What Does an Implementation Consultant Do?

ERP implementation consultants refer to relevant practitioners engaged in ERP software installation, maintenance, consulting, and training. Generally speaking, ERP consultants have two career development paths, one is the expert consultant type, and the other is the enterprise manager type. Expert consultant type: junior consultant become intermediate consultant, senior consultant after work accumulation grow into expert consultant in a few years. Enterprise manager type: junior consultant project manager CIO or entrepreneurship to become a business manager.

ERP implementation consultant

The ERP implementation consultant is the group that takes the company's ERP implementation as their responsibility and invests a lot of manpower, financial resources and energy to ensure that this implementation goal is achieved. They are proficient in ERP theory and the use of ERP software. They are proficient in using project implementation methodologies and can effectively deal with various problems that arise during the implementation. They are experts in business management. Many people have extensive experience in implementing different ERP projects in different industries. Handy at all stages of project implementation.

ERP implementation consultants are responsible for all phases of the project implementation to ensure that the required operations are completed within the required time and at the required level of quality, and that those who must participate are truly highly effective. In order to fulfill their promise, they need to translate the skills and methods they have mastered into the actual work planthe methods must be detailed into tasks and implemented to specific individuals. The timing of each stage and each task must also be determined, so as to finalize the project plan. The consultants brought additional value to the project. Their practical experience benefited the company a lot. They knew what to do and what should not be done, thereby avoiding the "wrong-correct" implementation approach.

ERP implementation consultants usually refer to relevant practitioners engaged in ERP software installation, maintenance, consulting, and training.

Practitioners can take computer-related certificates:

1. According to the internal and external environment and resources of the enterprise, analyze the feasibility of establishing an ERP system, and scientifically formulate the strategic goals of the ERP project;

2. Determine the company's requirements for ERP, including functional, time, and efficiency requirements;

3. Analyze the gap between the current status of enterprise management and the ERP system implemented, and formulate

The growth of ERP implementation consultants requires accumulation, which is difficult to achieve quickly, and needs to be continuously improved and improved in the face of setbacks and failures.

1. Certain technical foundation.

As an ERP software implementation consultant, you ca nt help understanding your product. Of course, you can understand it roughly. You do nt need to be as proficient as a technical engineer. You have to be able to answer most of the questions asked by customers. The emphasis is on breadth rather than depth. If your depth is good enough, it will be more favorable. If you do nt have enough depth and often ca nt answer the customer s questions, it does nt matter. The key is to leave a buffer and you need to know where you can get help and support. A good ERP implementation consultant should know how to schedule resources.

2. Industry knowledge.

Industry knowledge is so vast that no one can master it all. To grasp your positioning, you have to understand what all the products have, but you have to choose a direction and become an expert in this area. You need to be both broad and professional. Don't be too greedy, you only need to know a lot of frameworks. When you use them, you can search and find them quickly. Time and energy are extremely limited, and some things need to be given up.

3. Management knowledge and project management knowledge.

Should have a wealth of management knowledge. To maintain a good relationship with customers, we must have a good sense of service. The client management is the best resource for project promotion, and they must obtain their full trust and cooperation. If you don't know management knowledge, you can hardly convince customers and accept. The reason why ERP software needs an implementation consultant is that the implementation consultant can make it alive through resource scheduling. No product is perfect, but a conscientious and excellent implementation consultant can make up for the product itself. There is everything in management knowledge on the Internet, just looking at the absorptive capacity of the individual. Another good learning path is client-side managers, whose management experience is more effective. Therefore, during the implementation of the project, we can actually learn a lot of management knowledge. This is also one of the temptations and charms of this work.

As an ERP implementation consultant, in addition to understanding management, ERP software, and implementation methodology, you also need to master some ways of doing things. Good working methods allow consultants to quickly gain customer trust and solve problems quickly during the project.

1.Build and share credibility

Position yourself accurately and actively build your credibility.

2. Building customer confidence

Even if you have cooperated or contacted before, or even the customer signed the bill because of you, in the initial stage of the ERP project, the customer will re-check your confidence and ability to ensure that they choose you correctly.

3.Add value to customers

Try to exceed customer expectations and add value to customers.

4. Effective time management

Time is the property of the company's products and ERP implementation consultants. Time is also the scarcest resource in the world. Time must be effectively managed.

(1) Determine the priority of the work, and then work according to the established priority;

(2) Allocate sufficient time to the currently scheduled work;

5.Inspire customers to think

See more and ask more to inspire customers to think for themselves.

6.Encourage speaking ideas

When people start thinking, you need to think about feedback.

