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Do I need to hire a full-time IT person to manage my new ERP?
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6 Answers
At the very least, you need a full-time PM and core team that can dedicate time to the project. Whether it's an internal resource or an outside consultant, you'll want to make sure the person has experience successfully managing full ERP life cycles on multiple occasions. The more experienced the person is and the more robust the methodology and toolset used, the less time and money you'll need to spend on the overall implementation. Good PMs are generally more expensive on paper, but they will get the implementation done in less time and for less overall cost than a sub-par one.
Assuming an on-premise implementation for a mid-size company moving off a product like QuickBooks or Peachtree to a Tier 2 type package, the typical answer is "no". But to be clear, I would say every ERP implementation needs a designated 'functional' super user and a 'technical' super user. Sometimes these can be the same person but usually they are a business and IT person respectively. In terms of the IT 'sys admin' type role and assuming you already have an on-premise IT infrastructure (e.g. workstations, servers, DBMS, network, etc.) and already manage backups, password resets, etc., the actual incremental effort required to support a higher end ERP solution is nominal. So the question is really not ERP specific as much as what is your enterprise IT support strategy.
It should be IT person with either business or economics background. I person never manage the whole ERP, unless it is Tear 2 or less
Wayne,
It depends on the size of your company and the kind of ERP you are planning to implement.
If you are going for a SAAS ERP, we have seen companies do without any specialized IT person. Also if you are a small company, then you will have at think about what will the person do after he / she has implemented your ERP.
What you really need to do is identify a champion. Someone who will drive your ERP beyond your accounting - into CRM, inventory management and other areas. Whether that person is in your team or not is completely dependent on the situation - your size, availability of such a person and scope of your implementation.
- Rushabh
ERPNext.com
It depends on the number of users. I am not sure if there is any bench marking available.
If the company is very small and has gone for a SAAS model, then someone who is doing the invoicing or someone doing the entry could combine the responsibility.
If the company is medium sized and have more than 50 users, then i believe it becomes necessary to have one FTE of ERP person. Perhaps this could be also hired on a contractual basis and variate based on the load requirement. However the IT responsible person need to oversee the ERP implementation and calculate the requirement.
If the company is big enough, then a team of specialists are definitely a must.
However care should be ensured that every user or key user in the process understands the modules, processes and the objectives behind the ERP.
Velan
Typically you would depending on the variables many of the previous posts suggest but if you can find a partner like us (OmniVue - www.omnivue.net) who offers SaaS/Cloud hosting with resources you can leverage for everything from business process consulting to end user application support the need to hire a full time person goes away. This also provides less risk to your company than relying on 1 person who may or may not be around in the future. With a solid partner who can provide full management you have a team not a person.
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