Technofunctional Professional

Functional Consultants are the experts having an understanding of the business processes and data flow on one hand and have the capability to fit these business requirements in the vendor ERP product, analyzing gaps, if any. Functional Consultants are generally domain-specific like Finance, HR, Manufacturing, and Procure to Pay etc.

Functional Consultant:

In any ERP Implementation (generally valid for most of the software product development organizations), there are two parties involved, one are the business users/experts who give the requirements/wish lists and understand how the business processes are conducted at present and how they want the future system to be. Then there are technical experts who are expert in various technologies and they can write code to meet those requirements. Functional Consultants take these requirements from business users and translate them to technical people so that they can understand in technical terms the business requirements. For example in case of any financial management software, functional experts having domain knowledge of Finance will give inputs on how the software should work.

Functional Consultants are generally domain specific like Finance, HR, Manufacturing, and Procure to Pay etc.  They have educational background and experience in the relevant business process area, for example you will find a Chartered Accountant working as a General Ledger Domain Expert. They acquire ERP Product knowledge by undergoing a short training on ERP Module they are working in.

A good Functional Consultant will have in-depth understanding of the business processes, product features and ability to propose a solution for the business requirements.

Technical Consultant:

Technical Consultants are the experts having knowledge of the code, coding standards and implementation life cycle.  Technical Consultants need not be any domain specific like Finance, HR, Manufacturing, and Procure to Pay etc.  Their main role is to do customizations, extensions, modifications, localizations or integrations to the existing product and develop reports. They have educational background and experience in computer science as IT Experts, Engineers or Software Developers.

People with software development / technology knowledge are considered as Technical Experts and their main responsibility is to design the software based on the inputs given by functional/business experts.

Techno Functional - Present Scenario:

Over a period of time, by the experience of working on a specific module Technical Experts tend to learn the business requirements and processes and acquire functional knowledge also and sometimes referred to as technofunctional resources. Similarly a person doing postproduction support will pick the functionality, which is generally limited to that project/product, and gradually transition towards being a domain/business/product expert.

Such experts who have the knowledge of the technical side of the ERP like coding, database etc and who also understand some product specific configurations for some modules by virtue of self-study or experience are sometimes misconstrued as Technofunctional Experts. But such experts face a hard time when they are entrusted the task of designing solutions for business process, which are not straight, fit into the ERP System. At such points the functional knowledge of the Domain becomes critical. Most of the ERP Implementation if given in the hands of skilled professionals can provide good solutions satisfying all business requirements whereas, in the hands of the un-skilled resources, it can be a very expensive nightmare for the business.

Similarly functional experts have been working in this field for long with-out deep technical knowledge, however it is a well established fact that an experts who understands the technical limitations of the specific ERP is less dependant on the Technical Consultants for solutioning and is able to come with robust and efficient functional designs.

Gaining functional knowledge for a technical expert can be challenging, but very rewarding as demand for professionals who have both technical expertise and strong foundation of business process expertise is ever increasing in today’s globalized economies. In the present era of globalization and liberalization, to deliver consistently, technical experts are required to reorient their historical approach of concentration on the technology and code development, and convert their expertise to a professional who is not only technically sound but who can understand the language business speaks. Similarly it is becoming important for a functional expert to gain technical excellence by understanding technical capabilities, development standards and controls to recommend good functional design for the business.

Technofunctional Professionals are in great demand as they play a vital role in ERP Implementation projects. Companies always prefer experts who have the ability to understand both technical and functional challenges, as they prove to be more effective and less costly.

Role of Technofunc Portal:

Technofunc.com is trying to bring up a revolution in this field of ERP by compiling best practices and specific skill-set knowledge, which is indispensible for any successful implementation, into Technofunctional Body of Knowledge (TFBoK). Technofunc is carrying out extensive research and discussions to create authentic and comprehensive educational material that helps a Technofunctional Professional being instrumental in providing efficient and effective ERP solutions for the organizations.

TFBOK helps to acquire a skill sets, which in turn helps in understanding the complex business dynamics and processes for the relevant domains. This gives ability to technical and functional experts to transition to technofunctional expertise, the ability to apply this techno-functional knowledge to solution complicated business processes, and to utilize the benefits of modern technology to help businesses succeed in their goals.

Techno functional Competencies & Desired Skills

• Relevant Educational Qualifications - Technical/Functional
• Understanding of Technofunctional Body of Knowledge
• Knowledge of ERP Project Management Methodology
• ERP Technical Excellence
• Continuing Professional Education
• Adherence to Technofunctional Ethics & Code of Conduct Compliance
• Understanding of Technofunctional Ethics - Directive Principles