What is ERP

many a times, people always ask me this question. . . . What do i do ? I am working as a functional consultant in the field of ERP. Then they ask me the next question whats ERP. Be it employees in the companies implementing ERP or new consultants joining this field or the outside world or even the layman……….. everyone ask this very popular question ….’Whats ERP’.  And let me try explaining to you in very simple terms.

ERP is a concept of INTEGRATING the various Business Functions (0r activities) of a company (or enterprise) (or organization).

The following are the business functions in an enterprise

• Sales
• Purchase
• Production
• Inventory
• Accounts

This is the first part of the definition for ERP. In this first part, the most important keyword is INTEGRATION.  Because long back, the various departments in an industry or company like Purchase department, sale department, finance department or production department, each department functioned separately.

For example finance department does not know how many purchase order are pending to be received this month. The sales department does not know whats the stock of the finished goods as of now, cause only the production department knows how much of stock has been completed.  Such kind of separate functioning between departments posed a threat to the company to be effective in its operations. This is whats is called Islands of Information.

Islands of information

So there came a concept where people felt a need to integrate the various departments. In particular to integrate the information that is available on various departments. This integration helps in making effective business decisions.

So this concept of integrating business functions of company is implemented in the form of SOFTWARE called ERP software.

ERP software poll

All about Consulting

Being a functional consultant in the field of ERP, i have always wondered what CONSULTING is all about. What makes a good consultant ??????? What’s the job profile all about ??????

In generic terms, Consulting – consultant is all about giving ‘expert advice’ in one’s stronghold subject. This word is widely used in various professional scenarios. Here i have analyzed unique attributes of consulting mainly in terms of business and software.

Consulting is all about BUSINESS – dealing with firms in trouble – firms on the move. They need your expert advice to improve their business process.
Consulting is all about PEOPLE– clients – service industry – relationships – partnerships – networking – business contacts.
Consulting is all about COMMUNICATION– listening – presentations – explaining – conveying your thought . Good communicators always do well in consulting-understanding client needs
Consulting is all about DOCUMENTATION– writing – to document business process  – mails – flowcharts- data flow diagram – entity relationship diagram.

You need to document each and every move you take regarding the implementation process. Be it the business process study or To-Be mapping or Change Management or Testing……everything needs to be documented. Documentation in this job profile is enormous when compared to others. ERP giants like Oracle and SAP, each have their unique template for documenting things. One should have a good communication skills (written communication) to convey things in writing.
Consulting is all about BRAIN WORK – stretching and using your brain – ideas – insight – research  – suggestion – thinking . Consulting is purely about intellectual capital. You need to update yourself regarding the past – present and future development in your field of advice. Creativity-knowledge – deeper wisdom in specific  areas are something unique in consulting – in-depth understanding of business functions and  sound knowledge is a MUST
Consulting is all about TEAMWORK

– getting things done from people –
Being able to pull together persons with large egos to achieve a common goal together
Consulting is all about PROBLEM and PROBLEM SOLVING.

You dunno when it arises. You need to break down the problem into smaller pieces, analyze it to the root.  Problem solving – Problem Diagnosis – Problem Solution – 5W and 1H – Providing out of the box and innovative solutions for clients.