A career in ERP

A career in ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrates all the software operations necessary to run a business. ERP software can also encompass software to manage customer relationships, supply chain management, and e-commerce. There is a vast selection of jobs and career paths available for those who choose a career in ERP. For individuals who develop their skills and target their job searches wisely, it can provide a satisfying and financially rewarding career.

You need skills and experience for an ERP career

How can you acquire experience to begin with?

The large consulting firms, such as Price Waterhouse and Deloitte and Touche, or other companies looking for ERP staff prefer to hire people with experience of an ERP implementation. But how can you acquire that experience to begin with?

You might find an opportunity in the company you work for now. For example, you can acquire skills that are useful for ERP. These include web and Java? technologies, UNIX? and Windows NT? system administration, and experience with Informix?, SQL Server?, or Oracle? databases. You could take responsibility for setting up the Oracle databases for your company's ERP implementation. This would pave the way for more ERP involvement in your company - especially if you coupled the experience with skills training. You may discover an ERP career path in your current organization as rewarding as a new position elsewhere - employee compensation can increase between 40 to 90 percent after participation in a successful ERP implementation.

On-the-job training is superior to external academic courses

Experts agree that on-the-job training is superior to external academic courses unrelated to a specific ERP project. However, good external training coupled with growing experience that helps you understand the phases of implementation will position you for more responsible ERP positions.

ERP vendors often offer their own certification paths - for example, SAP? offers a wide variety of certification paths, including certification in Logistics, Financials, and Basis Technology through the SAP Academy.

The American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) (www.apics.org) provides Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) training, which develops the student's understanding of how manufacturing systems are designed, operated, and controlled. The CPIM course aims to develop business-leading skills through a complete understanding of business-function interaction in an organization. Both certificates add considerable value to your ERP experience. There are APICS chapters throughout the US, and similar international organizations can be found through the APICS links page http://www.apics.org/.

A small- or medium-sized firm servicing medium-sized enterprises will provide a wide range of project experience and training

Perhaps you do wish to change the organization you work for, or you have appropriate programming qualifications and you're looking for your first job. A small- or medium-sized firm servicing medium-sized enterprises will provide a wide range of project experience and training. Such firms also make a good target for newly qualified MBAs and CPAs who want to move into ERP. Value Added Resellers (VARs) can provide the initial experience that will result in a career with an ERP vendor such as SAP or Baan?.

The merging of business and technology management

Knowing the SAP system is no longer sufficient for a successful ERP career

It is very clear that knowing the SAP system is no longer sufficient for a successful ERP career - you must also have a good understanding of the business processes in the area you intend to work in. Technology and software have traditionally been separated from the mainstream of business processes, and IT executives have made technology decisions in relative isolation. However, the pervasive use of technology in every aspect of an organization, and especially in enterprise resource management, means that business process and IT decision-making must be intertwined. While you must demonstrate your knowledge of ERP technology, you must also cultivate an up-to-date understanding of how ERP integrates and supports the business process. Such an understanding will ultimately help to ensure employee acceptance of the new system and maximize investment return.

E-business is expanding rapidly, and an ERP professional seeking long-term success cannot ignore this development. All major ERP vendors now supply e-business modules and web-based interfaces with their ERP products. You must be able to integrate ERP and e-business in order to connect business participants from the start to the finish of the business cycle.

The job search

How did the implementation you worked on ultimately benefit the organization?

When you do start searching for your next step in your ERP career ladder, it's important to remember that employers will want experience that brought results. It's useful to your long-term plans to complete at least one full life cycle on an implementation in order to demonstrate an understanding of the complete ERP process - and to show you can work with a team. Stress your bottom-line results - how did the implementation you worked on ultimately benefit the organization? At a junior level, you will need to emphasize ERP experience over project management. At a senior level, you will need to demonstrate extensive ERP skills and an ability to manage more than twenty people.

In the end, searching for a successful career move is a job in itself. However, with the right combination of training, experience, and target setting - for yourself and your ERP projects - there are huge opportunities in the expanding ERP market.