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In ERP implementation roles and responsibilities of ERP consultant are well defined and also crucial for its success. The consultants can be categorized into two categories, functional and technical consultants. Both of these play their vital role in conceptualizing, designing, implementing and maintaining ERP system. ERP consultants can be independent professionals hired by ERP providing or buying company or can be regular employees of either party. The roles and responsibilities of ERP consultants have such a huge impact over entire effort that these can be the difference between successful and failed implementation. In implementation functional consultant steps in first and prepares 'As Is' document. This document contains detailed description of present working of the entire organization, it also explains problem areas, areas which can be improved through ERP, replacement of redundant processes and ways to increase efficiency of the company through ERP. This document once approved by the customer allows functional consultant to Map the requirements of the customer with ERP and also do GAP analysis which describes the gaps between requirements of the customer, present work flow and the working process of the ERP. After Gap analysis and Mapping functional consultants work with technical consultants to find out ways to bridge the gaps and fulfill customer's requirements without compromising the benefits of ERP. These are roles and responsibilities of ERP consultants in the pre-implementation process. Technical consultants identify the requirements related to technology, they suggest solutions and give technical advice about servers, database, hardware, operating system and number of license etc. Functional consultant suggests the best suitable option to the customer according to allocated budget. Together functional and technical consultants also identify the crucial data which has to be transferred to the new system. These are roles and responsibilities of ERP consultants fulfilled by functional and technical consultants together. Later, for time being, technical consultants take over all the roles and responsibilities of ERP consultants. They install server, operating systems and ERP application, they link ERP database with all the points of input and also with other databases. If it is internet based system it is installed and tested along with security features. Technical consultants design business processes and architecture of the system and also write test cases to test the entire system before handing it over for practical use. Once ERP has been installed and tested, functional consultants train the staff and provide all the details of the system to run it smoothly. They document entire handling mechanism so that system does not shut down or malfunction later due to bad or wrong entries or mishandling. Functional consultants also document the changes made in the ERP for matching-up with company's working so that these can be referred for future changes. The roles and responsibilities of ERP consultants are very important and crucial for ERP's success, in order to shoulder these consultants shall posses sound knowledge of their respective fields and also good communication and presentation skills. ERP consultants shall remain impartial during entire process and strive to implement the software in a way that it gives maximum benefits to the customer. Read about ERP Implementation Cost Timeframe. Also know Causes of ERP Failure. Read about Customization of ERP Software.
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