Role of ERP Consultants – Deliverables in ERP Implementations and Critical Tasks in ERP

The purpose of this article is to explore tasks and deliverables that are expected out of any ERP Consultant. At a high level they include creation of an effective project plan, imparting CRP and end user product training, gathering business requirements and providing expertise towards solving business problems, and assisting in the generation of financial reports to meet both statutory and local requirements. He is also responsible for effective planning, coordination, control and implementation of the developed ERP system.

The ERP consultant is expected to provide detailed study reports on the existing business processes and align it with corresponding ERP package’s functionalities and processes. Thus, the ERP consultant is the chieftain who deals with the selection and implementation of ERP system and business re-engineering for the organization. The various tasks that are performed by the ERP consultant can be classified as follows:

Business Process Architecture 

1. Define Business and Process Strategy
2. Catalog and Analyze Potential Changes
3. Determine Data Gathering Requirements
4. Develop Current Process Model
5. Review Leading Practices
6. Develop High-Level Process Vision
7. Develop High-Level Process Design
8. Develop Future Process Model
9. Document Business Procedure 

Business Requirements Gathering and Definition 

1. Identify Current Financial and Operating Structure
2. Conduct Current Business Baseline
3. Establish Process and Mapping Summary
4. Gather Business Volumes and Metrics
5. Gather Business Requirements
6. Determine Audit and Control Requirements
7. Identify Business Availability Requirements
8. Identify Reporting and Information Access Requirements

 

Business Requirements Mapping and Fit Gap Analysis 

1. Analyze High-Level Gaps
2. Prepare mapping environment
3. Map Business requirements
4. Map Business Data
5. Conduct Integration Fit Analysis
6. Create Information Model
7. Create Reporting Fit Analysis
8. Test Business Solutions
9. Confirm Integrated Business Solutions
10. Define Applications Setup
11. Define security Profiles

Define Application and Technical Architecture

1. Define Architecture Requirements and Strategy
2. Identify Current Technical Architecture
3. Develop Preliminary Conceptual Architecture
4. Define Application Architecture
5. Define System Availability Strategy
6. Define Reporting and Information Access Strategy
7. Revise Conceptual Architecture
8. Define Application Security Architecture
9. Define Application and Database Server Architecture
10. Define and Propose Architecture Subsystems
11. Define System Capacity Plan
12. Define Platform and Network Architecture
13. Define Application Deployment Plan
14. Assess Performance Risks
15. Define System Management Procedures

 Technical Design and Development 

1. Define Application Extension Strategy
2. Define and estimate application extensions
3. Define design standards
4. Define Build Standards
5. Create Application extensions functional design
6. Design Database extensions
7. Create Application extensions technical design
8. Review functional and Technical designs
9. Prepare Development environment
10. Create Database extensions
11. Create Application extension modules
12. Create Installation routines 

Data Conversion Activities and Processes 

1. Define data conversion requirements and strategy
2. Define Conversion standards
3. Prepare conversion environment
4. Perform conversion data mapping
5. Define manual conversion procedures
6. Design conversion programs
7. Prepare conversion test plans
8. Develop conversion programs
9. Perform conversion unit tests
10. Perform conversion business objects
11. Perform conversion validation tests
12. Install conversion programs
13. Convert and verify data 

Business System Testing

1. Define testing requirements and strategy
2. Develop unit test script
3. Develop link test script
4. Develop system test script
5. Develop systems integration test script
6. Prepare testing environments
7. Perform unit test
8. Perform link test
9. Perform installation test
10. Prepare key users for testing
11. Perform system test
12. Perform systems integration test
13. Perform Acceptance test 

Adoption and Learning 

1. Define Executive Project Strategy
2. Conduct Initial Project Team Orientation
3. Develop Project Team Learning Plan
4. Prepare Project Team Learning Environment
5. Conduct Project Team Learning Events
6. Develop Business Unit Managers ‘Readiness Plan
7. Develop Project Readiness Roadmap
8. Develop and Execute Communication Campaign
9. Develop Managers’ Readiness Plan
10. Identify Business Process Impact on Organization
11. Align Human Performance Support Systems
12. Align Information Technology Groups
13. Conduct User Learning Needs Analysis
14. Develop User Learning Plan
15. Develop User Learning ware
16. Prepare User Learning Environment
17. Conduct User Learning Events
18. Conduct Effectiveness Assessment 

Production Migration and Support

1. Define Transition Strategy
2. Design Production Support Infrastructure
3. Develop Transition and Contingency Plan
4. Prepare Production Environment
5. Set Up Applications
6. Implement Production Support Infrastructure
7. Verify Production Readiness
8. Begin Production
9. Measure System Performance
10. Maintain System
11. Refine Production System
12. Decommission Former Systems
13. Propose Future Business Direction
14. Propose Future Technical Direction