Temporarily strengthening your team during an ERP implementation means bringing in external specialists with specific project experience. Think of ERP consultants, project managers, change managers, and functional analysts who support your internal team without being permanently employed. Because ERP projects are complex and many of your permanent staff already have full schedules, temporary reinforcement provides the flexibility you need to run the project successfully. In this article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about external support during ERP implementations.
Which roles are important during an ERP implementation?
During an ERP implementation, you need a combination of technical, functional, and organizational profiles. The most in-demand roles are: a project manager who monitors the process, one or more functional consultants who translate processes into the system, a change manager who guides the organization, and key users per department who act as a bridge between IT and the business.
Depending on the scale of your project and the chosen ERP platform, additional profiles may be required, such as a technical architect, a data migration specialist, or a test coordinator. What all these roles have in common: they require specific experience with ERP projects, not just general IT or management knowledge. Someone who has been through multiple implementations recognizes pitfalls faster and works more efficiently than someone doing it for the first time.
- Project manager: monitors planning, budget, and alignment between all parties
- Functional consultant: translates business processes into the system configuration
- Change manager: guides employees through organizational change
- Data migration specialist: ensures the correct transfer of existing data
- Key users: represent the business and internalize the knowledge
Why do ERP projects so often run behind schedule?
ERP projects run behind schedule because the complexity of the implementation is systematically underestimated. The three most common causes are: insufficient internal capacity, inadequate data preparation, and employee resistance. Each of these factors can delay a project by weeks or months if not addressed in time.
Internal employees who have to handle the ERP project alongside their regular duties quickly become overloaded. As a result, decisions are postponed, testing is delayed, and documentation falls behind. At the same time, many organizations underestimate how much work it takes to migrate existing data: inconsistent or outdated data in the new system leads to errors that only become visible after go-live.
Change management is another pain point. Employees who are not properly guided through the transition to a new system work around it or use it incorrectly. This undermines the return on investment of the entire project. Timely external reinforcement in these three areas — capacity, data, and change — significantly reduces the risk of delays.
What is the difference between an ERP consultant and an interim manager?
An ERP consultant provides specific technical or functional expertise for the implementation itself: they configure the system, guide processes, and train users. An interim manager temporarily takes on a leadership or strategic role within your organization, for example as a project leader or as an interim IT director steering the ERP project.
In practice, a complex ERP implementation often requires both. The consultant brings platform knowledge; the interim manager provides direction, decision-making authority, and internal alignment. Whereas a consultant typically reports to a project leader, an interim manager functions as part of your management team and bears full responsibility for the outcome.
The distinction is also relevant for management: you recruit a consultant through the vendor or a specialized agency, while an interim manager steps directly into your organizational structure and makes decisions on behalf of your company.
How do you quickly find the right temporary profiles for an ERP project?
The fastest way to find the right temporary profiles is to work with a recruitment partner that actively maintains a network of experienced interim professionals with an ERP background. Searching yourself through job platforms takes time and rarely yields the scarce profiles you need, because those individuals are rarely actively looking.
What speeds up the process is a sharp intake conversation in advance. The more concretely you describe which platform you are implementing, what phase the project is in, and what the expected duration is, the more targeted a partner can search. Vague briefings lead to candidates who are not a good fit.
Also factor in availability: good interim professionals are often already booked. A network with active contacts makes the difference between a candidate who can start next week and one who is not available for another six weeks. That difference can significantly impact your project.
When should you bring in external support for an ERP implementation?
It is best to bring in external support before the implementation officially kicks off, not only when problems arise. The preparation phase — including process analysis, data cleansing, and project planning — largely determines whether the execution runs smoothly. Those who engage external expertise too late pay for it with delays and rework.
There are three moments when external reinforcement is particularly valuable:
- Before the start: during the selection of the ERP system and the setup of the project structure
- During execution: when your internal team cannot handle the combination of daily operations and project work
- Around go-live: for intensive testing phases, user training, and the first weeks after launch
A common mistake is waiting until there is a crisis. At that point, choices are limited and time pressure is high, which reduces the chance of a good match. Those who think about capacity needs early in the process can select more calmly and onboard more effectively.
How much does it cost to temporarily strengthen your team during an ERP project?
The costs of temporary reinforcement during an ERP implementation vary considerably depending on the profile, experience, and duration of the assignment. For an experienced interim manager or senior ERP consultant, you can typically expect a daily rate of between 700 and 1,500 euros in the Belgian market, depending on specialization and seniority.
Those amounts may sound high, but weigh them against the cost of delays. An ERP implementation that runs six months longer than planned brings significant additional costs: licensing fees, internal man-hours, lost productivity gains, and potential contractual consequences. Timely external expertise is in most cases cheaper than the consequences of a failed or delayed project.
Factors that influence the cost:
- The ERP platform (different rates apply for SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, and other platforms)
- The phase of the project and the required seniority
- The desired availability: full-time, part-time, or on-call
- The duration of the assignment
How we help you with temporary team reinforcement for an ERP implementation
We connect you quickly with the right temporary profiles for your ERP project, without months of searching or settling for a mismatch. Drawing on our network of experienced interim professionals in Belgium, we can make targeted selections based on platform knowledge, sector experience, and availability. Here is what we concretely do for you:
- We listen to your project context and translate it into a sharp profile
- We select candidates based on proven ERP experience, not just their CV
- We deliver a concise shortlist of profiles that truly fit your organization and phase
- We guide the entire process, from intake to onboarding
Whether you need a project manager, change manager, or functional consultant: we ensure the right match at the right moment. Get in touch and tell us where you stand in your ERP journey.
