Companies sometimes think that they're saving money by not hiring an ERP consultant, but in reality, the lack of an experienced consultant can lead to costly and time consuming mistakes that may prevent you from achieving the full value of your new ERP system. Here are 7 ways an ERP consultant will make the entire implementation go more smoothly.

1. Bring Experience to the Table

It’s rare that members of your company's ERP implementation team have real ERP implementation experience, since it’s an event that most people see only once or twice in a career. Consultants do ERP implementations every day, and they know best practices for ensuring that a project meets the company’s objectives and comes in on time and on budget.

2. Change Management

To achieve the most benefit from your new ERP system you should use the opportunity to make your business processes more efficient. There will no doubt be a lot of change to absorb in a short amount of time, and a consultant has techniques to perform gap analysis on existing processes and to map the old ways to the “To Be” process. In addition, the consultant can act as a neutral mediator to resolve the inevitable differences of opinions.

3. Keep the Focus on Business Benefits

People often get excited by the possibilities of a new system, and they may seek to expand the scope of the project. Other times, people want to force the new software to match the existing processes. A consultant can help prevent your project from losing focus by bringing discussions back to the business benefits and the original objectives you set at the beginning.

4. Plan an Effective Implementation

Many people in your company may have project management skills, but an ERP implementation is more than just a project. Software sometimes requires that steps be performed in a certain order, and your consultant will know that. Sometimes people can’t wait to use the new system, so they shortchange the time for testing data or running a conference room pilot. The consultants experience will be invaluable in preventing problems that could derail the implementation.

5. Project Management

The people on your implementation team have more than likely been chosen because of their expertise in a business area. They may also have “day jobs” that must continue even while the implementation proceeds. The ERP consultant can shoulder the project management burden so that the team can use their unique skills and knowledge in improving the process.

6. Liaise with Your Vendor

Implementations are a time when emotions can run high, especially as the go live date approaches. Your ERP consultant knows how to get fast responses from your ERP vendor and may even have existing relationships that can help expedite responses.

7. Capture Results and Publicize Successes

It’s important for your entire company to celebrate successes during your implementation, and a consultant can help by ensuring that top management knows about the hard work that the team has done. In addition, once the ERP solution goes live, you will want to show management that the project achieved the expected ROI. The consultant’s experience will prove invaluable at capturing and quantifying improvements and business outcomes that show that the ERP investment was well worth it.