just wanted to make the survey an easy read.

The survey was created by Figaf ApS. Figaf deals with creating courses and teaching SAP developers how to advance with PI/PO.

The survey was conducted in March 2015. It generated 139 responses, and it has been shared with members of my SAP/XI/PI/PO e-mail list and my readers from picourse.com and scn.com.

Not everybody responded to all the questions, therefore the answers may not add up to 139 for every question. Sometimes the possibility of selecting more options was available, so the answers might add up to more.

Background of the Survey Participants

Background of the Current Survey

3

FIGAF

Independent consultantSAP customerSAP partnerOther

Occupation 26394510

Count

It's interesting to see where people work, what kind of organization they're coming from. You have different learning options if you are working for an SAP customer than if you're working as a consultant.If, for instance, you are working for an SAP customer, you may not have as many colleagues and may not see such diverse development options. These subtle differences make the analysis of professional backgrounds essential.

I wanted to know how many years have people been working with SAP PI/PO. This was their response. As you can see, there is a large number of newcomers, as well as people with 5+ years of experience. I am quite amazed at the large number of people who stick with these integration products even after the 5-year landmark. I think this shows us that working with SAP is truly enjoyable and that even seasoned professionals can learn new things as the years go by.

Where do you work?

Years of SAP PI Experience

40 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+

0

6

10

16

14

12

8

4

2

18

20

Years of SAP PI Experience

Haven’t started yetBeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Skill Level

4126044

Count

When people were asked to rate the amount of knowledge they had on these integration products, the responses were mainly in the intermediate/advanced range. As you can see, quite a lot of respondents (44, to be precise) rated their skill level as ‘advanced’.Of course, there are some who don’t work full time with SAP products - it is only natural that some developers will acquire more experience than others.

If we correlate this with the number of years worked, we get the following graph. It shows that it will take at least 3 years to rate yourself as ‘advanced’. I thought that not many people would rate themselves as beginners after 3 years of working with SAP PI/PO. However, some respondents rated themselves beginners even after 3 years of work experience. For them, working with SAP PI/PO might not be a full time occupation. Another explanation could be that they use SAP for a side project, while their efforts are concentrated elsewhere. There were variations in the ‘intermediate’ section as well - some felt that they reached this level after one year, while others rated themselves ‘intermediate’ after 9 years of SAP work experience. As an SAP expert myself, I can say that those who work with SAP PI/PO on a full time basis can be considered advanced after approximately 3-5 years.

The self-rating system can be a bit challenging, since we might have different views on what exactly constitutes ‘intermediate’ or ‘advanced’ knowledge.

The obvious conclusion is that the more you work with SAP PI/PO, the more you advance in your career as a developer.

FIGAF

Skill Level

5

12345678910

Years ofexperience

3

Not started

742

Beginner

64

105

137

1045

Intermediate

13665

153

10

Advanced

12 - 34 - 10

11 - 100100+

222926129

22%30%27%12%9%

How many developers in your organization Number of answers Percent

6

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Top 5 response by responder country

All Measures

response

responder countryIndia United States Spain Brazil Netherlands

resp

on

se

Here are the 5 countries that generated most responses. As expected, there is a large number of Indian developers among the respondents. They are rather active in the PI space!

Responses by Country

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Whether you're working on something new or simply learning, it is important to talk to someone and share your ideas. This is why I asked the next question, which refers to the number of developers who work at the same companies as the respondents. I think that being alone as a new developer might have a negative impact on your career (at least when you’re starting out). As we can see from the answers, more than half of the organizations employ only 1 to 3 developers, while 27% have 4 to 10 developers on board. Fewer companies employ more than 10 developers (12%) and only 9% have more than 100 developers working for them. This large discrepancy is an interesting aspect of the SAP PI/PO universe - it points to an enormous difference between business models and company sizes.

How many developers are active in your organization?

Learning Path

In this section we will explore how people started using SAP PI. This is where we will figure out what is the best way to learn how to use the necessary tools.

If we split the data based on the amount of time it took people to be able to develop their skills and compare it to their learning methods, then we get the results shown below. The table shows how many people have found that they were able to develop themselves after certain time periods, compared to the full group. In 6 months, 41% of the respondents were able to advance with the help of consultants, while 46% were helped by their colleagues.

7

I was surprised when faced with the diversity of the responses. They mostly revealed that SAP skills are not acquired exclusively through standard methods – in fact, only 29 respondents learned SAP through a standard course. 31 respondents stated that they learned SAP through an in-house course – these courses are mostly favored by large companies. Other respondents learned SAP as customers, being mentored by consultants (31 answers) or colleagues (25 answers). There were 27 people who learned SAP with the use of scn.sap.com, help.sap.com and SAP Service Marketplace – these websites are valuable sources of information, especially for beginners. However, receiving too much information can be confusing at times. A starting point must be set in order to properly develop one’s skills.

