Does Your ERP and IT Consultant Play Nice in the Sandbox?
Installing an ERP system is an expensive undertaking and one that takes months or even a year to plan and execute. It is rare that a business will choose to go about this process internally, without external help. The organization will usually take steps internally to choose a project team. Externally, they start to look for a vendor or ERP Consultant to work with. ERP Consultants are specialist when it comes to the systems they work with. ERP systems are complex and you really have no choice than to use a partner that understands their complex nature. Most companies understand this. The step usually missed at this point in ERP system planning is factoring in how your IT Consultant plays a role in your installation.
It is true that ERP Consultants usually have a good understanding of IT systems in general. What they don’t have is the in-depth knowledge of your organizations Infrastructure and systems. Partnering your ERP Consultant and IT Consultant together can help ensure your Infrastructure and software are all up-to-date and compatible with your ERP system. Without this partnership happening, your ERP Consultant may not be working with the best information and your ERP installation may not go smooth.
Being an ERP Consultant, we have been called into a few organizations that had just had an ERP system installed and they were having issues. Whether it was the Vendor directly, or another ERP Consultant, several of these failed projects were due to improper Infrastructure in the organization. Imagine installing a system that costs you 100K, only to have it fail because you needed another server prior. Or the operating system you are using is not compatible with the software. So now, you are spending way more money by implementing new hardware and paying extra Consulting fees after your ERP project has already hit a huge roadblock. Not only is it about the money, but your internal staff is probably already hesitant to embrace your ERP system now because of these issues.
If you do not use an IT Consultant, finding an ERP Consultant that also has their hands in the IT Consulting arena as well, could really save your organization time and money. Even if you have an internal IT staff, having an ERP Consultant with IT Consulting experience, can still better assess your Infrastructure needs in regards to the ERP system you are about to install. 2W Tech is a certified Epicor ERP partner, and also specializes in Infrastructure and Managed Services, and can help make sure your organization is running on all cylinders regardless of the IT needs you may have.
Read More:
ERP Implementation Leads to Happier Customers
Epicor Reporting Tools
Product Info:
Epicor ERP 10
Epicor ERP 10.1
Epicor Report Store