Essential Skills Required for Becoming an ERP Consultant

ERP consultants are generally hired in large corporations and business houses. This type of consulting mainly involves both business skills and technical skills. Before knowing the skills and the attributes of an ERP consultant, let us figure out the job roles of the ERP consultant. The Enterprise Resource Planning consultant is responsible for all the implementation activities of the enterprise resources. He should handle the overall daily activities of supply chain management. The consultants should provide assistance for managing the requirements of the business. They also help in monitoring or optimizing the system for managing the technical components and the overall business procedures. Now, let us go through the requirements for becoming an ERP consultant:

Education Background: The basic education required for ERP consultation should be the knowledge of computers. The consultant must have the skills to operate the technical and functional features of the software. The knowledge on the hardware can act as an add-on with his basic skills. He should be familiar with the fundamentals of Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle.

erp consultant essentials

Business Knowledge: A basic knowledge of business activities is required for becoming an ERP consultant. The operations and the flow process of the business should be well understood by the consultant. For implementing an ERP application, the business environment should be comprehended properly. Every industry may include its unique business drivers and the ERP implementation activities should be customized according to the specific business.

Problem Solver: Yes, an ERP consultant must be a good problem solver. He must have an attitude of accepting challenges and finding out the solutions of different problems.

Communication Skills: For becoming a successful consultant, you must have a great communication skill. You should be able to provide a prompt reply to all the queries of your clients and must have a good convincing skill.

Module Knowledge: The basic knowledge about few modules is required such as the Inventory, General Ledger, and Purchase. The functionalities and the features of the modules should be known by the consultant for the basic operations.

Proper Training: A formal training for the usages of ERP platforms is required. Though, a hands-on approach is more helpful for the training purpose, online training is also available. The tutorial sections that are available online can prove to be a great resource for the newbie to learn about the applications of the ERP platforms.

Business Intelligence Tools: There are various business intelligence tools that help in the smooth performance of the ERP programs. For example, the ERP consultant should have the knowledge about the Discoverer business tool.

Importance of ERP: The consultant must be aware of the importance of the ERP platform. He should have the basic knowledge about the importance of ERP in an organization. This will help in communicating confidently with the clients if you have a strong knowledge on your fundamentals.

erp consultant

Free of Cost: At the initial stage, you should agree to offer free services to your clients. This will help to exhibit your potential in front of them and will make you more confident from within yourself.

This consulting job is really rewarding if you fulfill the basic requirements. The good communication skill, technical knowledge of ERP, problem solving aptitude, convincing skills can sum up for a successful ERP consultant. You should also possess patience as there are lot of planning, testing, organizing, co-coordinating and implementing process throughout the ERP solutions. Sometimes you may require providing various views on different problems and may perform some training activities to the new users. So, if you can follow all the mentioned requirements, you can easily jump start your career as an ERP consultant.

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Christy Bella: Blogger by Passion | Contributor to many Tech Blogs in the United Kingdom | Fascinated to Write Blogs in Business & Startup Niches |