Shane Morgan discusses the ups and downs he has seen recently in the Australian contract market, and which SAP skills he has found to be most in demand from current clients.
ISAP: How is the SAP/IT market looking right now?
SM: I work closely with a variety of large consultancies and end-users across Australia, within all areas of SAP and IT technologies. This last six months has been a rather odd period in that I’ve seen some pretty diverse claims by different organisations and SAP consultants.
A ‘SkillsMatch’ analysis study on contractor rates was recently conducted by the ITCRA (Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association), and this revealed some interesting results. The research showed that from September 2012 to February 2013, 94 per cent of all contracts were less than a year in duration, which is 4 per cent up from previously. Only a small number of contracts were shown to be two years or more in length.
In a statement, the ITCRA also said that there was a strong result for placements which demonstrated the need for and resilience of ICT contracting. This result also occurred in spite of the Queensland Government’s delay in rolling out its ICT Resource Manager deal due to ‘operational issues’.
The analysis also showed that hourly rates reached a high-point of $108.02 in December, followed by a low of $79.89 in January. Average rates for the period were $88.75, with Business Intelligence consultants achieving the highest average rates, and Helpdesk the lowest. The greatest variance was shown by Network Designers.
A strong demand for project managers and business intelligence consultants was shown, with the weakest demand being for account managers, communications managers and systems analysts.
ISAP: Which parts of Australia have you found the busiest for SAP/IT recruitment?
SM: The last quarter of 2012 seems to have been a pretty quiet time for SAP/IT recruitment throughout the whole of Australia.
A large number of the SAP consultants I met up with said it was the quietest time they had experienced in a long while. Consultants said that while there was a lot of talk about big projects about to take off, but nothing really concrete or decisive was happening, and a lot of their own good people were just sitting on the bench waiting!
Historically, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland have always been the most active. I do think the slight downturn in demand was expected, with some of the reasons given being:
- A massive reduction in spend on new projects.
- Coal mining in particular took a complete u-turn due to production costs and the peak of the Aussie dollar, as well as supply and demand.
- There was also a massive influx of top talent from government and manufacturing companies, which made things seem a lot worse than they actually were.
So far 2013 has been steady. However I would say that Victoria and Western Australia are producing quite a good number of SAP roles at the moment. This may be due to a lot of our clients having main offices there, or because they have projects taking place in those states.
ISAP: What SAP/IT areas have you found to be most in demand recently, compared to 2012?
SM: I have not noticed any particular role outweighing other roles in terms of demand at this point. However last year was definitely the year for SAP EAM consultants. This year it seems to be about IS-U, CRM, and HANA plus new changes in organisations – which means change managers have been quite active throughout the states. Some clients are also looking for some rare and hard-to-find skills, and to fill some specialist senior roles.
ISAP: What’s your take on rates for SAP roles in Australia, and which areas are paying most?
SM: The highest average rates have been achieved by Business Intelligence consultants, project managers, and solution architects.
Rates seem to be quite varied, and it really does always depend a lot on clients’ budgetary constraints. I’ve seen good BI/CRM/EAM consultants get top daily dollars, but at the same time not all clients are looking for people who are so highly technically skilled and their requirements will be reflected by their budgets.
So the rates at the moment are dependent on a client’s given budget and the types of skills they are seeking. SAP roles generally pay more within the market, but a lot of our clients are looking into niche areas and are willing to pay a premium for this.
ISAP: What do you suggest people who are finding it hard to find SAP work do?
SM: A few suggestions:
- CVs/résumés: one of the main issues is poor presentation with regard to résumés. It seems that some of the most well-respected consultants have some of the weakest CVs, while some of the less talented consultants have extremely well-written (and sometimes slightly exaggerated!) ones. I aim to give consultants good advice about the structure of résumés. Positive changes can make a massive difference to the overall impression they give out. A great CV won’t land you a job, but it will certainly help you to secure interviews!
- Networking: going to SAP user group meetings and getting to know people in the industry is a good idea, as well as partnering with good SAP recruiters. Australia is very lucky in that we have some excellent SAP recruiters over here, particularly compared to America and Europe. In Australia, I would say we are generally much more ethical and more concerned about the relationships we form in the industry.
- It’s also important to try to be as open-minded as possible regarding new opportunities.
I think overall that everyone can do a little more to put their best foot forward. If we all put in that little extra effort, I believe this industry will continue to grow and thrive in Australia.
Shane Morgan is business relationships director at SAPTURE INTERNATIONAL.
