Motivational Post to Begin My Monday

The Best Dreams Happen When You Are Awake

via Motivationlism Blog - http://motivationlism.blogspot.com.

The Hunger Games Survival Lessons for Consultants

 *First contribution by Ananda*

Do you have what it takes to be a successful consultant?

If you live in a cave and never heard of The Hunger Games before, check out the hunger games FAQ.

Like 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who fought her way to victory in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, newbie consultants are widely regarded by hiring managers as underdogs in today’s consultant market.

Let’s face it, in our current economic climate, if you’ve got gaps in your resume, went to a lower-tier school or are too old/young, you are not as likely as other consultants to be called in for a project. Consultants must make sure that the odds of obtaining that interview are “ever in your favor” by using all of the tools at your disposal to stand out to potential project managers.

 

  1. Volunteer. 

Katniss volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games in place of her sister, Prim. She is the first-ever volunteer from District 12, and her selflessness endears her to the Capitol. There is some debate among consultants regarding whether or not it pays to work for free, but many experts believe that volunteering at a company provides important connections, experience and encouragement to discouraged consultants.

 

2. Become the “Girl on Fire.” 

Katniss becomes “The Girl on Fire” after making a powerful first impression with potential sponsors at the opening ceremony of the Hunger Games. An interview is your first opportunity to present yourself to a potential project manager dynamically. Make sure that you remain confident and you dress appropriately. You want people to remember you.

 

3. Shoot a squirrel in the eye. 

Peeta can throw a heavy bag of flour over his head as a result of working at a bakery for his whole life. Katniss is an expert with a bow and arrow – shooting her prey in the eye to make a clean kill. Make sure that you, too, are emphasizing your unique skills in your SAP career. What can you bring to a potential project that no one else can?

 

4. Remember they already love you; just be yourself. 

 Katniss’ mentor, Haymitch, cannot decide how to present her to the public. In response, her stylist tells her just to be herself. As your consultancy career progresses, you may find yourself frustrated by the specific demands of potential projects – and you may feel obligated to start applying for jobs that are not an exact fit for your skill set. Keep in mind that the best job for you is one that is challenging, that makes use of your skill set, and that allows you to learn and excel. Wait for that job – or create it for yourself and pitch the benefit to your favorite companies.

You’ve probably already heard that The Hunger Games grossed $152.5 million during its opening weekend – making it Hollywood's third-biggest opener of all time. And if you saw the movie, you probably cheered for Katniss as she worked to perfect her image, navigate a seemingly impossible situation and to survive.

Top 5 Reasons to Use Business Objects Data Services in Your SAP Landscape

If you have not heard of SAP Business Objects Data Services, previously known as Business Objects Data Integrator, I suggest you take a quick look at this Wiki link. Basically it is an extractor tools that allows a lot of flexibility in your Business Intelligence setup.

1. Multiple Datasource & Data Target Support

SAP Business Objects Data Services supports most of the enterprise data source - Oracle, MS Sql, MS Access, My SQL, and much much more. But more importantly, it now supports HANA - the next generation in-memory analytics tool by SAP

2. Data Harmonization

If different master data is maintained across different landscape, you have the chance to transform the data at this layer before going into your target. This allows a cleaner implementation for your Business Intelligence solution.

3. Real-time Web Service Interface

Any extraction in Business Objects Data Services can be easily upgraded to be a Real-time Web Service. This means that you can publish your web service and allow easy integration with any other solutions.

4. Full Set Debugging Tools

Business Objects Data Services comes with very good debugging tools. You can debug your extraction while it it running, and have the flexibility to write scripts fast and quick to debug your extraction. Imagine doing that in SAP BW data flow, it is not that easy.

5. Flexibility

Business Objects Data Services has a lot of flexibility. You can call a script, use a command prompt to trigger a job, do some crazy transformation in your extraction, your imagination is the limit. You will be surprised how much this tool can do what you want.

Book Review: Business Intelligence for Dummies

Title: Business Intelligence for Dummies

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (January 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470127236
• ISBN-13: 978-0470127230

A very good introduction to the world of Business Intelligence. The book is readable and correctly emphasizes the importance of quality requirements and analysis. Business analysts should always be thinking about better ways for their stakeholders to make decisions and run their organizations. Swain gives great insights and suggestions for requirements elicitation and analysis. He also explains the overall discipline at a level everyone should be aware of.

Most of the materials are general and should stand the time of any Business Intelligence projects except probably the chapter on the BI vendors and products, this book rather provides general advice and tips for BI project managers and business analysts so it wouldn't go out of date as quickly as some IT manuals.

The format is very readable and not technical at all. I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious in starting in Business Intelligence.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Business-Intelligence-Dummies-Swain-Scheps/dp/0470127236

Top 10 T-Codes Every SAP BW Consultant Must Know

Top 10 T-Codes Every SAP BW Consultant Must KnowEvery SAP functional module like BW, HR, FI, SD, etc has a set of frequently used T-Codes for everyday work. Getting familiar with these T-Codes and remembering the usage is an added advantage when you are working on-site or during an interview. Although BW Certification usually contains 1 question about T-Code, the most important one: RSA1, but it is important to know the other most used T-Codes in BW module. The following slide contains the T-Codes every SAP BW Consultant MUST know! You can always be resourceful by searching SAP SCN, formerly known as SAP SDN, for T-Codes via http://www.findsap.com; but remembering these by heart is an added advantage over some consultants.

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