What are the new trends in ERP consulting?

In today's ERP consulting landscape, the predominant trend is the transition from on-premise to cloud-based ERP systems, offering numerous advantages like lower costs, scalability, and enhanced security, yet posing challenges including data migration, integration, compliance, and customization. ERP consultants must adeptly navigate these complexities, understanding the features and limitations of various cloud platforms to optimize performance and functionality for clients. Strategic guidance is crucial, as consultants assist in selecting the most suitable cloud strategy aligned with business objectives. Embracing this shift towards cloud-driven ERP systems empowers consultants to drive sustainable growth and innovation in the digital age.

While implementing an ERP solution, business users tend to ask us to replicate majority of the functionality as-is from their legacy applications(as they are so comfortable using their existing apps in a certain way). With on-prem ERP, we as consultants used to customize everything the way they wanted but with cloud the biggest advise that we give business is to leverage the standard features as they are built based on industry best practices. With on-prem, I had seen companies who never upgraded their systems for decades whereas with cloud erp, the continuous innovation of upgrading to new features happens every quarter without fail. With cloud, business is having access to the latest & greatest trends at their fingertips(be it IoT/AI)

Putting all the sales gloss and BS aside, trend that I see more and more is related to security as open API, integration has opened a potential can of worms that on premise ECC (SAP) seldom had.. Even according to Gartner (sorry not able to name the actual paper), organisations are prioritising cybersecurity within ERP systems to mitigate risks associated with data breaches and compliance issues. In the UK, loss of reputation, heavy fines from the gov ICO are nightmare scenarios. It's happening already!

Market consolidation still going on in partner networks. Think large ERP systems will continue to be chopped up into smaller apps, and clients can cherry pick what they need. I think this happens partly because of large complicated user processes. People want technology to create clarity and ease of use, but with ERP that is not always what you get. Get some work process and UI masters to give some of these applications a good overhaul.

Some trends in ERP and cloud-based ERP consulting include: 1. Cloud Migration: ERP systems moving to the cloud. 2. User Experience: Improved usability focus. 3. Tech Integration: AI, IoT integration for enhanced functionality. 4. Mobile Access: ERP accessible on mobile devices. 5. Analytics: Advanced analytics for better decisions. 6. Subscription Models: Flexible pricing with subscriptions. 7. Cybersecurity: Priority on strong security measures. 8. Industry-Specific Solutions: Tailored ERP for different industries. 9. Agile Implementation: Faster, iterative implementation methods. 10. Sustainability: “Green” ERP for environmental impact reduction. These trends are likely to continue shaping the ERP consulting landscape.

Data Analytics and AI are at the center of innovation - ERP systems contain critical business data. ERP professionals should understand data analytics and AI to help unlock the insights hidden within the ERP data. This empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions, improve forecasting, and gain that competitive edge. Additionally, businesses are looking to automate tasks, standardize operations and improve efficiency. This trend involves using technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). ERP professionals will be needed to help identify these automation opportunities within ERP systems and integrate them with other systems.

Not all Data Warehouses are equal. Be sure to benchmark different vendor's performance claims. TPC-D benchmarks are the industry standard e.g. Yellowbrick vs Snowflake vs Redshift vs Synapse vs Google Big Query. Get detailed Price/Performance ROI. Beware some vendor's markup on compute & Storage - obtain detailed consumption based costing in the cloud!

It is correct to indicate that we are in a disruptive moment with the appearance of AI solutions in all, and ERPs and the great potential that data analysis based on AI offers us cannot be ignored. AI at the ERP level makes it possible to predict payment, inventory and other behaviors. In addition to supporting the creation and management of documents through human language instructions. Data analysis through business intelligence tools is also a great line of growth.

Data analytics & AI will helpful for decision making. Python will be best on this. Particularly I prefer Python with stramlit having attractive & efficient dashboards, or else we can go with other technologies like power bi, Qlik, teableu....

Data analytics and AI would drive the ERP implementation which will automate the processes and will be churning out quick dashboards for decision making.

Alas, this isn't a growing trend at all. It's been a fundamental part of successful delivery since day one. User Adoption still is one of the 3 main reasons ERP Programmes fail. It's because there isn't a focus, from day one, on how the users experience their Change Curve Journey and getting them through it. You don't win in ERP until the very LAST user has gone through the change curve, successfully. Never ever let an organisation trick you into believing they don't need great change management and user training / learning / development. You have to get people to the place where they have a high level of adoption across the change journey (not all of which will be technology based), to enable success here. This is important!

