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Organizations consider ERP systems very important, and ERP solutions are crucial pieces in the information technology landscape. The ERP software market is already large. Experts foresee sustained and high growth in this market.
Organizations of various sizes are continuously trying to improve their supply chain management, accounting, inventory management, production planning, order management, etc. They accord high priority to ERP software solutions and ERP projects.
New technologies are routinely coming up to make ERP software solutions even more potent. Companies need to keep pace with them.
Top ERP providers like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Salesforce, Epicor, Delmia, Infor, Sage, etc. compete fiercely in this vibrant world of ERP solutions. They routinely add new features to tap the full potential of this large market.
All of these factors combine to make ERP developer jobs highly sought after. ERP developers and consultants can earn a high salary. The ever-growing number of ERP jobs coupled with a shortage of skills increases the hiring lead time for businesses.
Employers need to brace for high manpower costs and long hiring times. Fortunately, there’s good news. You can hire ERP developers from trustworthy partners like DevTeam.Space. A few other options exist too for a company to hire ERP developers. However, we will first look at the skill requirements for ERP developer jobs.
Primary skills required in ERP developer jobs
You want an ERP developer to have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in computer science, information technology, or related fields. Apart from education, you need ERP developers to have the following primary skills:
- Knowledge of the ERP solution of your choice, e.g., SAP HANA, Oracle ERP Cloud, Oracle Netsuite, Microsoft D365, etc.;
- Deep knowledge of the relevant ERP modules, e.g., supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), workforce management, etc.;
- In-depth understanding of the target business processes;
- Coding skills;
- Good understanding of big data;
- Data management skills;
- Legacy ERP skills, if applicable;
Robust knowledge of key functions like reporting.
Advanced skills required in senior-level enterprise resource planning developers
Senior-level developers need the following skills to build a career in ERP:
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- Good familiarity with analytics;
- Excellent understanding of requirements elicitation and requirements management;
- In-depth knowledge of test planning;
- Experience in reviewing test cases;
- Thorough knowledge of aspects related to user experience like user interface, information architecture, etc.;
Project management skills.
Other software engineering skills required by ERP system developers
ERP software development professionals need the following software engineering skills:
- In-depth understanding of software engineering;
- Knowledge of software development lifecycle (SDLC);
- Thorough familiarity with software development methodologies like agile and waterfall;
- Good knowledge of creating technical solutions for business requirements;
- Good understanding of how the frontend of an app interacts with backend services;
- Sound conceptual knowledge of software architecture;
- Understanding of non-functional requirements (NFRs) like performance, scalability, maintainability, etc.;
- Understanding of the close relationship between software architecture and NFRs;
- Peer review skills;
- The ability to provide peer review services for technical design, functional design documents, test plans, etc.;
- Robust knowledge of application security and relevant practices;
- API development skills;
- Good understanding of testing processes, methods, tools, and practices;
- Sufficient knowledge of DevOps practices, processes, methods, and tools;
- Extensive knowledge of software quality management and defect prevention;
Familiarity with cloud platforms and services.
Competencies required by ERP system developers
ERP developers need the following competencies to succeed:
- The ability to see the bigger picture: ERP systems serve multiple business stakeholders. Developers need to understand the opportunities and challenges from the organizational perspective.
- Passion for excellence: ERP projects have high visibility, and senior leadership will demand excellence.
- Commitment: Due to their complex nature, ERP projects face multiple constraints. ERP developers need to deliver the project satisfactorily despite these constraints.
- Empathy: Developers need to understand the requirements of end-users. They need to listen to users attentively and think from the users’ perspective.
- Teamwork: ERP developers will need to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders. They need to work for the success of these stakeholders, therefore, teamwork is important.
- Communication skills: The complex nature of ERP projects makes communication important. Look for developers with sound communication skills.
- Problem-solving skills: ERP projects often involve complex trade-offs to satisfy the requirements of diverse stakeholders. Many of these trade-offs involve tricky decisions. ERP developers need problem-solving skills to negotiate these situations.
- Brainstorming skills: A vibrant ERP development team brings up innovative ideas to solve problems. ERP developers need brainstorming skills to find and implement the best ideas.
Leadership skills: ERP developers must get a lot done within complex business constraints. They need leadership skills.
How can clients find the top ERP system developers?
You now know the skill requirements for ERP developer jobs. The process to search for developers needs to start now, followed by hiring and onboarding. Take the following steps:
1. Choose the right platform to hire ERP developers
ERP systems are crucial. They support crucial business processes in a company. Therefore, ERP projects have high visibility. You can’t afford such projects to fail. Your hiring decisions play a key part in making your ERP projects successful.
