Two curves are crossing in the SAP ecosystem: the demand curve of every ECC customer migrating on roughly the same deadline, and the supply curve of the consultants who know those systems — many of whom are aging out of the workforce.
Where the shortage bites first
Not in the glamour skills. The scarcity is in the unglamorous middle: consultants who understand both the old world and the new — the people who can look at a twenty-year-old customization and know what it was for.
What it does to buyers
Rates rise, benches thin, and the gap between a partner’s brand and a partner’s actual available team widens. Verifying who is really on your project stops being diligence theater and becomes the whole game.
What smart organizations are doing
Booking earlier, contracting for named people rather than roles, and investing in their own internal SAP bench so knowledge stops walking out the door at go-live. The talent crunch is a forecastable problem — which makes planning for it a choice.
