If your idea survives the internal competition, it will likely be a winner in the external market
Pros
- SAP has a huge impact on how companies, large and small, run their business. Assuming you can convince SAP to bring some concept to market, you will change the work lives of a great many people. For those motivated by having an impact, there are few places where you could have more leverage. - SAP really values doing things right. Employees are proud of the company's reputation for "German quality engineering". Management actually pays attention to arguments based on architectural principles. Values are placed ahead of short-term financial gain (usually). - SAP appreciates that people have lives outside of work. - SAP is prepared to re-invent itself, even while growing and being profitable. Any company can re-invent itself when headed downwards, but SAP is willing to re-invent itself on the up-slope.
Cons
- SAP is a very big company -- over 50,000 employees -- and inefficiencies abound. Compared to the experience of working at a smaller company, at SAP there are plenty of resources to bring to bear on problems that need to be solved. But unfortunately many of those resources are currently aimed at problems that don't need to be solved. - It is hard to navigate through SAP. Knowing who to contact requires tapping into the tribal sources of knowledge. - SAP can be extremely political. The most important tool at SAP is your personal network. Being able to line up support can be critical to accomplishing an objective.