7. Grasp the recommended approach

When making suggestions to customers, be sure to be decent, and don't make customers feel that you are arrogant or interfere in a mess.

8.Speak with experience

During the implementation of the ERP project, there may be quite a few problems between the ERP implementation consultant and the client that cannot be "hit and go".

9.Proactively publicize the good news

Ever heard of "good things don't go out, bad things spread a thousand miles"? Method nine and method ten are to solve this problem.

10. Actively deal with bad news

When bad things inevitably occur, the first thing an ERP implementation consultant must do is analyze the importance of the problem.

11.Resolve problems quickly

Whether it is an ERP implementation consultant or a client, there are inevitably some deviations in understanding of ERP, project progress and resource scheduling, personal personality and work habits, mutual trust and work coordination. After all, people are not perfect. People and things are not static.

To become an excellent ERP implementation consultant, it takes a long process. You must pay more attention to it and experience it naturally. Always be able to stand lonely and quiet. Pay more and don't care too much about the return. Perseverance will eventually achieve positive results. An excellent ERP implementation consultant must have a bright future.

1. ERP implementation consultants need to understand the working procedures of each department and position of various enterprises, and have the ability to plan business processes. Have at least three or more different departments in the factory have actual work experience, important positions such as material control must have practical experience in this area, otherwise, only ERP will not know that the company and work procedures can not solve the various problems of enterprises of.

2. The working process of ERP implementation consultants: first plan the enterprise procedures: then understand the company's job descriptions: then conduct system training for each post in each category; then work out the basic settings and other tasks for each post; help the company go online.

3. Of course, the development prospects of ERP implementation consultants are certainly good, but the best thing to do is not to use only ERP software and do not understand the situation of the enterprise. If you are a fresh graduate and do not have experience in the enterprise, it is recommended not to do this job, which is seriously lacking. People with work experience who can only use ERP software can't do this job. You must have a generalist in each position of the enterprise before you can solve the problems raised by the professionals in each position of the enterprise. Their problem is not only how to use ERP software, but mainly about enterprise management planning issues. This situation was found in the implementation of all enterprises.

4. The salary of ERP implementation consultants also varies greatly among different software companies. For companies with very good sales, the implementation staff also implements many customers, then your salary is relatively high, but the sales situation is not the same The company has not sold ERP software, and you have hardly implemented it to several customers, so the salary must be low.

5. Whether you are doing development or implementation, no matter what your specialty is, but keep in mind that if you want to engage in the implementation of this industry, you must first work in an enterprise for more than four years before switching to an ERP implementation position. Invincible, difficult problem is difficult, if you do it right after graduation, you can't do it without company experience. If your specialty is very close to this aspect, and you don't want to accumulate experience in the enterprise, then you only have to do development.

1. Don't easily say "No" to customers

When a client asks a question, the consultant needs to judge whether it belongs to the implementation of the consultant. If it belongs to the implementation of the consultant and he is not clear, then the problem should be recorded and explained to the customer. Go back and ask the senior consultant to give an answer. If the problem does not belong to the erp category, for example: the customer proposes whether the erp system can automatically arrange the plan according to the ability system of mrp to run the order and the workshop.In practice this is impossible.

2. Never debase others

As an ERP implementation consultant, criticizing and blaming your colleagues, customers, and competitors will not help your reputation. To those over-committed sales representatives, developers who always have BUGs, and other ERP implementation consultants who have failed to complete their tasks, you can't show "helplessness", "complaining", "hate" in front of anyone. If a client's complaint about your co-worker is justified, or if you get angry with you about a co-worker's problem, you should never stay out of the business. It should be acknowledged first, and then the complaints should be dealt with in a timely manner, rather than belittle their colleagues, even if they agree.

Communication skills

Pay attention to your own image and body language. Customers should pay attention to each other when speaking, do not grab words, and do not have some bad little movements.

When you start talking about the project, you must understand the industry characteristics of the other company and the positions and academic qualifications of the participants in the negotiation. When you feel that the management knowledge and practical experience of the other party exceed your own, you should be humble and express your own opinions at critical moments And guide the topic to the ERP software. When you feel that the management knowledge of the other party is not as good as yourself, you should talk to the other party about the management problems and the solutions to the problems in the ERP software. Do not talk about the things that the system cannot solve.

4. Don't pursue "perfect" in theory

Be clear about the task-what we need is a simple, workable solution, not a theoretical "perfection".

5. Management issues

Due to the management confusion, the data collection is not timely. At this time, the ERP implementation consultant can propose some management solutions. The specific implementation consultant should not participate, and the enterprise should implement it.