What is a Functional Consultant?
A Functional Consultant is involved in the planning, design and oversight of the contruction of a software system. A Functional Consultant accepts a commission from a client, such as a board of directors, a government agency or a corporation, and determines their particular software needs. They take the requirements of the client or customer and use their understanding to analyse various methods and solutions to build a system that meets the client’s required structure. The job is a balance of providing technical solutions and meeting and maipulating busineses requirements.
Functional Consultants often work as part of a team that may include business analysts, technical consultants and software engineers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track career information on Functional Consultants, but it does for the closely related job of Computer Systems Analysts. Employment of Computer Systems Analysts is projected to grow 21 percent from by 2024, as organizations across the economy increase their reliance on information technology (IT). Functional Consultants will also be called upon to develop solutions to businesses’ software needs.
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Functional Consultant Duties and Responsibilities
Understand Business Processes
Determine Client Needs
Configure the application in alignment with business needs
Ensure Usability
Functional Consultant Skills
A Functional Consultant should have, first and foremost, an inquisitive nature, and a desire to understand how stuff works. They should also enjoy using logic to solve complicates problems. They should have the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while still making good, decisive decisions. They need to be able to communicate with a wide range of people, and to have excellent listening skills to correctly interpret client’s needs. They should be comfortable working in a metric-driven environment, and able to focus on cost and growth. Below are some other skills that a successful Functional Consultant will want to have.
Core skills Based on job listings we looked at, employers are on the lookout for Functional Consultants with proficiency in these core skills. Future Functional Consultants should focus on the following skills.
- Expertise in workflow configuration.
- Expertise in security configuration.
- Strong communication skills to work with business counterparts globally.
- Qualified in identifying business requirements.
- Extensive experience with SAP or Oracle systems.
Advanced skills The following skills are not listed as required by most employers, but multiple job listings included them as preferred. Improve your chances of getting hired as a Functional Consultant by having these advanced skills up your sleeve.
- Experience with SharePoint.
- Experience in a project delivery role.
- Prior Implementation, Upgrade and Support experience.
Tools of the trade Functional Consultants use many different tools to in their daily work. Anyone planning on pursuing a career as a Functional Consultant should be proficient in using the following
- Oracle HCM Cloud Applications.
- SAP applications.
- MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Power Pivot & Visio).
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Functional Consultant Salary
Functional Consultant Resources
To give you the best resources to continue your search for information about the job of a Functional Consultant, we scoured the web and came up with these links. Follow them to find blogs, top industry people and books that will give you tons more insight into the job.
On the Web
I Love OracleI Love Oracle is a great resource for current or prospective Functional Consultants. It’s got career advice, a blog, and a training platform.
SAP BlogsThis is a good place to come to get uptodate on the latest on the world of SAP, a key area to be familiar with as a Functional Consultant.
On LinkedIn
Kanishk BohraKanishk Bohra is a Functional Consultant from India, who writes articles about Functional Consulting careers.
Aidan DuffyWith years of experience, Aidan Duffy is the founder of I Love Oracle and the author of multiple LinkedIn articles about how to jumpstart your career as a Functional Consultant.
Functional Consultant Books
SAP: How to Write an Interface Functional Specification (The Consultant’s Guide Series Book 2)This guide provides constructive, reliable advice for delivering interface functional (a tricky part of a Functional Consultant’s job).
Oracle EBusiness Suite Essentials for Implementers Certification Examination Practice QuestionsUse this book to study for the Oracle EBusiness Suite Certification Examination, or just to better understand the Oracle Application. This book contains questions to test your overall knowledge of Oracle Application, to prepare you for a test or interview or just brush up your skills.
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