You might think of hiring ERP developers from freelance sites. This alternative might help you to get ERP developers at a low hourly rate. However, we don’t recommend clients take this approach for complex projects.
Freelance developers work part-time on your project. They might show an impressive project portfolio, however, judging their real knowledge can be hard.
You might not get sufficient bandwidth from freelancers. Managing their work can be hard. Freelance platforms don’t offer any management support.
Freelancers might leave your project mid-way. You will then need to find replacement developers.
We recommend you hire ERP developers from trustworthy software development companies like DevTeam.Space. You get full-time developers.
We have a stringent vetting process. Our developers are skilled and experienced. We encourage our developers to regularly upskill, therefore, you get motivated developers.
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Companies like DevTeam.Space offer management support. We can provide a cohesive ERP development team and not just individual developers. For complex projects, hire from us.
2. Interview the interested candidates
You selected a hiring platform, posted your job, and received applications. It’s time to interview the candidates.
Assess the role-focused skills. E.g., senior ERP consultants will need a greater depth of skills than a mid-level ERP developer. Tailor the interviews to account for this.
Evaluate the depth of skills in the ERP software relevant to your project. Don’t just confine yourself to theoretical questions on technology. Assess the hands-on skills in different modules, and evaluate the business domain knowledge.
Check how the candidates handled sensitive data like information about employees or financial transactions. Evaluate the knowledge of candidates on the relevant data security and privacy regulations.
Assess the ERP implementation experience of the candidates. Check whether they know the best practices to code. Evaluate the knowledge of candidates on creating reports.
Explain your project requirements and ask how the candidates will approach them. You should expect specific suggestions and not just high-level answers.
3. Onboard ERP developers effectively
You have selected the right ERP developers, and now it’s time to onboard them. Provide the project requirements to the new developers. Explain the project requirements and technical solutions to them.
New developers need access to the project’s technical environment. You need to provide them access to the code repository and other project tools.
Introduce the new developers to your existing team. Explain their responsibilities, furthermore, describe the organizational-level processes.
Provide an overview of the project plan. Explain the project schedule and milestones. Describe the work approval processes. You need to set up a communication process with the new developers, furthermore, establish accountability.
Tips for interviewing developers for ERP positions
We offer the following tips for interviewing ERP developers:
A. You need the right mix of experience when you develop an ERP application
ERP projects deal with crucial business processes in companies. You as the business or IT leader in charge of ERP implementation are responsible for preventing any disruptions to these processes. Developing ERP systems requires sufficiently experienced developers. Hire a team of developers with a judicious mix of senior and mid-level developers.
B. Look for a capable team leader if you hire a remote ERP development team
You can surely explore hiring a remote team. Remote teams have made notable differences in many crucial projects, furthermore, you get access to a global talent pool. Managing remote teams can be hard though. You need a competent remote team leader in such a team. The team leader must guide and direct the team members, furthermore, sound communication skills are important.
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C. Look for experience in the business processes you target
ERP is a vast field. Organizations use ERP solutions to manage a wide range of critical business processes. Respective ERP modules for different business processes differ considerably. ERP developers with in-depth knowledge of one business process might not know enough about other processes.
While interviewing, ask questions pertaining to your target business processes. Prioritize developers that know the relevant business processes and ERP modules.
Samples of ERP development interview questions
Assess the relevant skills and experience when you interview ERP developers. The following are examples of questions to ask:
A. Describe the top challenges you faced in ERP projects
As a response to this open-ended question, expect candidates to describe specific challenges that they faced. They might talk about conflicting requests from end-users. Candidates might also describe stakeholder management issues, business process-related complexities, etc.
B. Mention the critical success factors in a successful ERP project that you have worked in
This is another open-ended question. You should expect the candidates to talk about leadership, the involvement of the project sponsors, and project management. Candidates might also talk about the team composition, skill levels, processes, methods, and tools.
C. Describe how you have expedited an ERP implementation project
In response to this open-ended question, expect candidates to describe the challenges faced in an ERP project. They should describe the alternatives to resolve these challenges. Furthermore, they should describe how they chose certain alternatives. Finally, the candidates should explain how their decisions expedited the project.
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If you are looking for expert ERP developers, DevTeam.Space is a great place to start. We have a large community of field expert ERP developers and can connect you to the most suitable one for your project.
You are more than welcome to contact us by filling out a DevTeam.Space product specification form to ask about our expert ERP developers. After filling out the form, one of our dedicated account managers will get back to you to answer any questions you might have.
