SAP Employee Review

Current Employee – been working at SAP

Pros – Good benefits and work climate. No hire and fire mentality. Lots of different departments that deal with vastly diverse subjects. People from all over the world work together, US, India, Germany, France, Canada, Bulgaria, Czechs - you name it. Free lunch and generally a people-friendly work environment. No nickel and diming on snacks and drinks at work.

Cons – Proprietary technology is seen as superior (we always did it in ABAP and it's better). Infrequent weird knee-jerk micromanagement from top management. Increasing us vs. them (management vs workers) mentality - away from the 'we are a team' culture. There are more and more levels of management, although the new CEO wants to change that. There are many departments that viciously defend their turf even though their products are unneeded or miss the market. Talking to customers is left to a thin layer that doesn't communicate with the people who build the product.
It is hard to make it into higher management - generally those are hired from the outside or move in sideways through the MBA channel, having no product experience.
Another downside is that you have to use some of the older products that are really hard to use.

Advice to Senior Management – Do some management by walking around. Use some of your products.