Let’s not forget about humanity’s most popular learning tools: books. Interestingly enough, people are not afraid to learn IT skills from them, since 23 survey participants acquired their skills aided by an SAP PI book.

How did you learn SAP PI?

FIGAF

As an SAP customer, a consultant taught meAs an SAP customer, my colleagues helped meI participated in an in-house course of a consulting companyNon-SAP courseOtherSAP certificationSAP PI bookSAP standard courseScn.sap.com, help.sap.com and Service MarketplaceOn-the-job training

Where did you learn PI?

31 25311024112329277

Count

123456

Method

852313711

Count

FIGAF

I’m not sure if the statistical data is solid enough to say one method is better than the other. Most of the developers only learned from one source. This is good if you have the right approach to learning, but it may also be a good idea to mix more methods in order to reach even better results. A course or a book will only take your knowledge to a certain point, then you have to start learning by yourself. I believe that the best combination out there is constituted by a course followed by the help of a mentor.

It seems like the non-SAP courses performed better than the SAP standard course for up to 1 year. The SAP standard course did perform better than the in-house courses. The book did not perform well, only 29% of the respondents were able to learn PI within the first 6 months, where the average of all learning methods is 39%.

8

Consultanttaught meColleagueshelped me

In-house course

Non-SAP course

SAP certification

SAP PI bookSAP standard

courseAverage

Learningmethod

9%

14%

3%

10%

10%

8%15%

10%

41%

46%

36%

50%

50%

29%33%

39%

75%

71%

61%

80%

90%

71%70%

69%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%100%

100%

32

28

36

10

10

2427

192

1 month 6 month 1 year 2 years Total

Usage of specific adaptersMapping techniques

Architecture discussionsTroubleshooting

Other

Question Options

496754516

Number of answers

21%30%24%23%3%

Percent

It seems that most respondents received help and advice through one-on-one sessions with consultants or other employees working at the same company. The small count of those who did not receive or need any help and advice (3) reflects a harsh reality: using SAP on your own can be difficult at first. Most people need some extra advice to get to the core of the issues they encounter.

9

It's interesting to know what questions you have to ask in order to advance. It did not seem like there were any differences in the number of responses for each question, so there was no way of telling which of these was most important. I cannot state that there is one certain question you need to ask, since methods and projects differ greatly. Many questions were related to technical and administration issues. I guess some of these could be related to the company’s internal policies and the methods of managing different situations.

My guess is that it all depends on your background and learning methods, not to mention the complexity of the projects you have to work on.

Although the survey did not ask for specifics, it revealed that every aspect of SAP has been explored by those who were not afraid to ask. Every detail has been discussed, from technical to administrative issues.

When first using SAP PI, did you receive help and advice from someone?

What questions did you ask?

FIGAF

Yes, a consultantYes, another employee at my company

No, but needed itNo, but did not need it

Other, please specify below*

Response

3837834

Count

*The other answers often included scn.sap.com

Yes, noticeably soNot particularly

828

91%9%

Question Options Number of answers Percent

after approximately 1 monthafter approximately 6 months

after approximately 1 yearafter approximately 2 years

Question Options

8232729

Number of answers

The survey revealed that it takes some time to do things on your own. Most respondents needed advice for at least 6 months – it seems that people need between 6 months and 2 years to master SAP PI. Only few respondents stated that they were confident without further design advice after approximately 1 month.

When did you feel you no longer needed design advice from others?

10

An overwhelming percentage of the respondents (91%) stated that the help of another person has helped them accelerate the learning process, therefore we can deduce that it is an advantage to be surrounded by people who are ready to talk to you.

Did the help of another person make you learn faster?

It takes time to learn and become a good SAP PI developer – SAP is a complex technology and an expert must be able to understand and efficiently use all the tools and techniques that are associated with it. There are few commonalities between projects: oftentimes, an SAP expert has to think out of the box. Here are some of the answers from the participants of the survey, which cover a lot of ground.

It takes 2 weeks to learn SAP, it takes a year to understand SAP PI, and creating technical solutions for business improvements/requirements, takes years. - Guido Koopmann

Mastering SAP takes a lot of time because it is very powerful, and for every new project there are several fitting solutions. The first development might be easy, but after having analyzed the process further, you might change the approach to achieve better mapping, better performance, and to rule out errors. There are many ways, and no real standard solution. You build many of the mappings and configurations based on your experience, not based on the handbook. This is probably the reason why many respondents felt that the courses they took weren’t good enough. The courses failed to prepare them for all the issues and possibilities that would arise later on.

Why does it take a lot of time to learn SAP PI?

FIGAF

FIGAF

Have we mentioned the complexity of SAP? You need to known ABAP, Java and xCBL for mappings, RFCs, iDocs and proxies. Later, you’ll need to know all about: SOA, blacklists, whitelists, certificates, security, SQL and TCP/IP for each specific adapter. After that, you will also need to delve into the business side, in order to improve the interface’s functionality and understand what is really required, while also recognizing which are further features that are needed.

