oh its all about career aspirations, so ur not getting off topic at all... maybe baal ki khaal though :D i hope Umer doesnt mind.
Well, when Fayz and I said SAP we didnt necessarily mean we worked for SAP, but as SAP Consultants or maybe part of implementation project teams.
working for SAP must be pretty cool. One major advantage would be the immense training opportunities you'll get. The training isnt cheap... so make the most of it...
You probably got an 'I number' if ur an internal employee. I'm currently in Australia, contracted by SAP through my employer consulting firm, so I have a 'C number' along with the @sap.com email and the rest of it, and some extra access to SAP resources like the CSS system used by the global SAP support network to resolve customer issues globally (pretty handy i must admit for some real mind twisters once in a while)... but no access to other cool stuff like training manuals and courses etc.
Oh and you'll get used to the acronym dont you worry :D
By the time you get used to them, there will be 50 others. Thats SAP... nothings simple! Sometimes it looks like they made a concious effort to make things complicated.
HaaN jee, I also think SAP is going to stay, at least few more years. At the moment it is in pretty good shape.
Shukria Bhai sahab. I am in Germany. Used to work for a German research institute, which also happens to be the largest in Europe (the inventors of mp3, ). My research area was general IT Security. I couldn’t start with my PhD because gone are the days when research institutes were funded 100% by the govt. Now they have to earn their own living, at least 70% in my institute case. So the research was driven by the industry needs. At times working simultaneously on 3 projects doesn’t leave you with much time. I could publish only one paper in all those years and that too in German,
For my future course of action, I’ll have to wait and see how the things at SAP move. The head of my former research institute who is a full time professor as well, agreed to be my supervisor. Lets see.
And one more thing… the 3 years thing doesn’t apply in Germany. Here you need in average about 5 years to complete it. Unless you are talking about UK indeed, in which case 3 years thing is pretty true,
OK I got it, so you are working as an external contractor for SAP.
SAP has three types of numbers:
C = contractor
I = International
D = Deutschland
I have got the last one.
Yeah the training opportunities are pretty good. Lets see if I’ll have the time to complete some of those,
About those acronyms, yeah they told exactly the same in the introduction part. By the time you get used to some, there appear some 50 more, haha!
HaaN jee, I also think SAP is going to stay, at least few more years. At the moment it is in pretty good shape.
For my future course of action, I'll have to wait and see how the things at SAP move. The head of my former research institute who is a full time professor as well, agreed to be my supervisor. Lets see.
And one more thing... the 3 years thing doesn't apply in Germany. Here you need in average about 5 years to complete it. Unless you are talking about UK indeed, in which case 3 years thing is pretty true, :D
That's a good start d_w... you certainly need a lot of dedication and conviction to pursue a Ph.D. - I've been through phases where I've been extremely motivated and ones where I've just had enough... and along with a full-time job, it can get extremely daunting.
Yes... Germany is perhaps the closest model to the North American in terms of their Ph.D. degree requirements. Do you guys still have coursework requirements ; comprehensive examinations and residency requirements?
). My research area was general IT Security. I couldn’t start with my PhD because gone are the days when research institutes were funded 100% by the govt. Now they have to earn their own living, at least 70% in my institute case. So the research was driven by the industry needs. At times working simultaneously on 3 projects doesn’t leave you with much time. I could publish only one paper in all those years and that too in German, 
