I plan to

publish a book, tentatively titled "SAP trends and challenges", as a joint effort with 6-8 contributors. The chapters can be

independent of each other, though they should confirm to the overall theme of the proposed title. For example, the chapters

can pertain to integration, planning, upgrades, O&M, basis, technology/infrastructure. The plan is to bring out the book by

Spring/Summer 2007.

The SAP job market is doing very well at this time. This is a reflection of

the success that SAP has achieved in the marketplace. The Oracle/PeopleSoft merger has increased opportunities as many

customers do not want to deal with the uncertainities caused by the merger and the lack of a future roadmap for the combined

entity.

All areas of SAP are doing quite well, with some doing even better than others. The highly sought after

skills are the technical (NetWeaver, Web AS, Basis) and BW/SEM. Due to the growth, the consulting companies like IBM and

Deloitte, as well smaller consulting companies, have been on a hiring spree as they anticipate shortages in the SAP labor

market in the near future.