Why do ERP consultants charge a high fee?

ERP consultants operate in the "high risk high reward" area. Contemporary ERP software are complex pieces which need years to master. ERP consultants invest significant amount of time and effort, which need to be rewarded. ERP Consultancy is also given to the highest levels of management often at the level of CEO. CEO level consulting cannot come cheap. A well-implemented ERP can translate to crores of rupees of saving for an organization justifying once again the high cost of ERP consultants. ERP consultants also combine a rare combination of communication skill, domain knowledge and software expertise, once again justifying the high cost. Last, but not the least, ERP sales are growing fast and the demand for ERP consultants is all time high. The gap in supply-demand also explains the unusually high cost of ERP consultants.

This is what is said by an ERP Consultant :
"I am working in South east asia dollars for 2 years and I earn 1.75 lakhs Indian Rupees per month(converted). If I move to Chennai, how much can I quote as a salary? I hear different views from different people. Some say the market is down and companies would pay me not more than 9 lakhs. The others say compaies are ready to pay more than 12 lakhs easily."

Open Source Technologies

Open source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

Software development costs in organizations have been touted as being approximately 15% of total costs. This indicates that the value of one over another development methodology is more of a marketing decision (which customers and pricing models) as much as it is about the design of software.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development. The principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration. The result of this peer-based collaboration is usually released as open-source software, however open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as biotechnology.

For more reference go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

How did ERP penetrate on a vast scale in India?

The Y2K problem and other diminishing opportunities of IT professionals were seen as a big challenge to the IT market. This was not only the case in India but else elsewhere in the globe. This proved to be a biggest challenge to the nation who were banking (and are still) on IT skills for development aspects (individual, economical and overall). The slump of the IT sector would add drudgery and smash the hopes of so many individuals and companies.

This problem in itself helped to get another important solution. Firstly this paved way for more prospects in ERP market. The demand and supply gradually transformed from general to enterprise resource market. Once this got stabilized there was no looking back. It was well evident that ERP market could boom and give the necessary impetus to stakeholders. However this did not mean that mediocre could survive in the market. There was demand only for top notch services and professionals. This naturally led to improvement in the quality of services offered. Such an improvement increased the competition among various players. The end user was getting assured that he would be receiving the best services for the money invested. Case ERP in India got more and more competitive. The ERP implementation in India demanded more than the custom erp India module.

ERP software programs were initially used only for back office functions. They were not given the due importance and treated just like another supporting function. Reasons like lack of awareness formed one part while other reasons were costs and technical difficulties. As explained earlier the gradual demand for ERP increased with a slump in the software market. Since this led companies to go in for ERP they automatically started to learn more about it either by force or felt need as they were left with no alternative. This indirectly created the awareness among companies. They learned more on ERP and realized its diverse applications. Finally they resorted to use ERP for the whole of the company and stopped the idea of restricting it to mere back office functions.

What is ERP???

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning.ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organization.

The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP systems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is extremely comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization - large or small.

In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must provide an organization with functionality for two or more systems. While some ERP packages exist that only cover two functions for an organization (QuickBooks: Payroll & Accounting), most ERP systems cover several functions.

Today's ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relations Management, Financials, Manufacturing functions and Warehouse Management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella - the ERP system.

Why ERP??????

Would you fly an airplane in bad weather with no gauges or instruments? Probably not.

So why would you try to run a company in an economic storm without critical business data and feedback?

To pilot your business safely through a recession you need ERP software that provides insight into your business, markets, competitors, and suppliers.

So in today's era of recession all entrepreneurs need an ERP System that would help the management to....

• make better, faster business decisions
• measure efficiencies within the organization so that you can make course corrections immediately
• streamline your supply chain
• cut costs and allocate resources more efficiently

You’ll also see how ERP Systems can help you lay the foundation for future growth.

ERP Systems can help you make to make the right decisions, and adopt the right strategies, for turbulent economic times.

ERP - The HOT Field

ERP short for Enterprise Resource Planning.
It is the latest buzzword in the Software industry.
In this time of recession the only field which is producing jobs in market is the ERP.

I came face to face with this technology a year ago when I started realizing the power of ERP.

Then I came across the Open Source Technologies and found that the combination of both can prove to be boon for both the SMEs ( Small and Medium scale Enterprises) and the emerging ERP professionals.