Are BPX and Solution Architect Roles a Myth?

Listen in with your Enterprise Geeks friends in this content gold episode where they host a roundtable discussion regarding IT Project Roles. This week, hosts Thomas and Ed are joined with experts and fellow eGheads Jon Reed of JonERP.com and Leonardo De Araujo of Beyond Technologies. The discussion aims to clarify traditional Functional and Technical roles as well as the newcomer roles of BPX and Solution Architect.

This episode was originally planned to cover both the topics of the SAP Community Developer License and the IT Project Roles roundtable. Both sessions had so much great content, we wanted to make them both available separately in their entirety. Because of this decision, we have split this episode into two separate parts. You can check out the first part of this episode here.

Dearest eGheads, we need your show ideas. If you have questions, suggestions, or topic ideas for future episodes, give us a shout here. Enjoy!

Running Time: 71 minutes

Talking Points

1. 00:10 – Segway into the Roundtable
2. 00:45 – IT Project Roles Roundtable Discusssion
   • 04:21 (Ed) Setting up the stage
   • 06:45 (Jon) Is BPX a new role or a refinement of existing roles?
   • 12:33 (Leo) Clearing up the “Functional” role?
   • 16:05 (Jon) Origins of the term BPX
   • 19:46 (Tom) Does SAP use BPX in their own environment?
   • 24:55 (Ed) The importance of a business process champion
   • 26:53 (Ed) The parallels of the BPX and the Solution Architect
   • 28:25 (Tom) Why you need to value technical skills and technical people
   • 31:25 (Leo & Jon) Where functionals and technicals fit in the hierarchy and why there is a growing need for more senior roles like BPX and Solution Architect
   • 37:20 (Ed) Where do Project Managers fit into the picture?
   • 41:10 (Thomas) All projects are not created equal
   • 43:05 (Leo) The Y Path
   • 46:27 (Jon) Defining and choosing meaningful career paths
   • 48:35 (Ed & Jon) Enterprise Architect vs. Solution Architect
   • 51:55 (Thomas) Standardization vs. Customization
   • 54:53 (Leo) Don’t forget about Change Management
   • 56:42 Final thoughts from the crew
3. 61:18 – Wrap up with Apple Tablet fever and Football fanatics