What the future holds for ERP in terms of jobs? What are the institutes offering courses and training programs in ERP?

Enterprise resource planning holds a promising future in terms of employment and training. The professionals are second to none in terms of demand. Many Thanks to the intuition of companies that have made them realize the importance of ERP. The researches conducted by the leading IT consultants have also drawn positive conclusions.

They point a vibrant and an ever expanding growth for ERP given the increasing tendency of companies to mechanize and automate enterprise operations.ERP has been the preferred and still continues to be favorite choices among other applications like Customer relationship management.

Some of the opportunities in employment and training are as follows:

ERP job specifications

Traits

Candidates aspiring to pursue a job in ERP should posses multiple skills. The ideal person should be dynamic and be willing to accept change at all times. ERP undergoes constant modification. The professionals should have the inclination to adapt to changes at all times. Mere educational qualification or technical competencies won't suffice. ERP has undergone several transformations and is still exploring chances of improvement. Hence the candidates should also have an urge to update himself in all the areas of ERP. He should not be sticking to particular software alone. There are chances that it gets outdated. In that case the company will not retain him. Neither will he be able to search for fresher and greener pastures in the market.

Applications

Similarly the ERP professional should not aim at specializing in one application alone. He should specialize in diverse applications. This will ensure that he is not left alone when there is a dearth of requirements for particular skill sets in the market. The more an aspirant specializes the wider are his horizons and scope in the market.

Functions

In addition the ERP professional should aim at specializing in more than one function. He should be able to work in an environment that handles multiple functions. For E.g. companies were formerly engaging ERP for individual functions alone. The latest advancements in ERP (like partial implementation, Open source, web and wireless facilities along with outsourcing options) have facilitated companies to choose ERP even for multiple functions. In simple words companies or groups of companies were formerly employing professionals specialized exclusively in functions like heading the operations in a banking company, telecommunication company and so on. This situation is not the same anymore. Now companies (preferably groups) are engaging one ERP applications irrespective of the different nature of business (except for some minor alterations).Therefore the ERP professionals have to be comfortable in working in all functions simultaneously.

ERP job opportunities

ERP vendors

ERP professionals have lots of opportunities to seek employment from ERP vendors. ERP vendors will be requiring their services right from implementing, deploying and making pre consultation services and so on. Formerly ERP vendors were hiring them only on service basis. This scenario has undergone a change because the vendors are reluctant to shift manpower team for reasons like convenience and maintaining the confidentiality of business secrets.

Corporate giants

It is not possible for ERP professionals to look for opportunities in Small and medium enterprises. Even if they secure the entire segment can't depend on it. However ERP professionals have enormous opportunities in large corporations that invest huge money in ERP. Those companies require the service of ERP professionals in order to strengthen the in-house IT team. By and large many of them have been observed in companies in the aftermath because companies unconditionally realize the need for their continual service for an indefinite period during the time of implementation.

ERP job Tags and description

Application Programmer/Developer

The role of an application developer /programmer demands a thorough understanding of software codes and jargon .He should be able to take care of the language and instruction part. Candidates aspiring to this should preferably be from technical background and posses' in-depth knowledge of software development and the associated areas. In addition they must posses relevant experience and undergone the required training from established institutions. The maximum stress is on IT skills and knowledge.

Functional Consultant

Persons with prior experience in diverse backgrounds will be preferred for this job. There is no stigma on the qualification aspect. Candidates from all streams will be considered. However technical knowledge will be a prerequisite. In additions an all-rounder will be preferred for this type of ERP job.

ERP training

This is another lucrative market considering the demand for ERP professionals and the average salary drawn by them all over the globe .of late ERP training has by itself become a very large industry and has been expanding into a fast growing segment. Leading companies like Oracle, S.A.P. and Microsoft offer lots of training programs in collaboration with reputed institutes. They offer certifications that are well recognized in the international market and MNC'S. Leading business institutes conduct special programs on ERP.ERP is also becoming a favorite research topic for management students (from business angle).In fact ERP is being introduced into management curriculum with its intervention in supply chain and warehousing segments. ERP training is offered by the companies in institutes or in companies or both depending on the policies of the company and the requirements in the market.

Conclusion

ERP jobs are plenty in number. The competition is extremely high. The conversion rate is very low when compared with the number of applicant/aspirants. One needs to perform extremely well in order to survive. There are many unauthorized I institutes offering training in ERP. Their certifications are not valid. Neither will it help to secure a job. The candidates are therefore advised to check the authenticity and credibility of the examining body. The fees are quiet expensive.

What are the points to be kept in mind in framing a curriculum for ERP education?
A brief account of the Online and distance mode course in ERP
The popular ERP institutes and the courses offered by them