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​This month in our ongoing blog series Bang Your Drum, we look at the qualities employers are searching for in SAP Security Consultants – those charged with ensuring vital enterprise systems are safe from the prying eyes of cybercriminals and compliant with security requirements.

Whether you have a background in networking, infrastructure, database administration or development, your security knowledge and skill will be instrumental to the success – or otherwise – of any project or implementation.

WHAT TO KNOW

Many organisations simply could not execute their responsibilities effectively without SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in place. With the increasing complexity of such systems however, vulnerabilities tend to emerge as more and more applications and modules are added to manage crucial business processes. If you can get yourself ahead of the curve by following the advice below, you’ll be helping lock in a good career in SAP Security.

1. Get modular

As with other roles in the SAP field, the more modules you are comfortable with the more capable you’ll be seen to be. There are a wide array of security modules to consider, so get as much experience across as many of them as you can to flesh out your knowledge of the SAP security landscape. That kind of big-picture expertise will be sure to make you stand out from the competition.

2. GRC? Yes please

In addition to the SAP Security skills you’ll be expected to have, more and more of our clients are requesting candidates have experience in SAP GRC Access Control & Process Control modules as well. When you consider how vital compliance, plus risk and fraud management protocols are to the security health of an organisation, then gaining a good understanding of how the technical demands of security and the policy based nature of GRC can work together should be a no-brainer.

3. Take command of your communication

Let’s face it – as the Security Consultant, you’re going to be bridging the gap between the technical guys, and users at the business end. Needless to say, these are two very different crowds with two different languages. Mastering your communication skills and being able to speak across that divide is increasingly coming to be seen as a fundamental requirement by today’s employers.

4. Field intelligence

One of the most critical skills required for SAP Security Consultants is the capacity to translate functional specs into technical designs, and vice versa. This sort of analytical capability is what makes the difference between the ability to conceive theoretically sound but impracticable security solutions, or delivering something as near to bulletproof as can be.

5. Security updates

You’re in the technology game. And it never stops. New exploits and vulnerabilities emerge every day. As more companies move their operations to the cloud or open their data up to ever more mobile devices and workflows, it’s more important than ever to be up to date with emerging technologies and the security implications they may have. Stay abreast of the latest trends and keep an eye on where threats are likely to emerge, and the likelihood of being snapped up as a security guru will increase accordingly.

As with most things SAP related, knowledge is worth its weight in gold. Given the absolute necessity of ensuring system security in the face of increasingly lucrative cyber-attacks upon organisations, developing your expertise in SAP Security will make you one of the most valuable investments a company can make. Perhaps it’s time to stake out some of the opportunities that await you out there…