This section of the survey focused on how SAP professionals strive to become even better, day after day. After all, learning never stops. We always need new ideas in order to create optimal solutions. It is also good to share ideas and give/receive feedback. A new perspective can inspire you – a colleague’s opinion might just give you the momentum you need when you feel stuck.

The results of this question are rather unsurprising. Most of us turn to our colleagues when discussing projects. It is only natural to feel more connected to our coworkers. They have a better understanding of our way of thinking than an outsider. This type of knowledge, paired with solid SAP skills, can lead to innovative solutions. However, the role of a consultant should not be minimized. Consultants are available for heavy-duty work and they usually possess very specialized knowledge. Many respondents stated that they usually share ideas with SAP consultants.

Who do you bounce development ideas off of?

Current Learning and Experimenting

11

ColleaguesConsultants

Others from my networkNo one, but I would like to

Not required

382611132

42%29%12%14%2%

Question Options Number of answers Percent

People also mentioned getting feedback on scn.sap.com, which provides a great learning area.

Asked other developersLooked it up on scn.sap.com

Used help.sap.comSearched the Internet

Tried to solve the issue on my ownSearched OSSCreated OSS

Found a work-aroundOther

3773605749225

154

11%23%19%18%15%7%2%5%1%

Question Options Number of answers Percent

FIGAF

It's interesting how people tend to look things up by themselves, before asking other people if they have experienced the same issues. I believe that we don’t want to ask others because we are afraid. What will they say? Will their impression of us change in some (negative) way? Will they still see us as good developers?

It could also be that we don’t want to waste someone else’s time, which is admirable in most situations. However, in some cases it might just be a waste of time to research something that could have been solved through a brief conversation.

I think that when you're going to open or search an OSS, you have found something that is on the limit of what SAP PI supports. In that case, asking other developers won’t help.

It's also interesting to know that people are three times more likely to find a workaround than create an OSS. Obviously, it's much easier to find a workaround instead of waiting for support to come up with a solution to the problem.

The responses to this question revealed that we like searching for answers on the Internet before asking a fellow developer. Maybe someone else has encountered the same problem; maybe they even posted the method of solving the particular issue you are facing. The most popular websites used by developers to look for advice are scn.sap.com and help.sap.com.

What did you do last time you had to develop something you hadn’t worked with before?

12

YesNo

6130

67%33%

Question Options Number of answers Percent

It is generally accepted that feedback is an important element of development in any area. I believe that getting feedback on your development is good indeed. Receiving and providing feedback gives you the opportunity to learn a lot more and figure out what you could do better next time.It is nice to see that around two-thirds of the respondents have a procedure of reviewing their own integrations. The procedures mentioned by respondents are diverse and they include:

The results have shown that advanced developers review their work more often. I guess this means they are used to getting more feedback and live in a location where they learn more. Even if you feel that you are good, you will still need feedback.

The organization’s size also has an influence on reviews. The more PI developers are in your organization, the more likely it is that you review your own work.

• Peer reviews • Presentations• Validation through checklists• Unit and system testing• Testing of mapping and performance• Technical & business monitoring• Review documents • Functional and technical documentation• Reading SCN posts to get ideas for improving

Do you review your own integrations?

FIGAF

13

Beginner Intermediate Advanced

NoYes

Review pct

35

63%

1832

64%

826

76%

1 2 - 3 4 - 10

NoYes

Review pc

13 9

41%

1118

62%

626

76%

11 - 100 100+

210

83%

8

100%

FIGAF

Conclusions

First of all, I want to thank all the respondents for participating. Some of the results were as expected, others were quite surprising. The survey has been completed by SAP enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world.

It does take some time before you are able to be a completely independent developer. It will take around 1-2 years for most developers. And to be able to consider yourself an advanced developer, you will need around 3-5 years. After all, there are developers who only consider themselves intermediate developers after 5 years of SAP PI/PO work. Learning SAP PI doesn’t happen in one particular way only. People got started with lots of different methods. The data indicates that some methods helped developers get started more easily, but I don’t think this is significant. The people who reported that they were able to talk with other developers also reported that those conversations made them better developers faster. For solving problems we try to find the right solutions ourselves, on different SAP sites, before we ask other developers. This does make sense, but sometimes there may be ways to save time, if a colleague/consultant has the right answer at the right moment.

Doing reviews is really not just for beginners. It is done even by the most advanced developers, and they do it more frequently. Also, the more PI developers you have in your organization, the more likely it is that you do PI development.

14

PI Course is a project by SAP Mentor Daniel Graversen. The purpose is to make it easier to learn how to make the use of SAP PI/PO. Daniel have been working on with SAP XI/PI/PO for more than 10 years and is focusing his experience to how we can make it easier for people to get aboard and learn SAP integration.

As there survey states there is a number of people that have been tough SAP PI by non standard SAP PI courses. They can provide a good supplement or a good basis for starting to develop pi content.

About PICourse

Check out the course at http://picourse.com/pi