ERP users are becoming more and more capable of working with technology, due to the fact that it has been everywhere for quite some time now, or because we are also moving to times where users are people who were born with technology under their arms. So they are fully adapted and their usability requirements are increasingly oriented to have automation capabilities, AI support, exploitation of information through dashboards, communications more oriented to social networks and others.

Es clave referente a la gestión del cambio que el nuevo sistema ERP sirva de soporte y mejora de los procesos actuales de negocio. En la implantación de un sistema ERP hay que conseguir que el usuario lo vea como valor a?adido a lo que ha tenido hasta ese momento, teniendo claro que el proceso de implantación hasta la estabilización del sistema pasara por distintas etapas, hasta conseguir el objetivo final.

Deep, industry specific or vertical market focus is necessary to add value to an ERP implentation for a client company in a specific industry. Subject Matter Expetts with real world, front line expeience operating or implementing industry specific ERP are key to delivering this value. Overall knowledge of a specific industry supply chain from product conception, design, production and distribution is necessary to ensure ERP integration i to the suppy chain.

In parallel with the rise of industry-specific ERP systems, another significant trend in ERP consulting is the integration of advanced customization and configurability options. This entails tailoring ERP solutions to meet the unique needs and workflows of specific industries, such as manufacturing, or healthcare. Consultants must possess deep domain expertise in these sectors to effectively understand and address clients' requirements. Additionally, there's a growing emphasis on user-centric design, ensuring the ERP system aligns seamlessly with the daily operations and processes of the organization. This necessitates collaboration between consultants and end-users throughout the implementation process to optimize usability and adoption.

Industry specific ERP's (or Verticals of ERP's) are most relevant. They help you "shortcut" as they have the standard working practices & processes built into them. The compliance is important here too, of course, but you may need to consider other compliance products as well as the vertical ERP solution. One of the keys is to definitely put together a Programme Team who have industry specific knowledge, and if you can get them, the ERP vertical you are deploying - this will help immensely. Ultimately this will speed up your time to deploy as you won't have to have the processes created in the system (and anyway you want to keep the ERP as "vanilla out of the box" as you possibly can). This isn't a trend though its a staple.

All industries do not have the same processes and workflows. Hence it is necessary to have ERP solutions which have custom-made workflows catering to the industry-specific processes. It is also necessary to depute Functional Consultants with adequate knowledge about the particular industry.

Currently we find many niche ERPs, i.e. that support the particularities of a sector or a particular business, this has allowed that there are providers and customized solutions, ie offer the customer already an almost customized solution, and in which they should not incur additional costs of customization, it is more come with good market practices that implement

More and more the old waterfall , build a template and roll out over many years is seen as too slow and not adaptive enough. Come up with views that challenge this look for faster benefits and adopt methods to the new cloud architectures

There are ERP's that are designed to be delivered and operated in an Agile environment. With the use of Dev-Ops to assist in the process of delivering the implementation (which is a good thing), Agile is even more relevant. We have always worked hybridlike in ERP deployment - you have to when it's a global Programme there's no alternative. COVID-19 taught more people, organisations, customers, clients that it's Okay to do this in a hybrid / remote way. Having delivered a 20 country deployment in COVID-19 it's harder to do 100% remote. Everything via MS Teams / Zoom etc meant bigger groups & challenges. You need extra Team members to watch the room, feedback what's going on (and who isn't paying attention).

The pandemic was a disruptive event as well, which demonstrated many things among them that remote work is possible, we do not need to be next to each other to perform our work with the same quality as in an office. ERPs adapted to these new needs that will remain in the future, now we must talk about ERPs that allow a delocalized work, that allow an integration with many platforms, that allow an offline work and others.

Cierto es que el consultor o implantador de la solución debe tener un perfil adaptable a cualquier tipo de cliente, empresa o incluso entorno. Una de estas variables puede ser la ejecución del proyecto o muchas de sus fases en remoto y esto requiere de una capacidad de adaptación alta y sobre todo será necesario un conocimiento muy alto de la solución ERP para poder encontrar el encaje entre empresa y sistema sin demasiadas dificultades.

Enterprise architecture is massive , ERP does not exist in a vacuum and has to relate to other systems and programs as well as changes in the business. The person who can do this will really stand out , initially people will not see it but it’s hugely important

Digital Sustainability. Baseline and measure the carbon footprint of the ERP systems as a means to optimise emissions and reduce cloud spend.

As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, several trends were shaping the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) landscape. Some potential trends in ERP include: Blockchain in ERP: Exploring the use of blockchain for enhanced security, traceability, and transparency in ERP systems. Integration with IoT Devices: Connecting ERP systems with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to gather real-time data for better decision-making and process optimization. Subscription-Based ERP Models: Increasing adoption of subscription-based models, allowing businesses to access ERP functionalities without large upfront costs.