SAP Jobs at Clarkston: SAP Client Solution Executive Career Q&A with Anand
Anand Nataraj is a client solutions executive and the SAP consumer products lead at Clarkston Consulting. He shares how his SAP career has evolved below! Read his Q&A to gain insight into what an SAP career with Clarkston is like!
Anand’s SAP Experience
How does Clarkston help you pursue an SAP career of excellence and job fulfillment? (ie. What is your favorite part about working at Clarkston?)
I think, first and the foremost, the opportunity to work on interesting client projects. I have been with the firm for 16 plus years now and have had the fortune of working in all our industry verticals: Life Sciences, Consumer Products and Retail, and trust me, each one of them was different with their own set of challenges helping me learn so much on the job. There is never a dull moment. The second piece is our strong internal SAP community that provides a platform for developing new skills. I personally have been involved with our community from day 1 and have dabbled with several SAP technologies including BW, Business Objects, SAC, and Signavio, to name a few.
Why did you join Clarkston as an SAP consultant, and why have you stayed?
I joined Clarkston because it was referred by a good friend of mine and also because of Clarkston’s unwavering industry focus. I have stayed because I feel that I am an integral and important part of the firm. There are no hierarchies and red tape. Anyone can reach out to the leadership at any time. I can be bold and have the liberty to take risks. Most importantly, it feels like a close-knit family, and the camaraderie is something to be experienced.
What advice would you give to someone hoping to grow their SAP skillset and career? (ie. What has worked well for you?)
When I started at Clarkston 16 years back, I took it upon myself to make my interests known. If I was interested in something, I just ran with it and became an active member of the SAP community. I still remember preparing how-to guides for installing XApps in our Labs environment. I then evangelized setting up SAP Business Objects in our Labs environment. This not only helped me gain new skills, but also got me noticed. I was made the lead for sub-community within SAP and then went on to become the practice lead. So long story short, if you are interested in an area, don’t wait for anyone to come to you. Just pick it up, and run with it.
What made you pursue a career in SAP? (ie. What was your career path like? Is there a typical SAP career path?)
The first 6 years were on the shop floor, the first 3 were in an automobile manufacturer in India and then a high tech/discrete manufacturing company in Singapore. At this time, a lot of hi-tech manufacturing was moving away from Singapore, and I was also looking for career change and heard that ERP was the next big thing and SAP was one of the leaders. So, I started off by undergoing training in SAP Materials Management and getting a certification in CPIM. With these credentials and my manufacturing background, I landed a job in a refinery in India that was implementing SAP. This was back in the year 2000, and I have since dabbled in several areas in SAP and for the past 8 years running large scale SAP transformations for our Life Sciences, Consumer Products and Retail clients. So is there a typical career path, I don’t think so. But personally, the initial years in industry and walking the floor gave me a great foundation.
Clarkston Career Story
How long have you been with Clarkston?
I’ve been with Clarkston for almost 17 years.
What is your role at Clarkston?
I’m currently the SAP Practice Lead and a Client Solutions Executive at Clarkston.
Tell us about a new skill you’ve developed recently.
I’ve recently been learning more about SAP Signavio, a cloud-based Business Process Management (BPM) solution that helps organizations to model, analyze, optimize, and execute their business processes.
How has your work changed post-COVID?
90% of the work happens remotely, be it project delivery or sales.
Which internal initiatives, communities, or projects are you involved in at Clarkston?
I am involved with the SAP community and our DE+I initiatives.
What drove you to accept Clarkston’s employment offer?
I chose Clarkston because of a friend’s reference and Clarkston’s deep industry focus!
Curious about an SAP career at Clarkston?
- Check out our SAP Jobs page!
- Learn how you can develop your career at Clarkston by visiting our Careers page.