^{SAP Talent Shortages in Tunisia: How Staff Augmentation Bridges the Skills Gap}

Tunisia is continuing to make progress on its digital transformation strategy as organizations in all industries work to modernize their operations, move to the cloud, and create visibility of their data. SAP is being used as a strategic component of enterprise strategy, and the applications are growing in use across all types of enterprises, including manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, and public administration — but there has also been a rise in SAP adoption; a major issue for organizations is a lack of local qualified SAP professionals.

There is an increased demand for SAP professionals in Tunis, Tunisia's capital and economic center. There are three groups of organizations — large corporations, government organizations and rapidly growing private businesses — all competing against each other for the few available certified SAP professionals. The disparity in supply versus demand has led to delays in project completion, increased cost for hiring, and increased risk to the organization as a whole. More organizations are choosing to use staff augmentation as a way to resolve their SAP skills gaps.

Tunisia continues to achieve great strides in its digital transformation strategy through using technology to modernize all sectors of the economy, transition to cloud computing, and create data visibility. SAP has emerged as a key part of this enterprise strategy and as SAP users, the use of the various applications continues to grow in all of Tunisia's economy: manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, and public administration. However, another challenge organizations face when implementing the software is not having professionals with SAP certification on staff.

The demand for SAP certified professionals is increasing in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia and its largest centre for business. There are three categories of competing organizations in the race for the few available certified SAP professionals: large corporations, government organizations, and rapidly growing private businesses. When there are less qualified professionals available than there are positions to fill, organizations experience delays in completing projects, increased costs associated with hiring staff from outside of Tunisia, and an increased risk to the entire business due to the lack of qualified personnel. A lot of organizations are utilizing the staff augmentation model to address the gaps between their employees' SAP skillsets and the skills needed to implement SAP applications.

As Tunisia continues to make progress on its digital transformation efforts by leveraging technology to modernize its entire economy, move to cloud-based computing, and enhance data visibility across the country, SAP has played an integral role as part of this effort. The number of organizations that use SAP applications in Tunisia's economy, which includes many of Tunisia's key industries, such as manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, and government, continues to increase. Organizations face many challenges when trying to implement SAP solutions, including a significant lack of available SAP-certified professionals.

The demand for SAP-certified professionals in Tunisia is growing rapidly, particularly in the capital of Tunisia and major business hub, Tunis, where the greatest number of hiring companies are located. There are three primary categories of competing companies attempting to hire one of the few SAP-certified professionals: large corporations, public sector organizations, and rapidly growing privately held businesses. All of these competing organizations share similar recruitment challenges, such as: 1) the supply of qualified SAP-certified professionals is far less than the number of available positions requiring these skills, resulting in project delays as many organizations cannot complete their projects within their planned timelines; 2) increased costs due to recruiting qualified professionals from outside of Tunisia to fill SAP positions; and 3) increased risk to the entire organization due to the inability to hire qualified professionals. Many organizations have turned to the staff augmentation model to help reduce the gap between their employees' current SAP skills and the skills required to successfully implement SAP within their organizations.

^{Full-Time Employed Workers: Not Always the Way to Go}

Initially, organizations may look to fill the skills gaps through the hiring of permanent employees for SAP roles. This would be a costly commitment due to limited flexibility.

The nature of SAP projects tends to be dynamic in nature. Throughout the blueprint phase, businesses typically need a functional consultant. However, once integration occurs, technical resources are required, and after go-live, AMS support and optimization specialists are typically needed.

When companies maintain a substantial full-time SAP team on an ongoing basis, these costs can place strain on organizational budgets when demand for projects can shift. Therefore, when evaluating how to fill resource gaps, an organization may find that collaborating with a SAP freelance consultant or utilizing staff augmentation is a more effective approach.

^{How Staff Augmentation Can Help With the SAP Skills Shortage}

With staff augmentation, companies can engage the services of experienced SAP professionals on a project-by-project basis, giving them quick access to specialist skills without having to go through the time-consuming process of recruiting full-time employees.

The following are some of the benefits that Tunisian companies can gain from using staff augmentation services:

^{1. Faster Completion of Projects}

Hiring SAP Consultants through staff augmentation allows for less time spent on downtime and faster project timelines. The use of skilled individuals allows for the advancement of digital projects without unnecessary delays.

^{2. Access to Global Expertise}

Typically, an experienced SAP freelance consultant has been involved with international SAP projects, and therefore brings with him/her a great deal of experience and knowledge with regard to best practices. Tunisian companies benefit by receiving advanced methodologies, structured documentation practices, and optimized process design.

^{3. Cost Control and Budget Flexibility}

Staff augmentation allows companies to reduce their overall fixed overhead costs. Companies pay for the services of experts only when they are needed. This model provides better budget predictability while still having access to the highest level of skills.

^{4. Flexible Scalable Resources}

SAP needs change throughout the lifecycle of a project, and staff augmentation provides companies the ability to either increase or decrease their resources at any time, i.e., during migration, testing, integration or during the ongoing support of the project.

^{5. Absorbing Knowledge}

SAP consultants who have come from outside also provide assistance with mentoring internal teams, transferring their expertise to the company, and developing the long-term expertise of the company through knowledge transfer to ensure that the company continues to grow after the exit of the outside consultant.

^{Tunisia represents the ideal environment for Staff Augmentation.}

In addition to its strong technical universities, Tunisia's growing IT ecosystem is struggling to keep pace with the demand for specialized SAP certifications and skill sets, particularly in the current environment where digital transformation is taking place not only throughout Tunisia but also throughout the entire region. Due to the need for flexible workforce models as digital transformation continues to expand, businesses in Tunisia are looking to capitalize on this demand for SAP talent.

The advantages of adding impact to the Tunisian economy and global markets through Staff Augmentation include:

• Reducing reliance on a very limited local talent pool
  
  
• Opening up access to SAP experts in the regional and global marketplace
  
  
• Supporting the government's digital transformation initiatives
  
  
• Increasing the competitiveness of export-driven industries
  
  

Using a hybrid workforce approach that utilizes both internally developed staff and external SAP specialists can help businesses compete in a rapidly changing digital economy.

^{Strategic Expansion Through Intelligent SAP Recruitment}

The journey toward digital transformation is never a complete project, but instead a continual process. Companies that do not respond to the SAP skill shortages in their organization will struggle to stay competitive with those who are moving more quickly and effectively than they are.

Choosing to employ a consultant for SAP professionals through staff augmentation allows you to obtain the following:

1. Speed of obtaining consultants
   
   
2. Expert knowledge and experience in using SAP solutions
   
   
3. Financial flexibility in relation to employee costs for consultants
   
   
4. Reduction of operational risk with regards to employees you do not know
   
   
5. Sustainable development of knowledge
   
   

Businesses that are quick to adopt flexible strategies to acquire talent will find themselves among the leaders in Tunisia's growing digital environment.

^{Take Action With Assurance}

Your business is looking to implement a new or enhanced SAP system in Tunisia. You must act before the SAP "skill pool" closes at a rapid pace. Your level of competitive advantage will be largely determined by how quickly you can respond to SAP's current job openings.

You should engage an SAP professional who not only has experience in SAP but also understands global SAP standards as well as how these standards operate within a Tunisian context. You can also fill your organization with talent via staff augmentation to ensure that you provide talented people to your organization at the right time.