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What Is an ERP Consultant? And Do I Need One?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems make business accounting feel like a breeze, but implementing them can sometimes prove challenging. According to statistics, at least half or more of ERP implementations fail to meet their objectives, which is why it’s so critical to onboard a seasoned ERP consultant to help your organization through the process.
But if this is your first implementation, you might need help figuring out where to start. This is why we created this thorough guide here at Xledger. In it, we’ll look at everything there is to know about ERP consultants and how to find the right one for your organization.
What Does An ERP Consultant Do?
ERP consultants are specialists who assist organizations in implementing and optimizing ERP software systems. As an expert project manager, the consultant’s primary goal is to ensure the smooth, successful, and efficient integration of the ERP system.
This includes contributing to the planning of resources needed for implementation and ensuring the ERP system is tailored to each organization’s unique needs. With the expertise of ERP consultants, businesses might be able to make the most of their new application and run a high risk of not deploying it adequately.
In a nutshell, their main tasks and responsibilities include:
- Selecting the right ERP system for your business
- Managing project implementation
- Training operators and organization leaders on how to use ERP.
- Optimizing workflows
- Customize the ERP to meet the unique needs of your business
- Ensuring ERP implementation delivers enhanced value to your organization
Businesses typically contact ERP consultants early in the decision-making process and contract their services until the project is fully deployed.
Once an ERP consultant is on board, their first order of business is typically to meet with different stakeholders at the company and determine their unique needs. After they do, the ERP consultant will help develop an implementation plan for the organization and manage it through completion.
By developing a thorough implementation plan, ERP consultants can ensure the adoption of the new system is seamless. Since ERP systems are used by most departments within an organization, their integration is conducted in a way that provides minimal disruption to day-to-day business activities.
What Makes a Good ERP Consultant?
Experience and a track record of successful implementations are key criteria in determining if an ERP consultant is a suitable candidate for your organization. But you’ll also want to ensure your ERP consultant has the right skills for the job.
That includes fundamental competencies such as:
- Project management
- Technical expertise
- Being an effective communicator
- Having excellent people skills to deal with the various personalities involved in the process
- Having excellent business acumen
- Problem-solving skills.
However, in addition to these core skills, it’s equally important, in some cases more, to work with an ERP consultant who has a thorough grasp of your industry.
Working with someone with experience in your industry is optional. But working with an expert in your field can differentiate between a successful implementation and a potential failure for organizations with complex operations or operating in intricate niches.
That’s because the nuances of implementing an ERP for various industries or organization structures can be very different from one another.
For instance, a shipping company might have more distinct operational needs than a non-profit. In such cases, the implementation could face severe challenges tied to unforeseeable complexities unique to the industry.
Do I Need an ERP Consultant?
In most cases, having an ERP consultant as part of your implementation process is the most effective way to ensure a successful software deployment.
Failed implementations can end up costing companies thousands of dollars in the costs associated with the deployment. This makes investing in an ERP consultant practically a no-brainer.
Bringing an experienced consultant on board can save you money and resources and ensure your business doesn’t stop in its tracks if the implementation lags or fails. That’s particularly true when your company deals with complex operational processes with many moving parts.
The only instance where it would make sense to implement an ERP without an ERP consultant would be if the expertise of your internal team meets or exceeds that of an outside contractor.
For example, the organization may have a team with previous experience implementing ERPs for other businesses or branches of the organization. But in most cases, this is the exception and not the norm.
Hiring an ERP consultant for your implementation also comes in handy for reasons that fall outside the scope of project management. If your organization needs specific optimization done to the ERP system or aspires to optimize its processes, investing in an ERP consultant can go a long way.
Choosing the Right ERP Implementation Consultant
At Xledger, we know the tremendous value of contracting an ERP consultant for implementations, so we always go out of our way to ensure the finest lead for our software deployments.
Unlike other ERPs, Xledger implementations have the highest success rate in the industry. While most others struggle to achieve every other implementation, we have an almost flawless success rate of 98%.
The key to our success? An obsession with customer satisfaction, out-of-this-world support, and a team of ex-CPAs and ex-CFOs who have turned into ERP consultants and are at the forefront of every implementation project we undertake.
Don’t leave your implementation success up for chance. If you’re looking for an ERP consultant who can help you get the job done correctly the first time around, book a free one-on-one demo with one of our ERP consultants today.
From there, our experts will guide you every step of the way.
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