An ERP implementation is scheduled perhaps every 20 years, or less frequently. On the one hand, this means that you probably have relatively little internal experience with such projects; on the other hand, it means that the project will have a decisive influence on the coming decades.
It is therefore understandable that you want the greatest possible security and certainty for the ERP implementation. Are you considering getting support from external consultants? In this article, you will find out when it makes sense to do so, which characteristics you should use to find suitable consultants and how you can work together optimally.
When do you need external support?
Many companies have successfully completed their ERP projects with internal resources alone. Others with external support. Whether you should work with external consultants when implementing ERP depends on your personal situation. Please ask yourself three questions:
- Do you have the confidence to implement ERP on your own, with your internal team and the support of the ERP provider?
- Do you have employees who have the necessary knowledge and skills?
- Can you also give these employees the time to take on the additional tasks?
In these articles you will find detailed information to help you answer the questions:
- What roles and skills do you need in your ERP project team?
- The complete ERP implementation process explained
If your answer to one of the questions is no, external consultants can be a useful option for reinforcement.
What types of ERP consultants are there?
In-house: You may have your own employees who already have experience with ERP systems.
ERP providers: The ERP providers have their own consulting teams, which are very experienced and competent due to the numerous customer projects. However, they are, of course, focused on their own solution. They therefore usually only come into play once you have shortlisted the ERP solution of the provider in question.
Third-party companies: These include IT consulting firms and also self-employed or freelance workers.
This article relates purely to the latter.
What are the benefits of working with external ERP consultants?
You benefit from external consultants in several aspects of ERP implementation:
Objective perspectives: They bring an independent point of view to projects. They are not influenced by internal structures, dynamics and conflicts and can therefore propose the best solutions for the company without bias.
Experience with large ERP projects: The consultants specialize in ERP systems and have usually gained extensive experience from various projects. Their knowledge of best practices and common pitfalls can significantly increase the success of the project.
Relief of internal resources: The implementation of an ERP system places a considerable burden on your teams. External support relieves your own employees and allows them to concentrate more on day-to-day business.
Risk minimization: Thanks to their expertise, external consultants can identify risks at an early stage and suggest countermeasures. This helps to avoid time and budget overruns. You may also feel more secure knowing that you have someone at your side who has an eye on everything.
What tasks do ERP consultants help with?
The specialists can supplement your team with these tasks during the ERP implementation:
Needs analysisWithin three to six months, you will get to know the company and thoroughly analyze all business processes. You identify optimization potential and specific requirements that the ERP system must meet. All these results are incorporated into the requirements specification, which serves as the basis for the project.
System selection: Based on the specifications, they compare available ERP systems. Thanks to their knowledge of the market, they can objectively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different systems. They make contact with the manufacturers and accompany the selection workshops and contract negotiations.
Project planning: Together with you and the manufacturer, they develop a feasible implementation plan. Among other things, this takes into account the time frame, costs and resources required to achieve the business and project goals.
As a rule, the collaboration ends when the contract is signed. From then on, the manufacturer takes over. However, some also offer to accompany the project and the implementation phase.
How do you recognize suitable ERP consultants?
Of course, ERP consultants must have relevant training and professional experience in the ERP environment. That goes without saying. They should also understand the specific challenges and requirements of your industry. They need the ability to identify these problems and propose suitable solutions. Experience from successful Projects in the same industry and with similar companies are therefore indispensable.
You can tell whether this is the case by positive references: talk to former customers and ask them to tell you about the collaboration and the results. Online reviews on professional networks also provide orientation.
Last but not least, the person should also harmonize with your company and your team on a personal and cultural level: Some may be better suited to a family-run medium-sized company, others to an international corporation. Listen to your gut feeling and that of your team during the initial interviews.
The final responsibility for the project remains with you.
Your personal responsibility as a customer
Even if external specialists have significantly more expertise than you internally, the final responsibility for the project remains with you. The consultants can help with project management but should not take on this task alone. There are always difficult, unpopular decisions to be made. You (as the internal project manager) must make and explain these. In such cases, the external consultants should not have to act as “scapegoats” or “bearers of bad news”.
Of course you trust the people you hire. Nevertheless, you can critically scrutinize their recommendations. Consultants usually know certain ERP systems better than others and cannot keep an overview of the entire provider market. Your own research may provide further starting points.
Consultants also tend to take on a lot of requirementsand want to implement everything at once. This is understandable. As an external party, they don’t want to constantly reject requests and get into internal conflicts. Here again, your personal responsibility as the client is required to establish and implement a sensible prioritization.
Conclusion: Calculate costs and benefits
External consultants can provide crucial support during ERP implementation thanks to their extensive know-how. Whether you need them is up to you. One aspect still needs to be addressed: Of course, consulting is not free. Daily rates of EUR 1,000 upwards are common. If several months of work are required, this adds up to a large block of costs. You must take this into account in your project budget and your ROI calculation.
If the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for you: Select consultants just as carefully as the other members of the project team. Think about where you mainly need support and what profile is required. And make sure that your team supports the decision and will work constructively with the external consultants.
