ERP Consultant Demand Up 14%

ERP software consultant demand has increased by a whopping 14 percent in 2008 according to an ERPsoftware360.com industry survey. Consultant resources are needed across the board, however, there are clear spikes in consulting demand for SAP and software-as-a-service ERP applications.

In a similar research report released by Foote Partners, several SAP skills drove consulting salaries up 30% over the prior six months and in some cases up 57% over the last 12 months. The study reviewed the compensation plans for 22,000 IT professionals in the United States and Canada and concluded that despite the lagging economy, there is a growing scarcity for SAP ERP consultants.

According to analysts at AMR Research, companies are having a hard time finding the right expertise when starting some SAP engagements, and if the trend continues, the result could produce costly project delays or troubled projects. "Providers are hard pressed to bring the resources to the client," said Dana Stiffler, research director at Boston-based AMR. "Even globally, we're seeing a lack of technical skills."

SAP skills will continue to be in strong demand, Stiffler said. AMR and other research firms have forecasted an increase in ERP spending, particularly in the areas of version upgrades. SAP itself is also fueling demand for software product experts by continually providing motivation and incentives to upgrade to the latest version of its business software.

Consultants are in high demand in several areas, including SAP Exchange Infrastructure, SAP Human Resources, and compliance, according to Azmath Khan, a director and SAP consultant with 3Core Systems Inc. Basis system administrators are scarce, Khan said, and a lot of SAP professionals are not trained or certified on the tools that address governance and regulatory compliance. "What is happening here is that people with a lack of upgrade knowledge or people without post-production skills are falling behind the latest technology," Khan said. "This puts pain on our clients' projects but also on us as we accumulate a talent pool."

Tags: ERP software consultants, hosted ERP, SAP, on-demand enterprise resource planning systems