The model
Why an independent specialist, not an SI bench
The systems-integrator model has a structural problem your procurement team already knows about: the people who win the deal are not the people who do the work, and the business model rewards more bodies for more months. None of that is malice — it's just what a bench has to optimize for. With the 2027 deadline compressing demand (rise in sap consulting rates expected into the deadline, as demand outstrips supply), those incentives get worse, not better.
An independent specialist inverts the model. One senior practitioner, fixed scope, and a reputation that depends entirely on the last engagement — there is nothing else to sell you.
| The bench model | The independent model |
|---|---|
| The pitch team is senior; the delivery team is whoever's on the bench. | The person on the sales call is the person in your code. There is no bait and switch because there is no bench. |
| Revenue scales with headcount × day rate — the incentive is a longer project with more people. | Fixed scope, fixed price. The incentive is to finish well and be invited back for the next problem. |
| Methodology is a slide deck; the working knowledge lives in juniors learning on your budget. | The methodology is public — open-source tooling, a published curriculum, inspectable working software. |
| Knowledge leaves when the engagement ends. | Every engagement is built around upskilling your team — training, code review as teaching, documentation you own. |
What you give up — honestly
One person doesn't staff a 40-developer rollout, doesn't work three workstreams in parallel, and takes holidays. If you need a bench, hire a bench — ideally after an independent assessment has defined exactly what to buy from it, so the day rates go toward remediation instead of discovery. The independent model fits when the work is deep rather than wide: assessing and de-risking a custom-code estate, modernizing the highest-risk objects, and making your existing team capable of the rest.
Four questions to ask any vendor
- Who exactly will write the code, and can we speak to them before signing?
- What happens to our price if the project takes longer than estimated?
- Show us something you've shipped that we can inspect today — code, a tool, a course.
- How does our team get more capable during this engagement, not just our codebase?
Every answer here is on this site: the practitioner is on the about page, the pricing is fixed and public, the shipped work is open source and inspectable, and team capability is its own product line.
Akshay Palimkar
Founder & Principal SAP Consultant
Akshay has spent 15 years building and modernizing SAP ABAP — from classic reports and BDC (brittle screen-automation scripts) to RAP and CDS (SAP's modern app and data layers) and Clean Core on S/4HANA.
- Author of the open-source ABAP & RAP Utilities library — 39 modules, 24 cloud-ready.
- Built Clean Core Academy — a 17-module interactive ABAP modernization course.
- 15 years hands-on across ABAP, S/4HANA, RAP, CDS and Clean Core.
Compare us against any SI proposal
Bring their statement of work to a free 30-minute call. We'll tell you what's worth buying from them — and what isn't.