ERP Consultants – Technical Vs Functional
Most of the business houses and big organizations are opting for ERP consultants nowadays. An ERP system is adapted to the customer’s business process and is made industry specific. The demand for ERP system has increased the need for ERP consultants to implement the system. The consultant is required to understand the business process and manage the day to day functioning of an ERP system in the organization. These consultants can be functional consultants and technical consultants. The functional consultants need to have knowledge of business process and should know the functionalities of the different modules. The technical ERP consultant needs to provide the technical support for evaluation, implementation and after sales to the client.
Functional consultants and Technical consultants both are required for conceptualizing, designing, implementing and for maintaining an ERP system. Both technical as well as functional consultants have their roles and responsibilities well defined and offer their respective expertise to the projects. The functional ERP consultant vs technical ERP consultant is required to offer his work before the start of the implementation phase. He has to outline the scope of the business functions which will be implemented in the ERP system.
The consultant has to identify the problems that occur during the implementation phase and address the issues. He acts like an advisor and suggests the improvements that can be done to improve the existing business process of the customer. He needs to take care of the communication between the core team members. He is required to map the needs of the client and suggest an appropriate solution accordingly. All these steps take place in the pre implementation phase and then the implementation phase starts once the customer is satisfied. The functional consultant has to prepare documents regarding the needs and the solutions provided. These documents need to be approved by the client and his project manager to go ahead with the GAP analysis. He needs to handle the coordination and interaction between the module consultants and technical consultants.
Technical ERP consultant has a different set of roles and responsibilities from that of a functional ERP consultant. The technical consultant needs to be well versed with the latest technologies and work of the programming and coding aspects of the system. He has to trouble shoot the errors and fix the bugs if present in the system.
A technical consultant is usually not involved in the pre implementation phase and becomes active once the implementation phase starts. The consultant may not directly interact with the client but needs to interact with the financial consultant and the project manager for updating them on the progress of customization. This technical consultant looks at the modification process of the application according to the requirements of the client. One cannot say who is more important in functional ERP consultant vs. Technical ERP consultant as both are required for the implementation process. There has to be a sound coordination between both the consultants in order to work on the project smoothly and complete it on time.
Read about Disadvantages of ERP Software. Also know Tally 9 Features, Advantages.
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