Independent ERP consulting or a specialist: what fits when?

An independent ERP consultancy represents no product of its own in the selection and sells no implementation: it structures requirements, compares vendors and accompanies the decision. A specialist knows one system in depth, earns on the implementation and therefore carries the consequences of their own recommendation. Both are legitimate models with different incentives, and neither is more honest per se: the independence usually ends with the selection, the specialisation begins with an open interest. What decides is a different question: who carries the responsibility when the recommendation arrives in the project? This page compares both models fairly and shows what to look for in a partner who holds up, in either case.

What independent ERP consulting delivers

The model has a real core: a structured comparison without a product interest creates order in a confusing market. Requirements are captured systematically, vendors compared against the same yardstick, demos run along your own scenarios. For companies without prior shaping in any system landscape and with very specific requirements, that is valuable work.

The structural limit lies not in the neutrality but in the mandate: it usually ends with the decision. The recommendation is handed over, others implement it, and only inside the project does it show whether it holds. Whoever is responsible for the selection but not for the implementation cannot answer for the outcome. That is not an accusation against the model, it is its construction.

What a specialist does differently

A specialist masters one system out to its edges: what the standard carries, where extensions become necessary, how migrations from NAV, AX or custom software really run. With complex requirements this depth is the difference between a recommendation based on slides and one that has been proven in a month-end close. And because the specialist is responsible for the implementation, they live with the consequences of their recommendation.

Their interest is openly on the table: they earn on the implementation. That is exactly what makes them checkable, with a single question: do they also tell you when their system does not fit? We apply this counter-check to ourselves as a rule: if your situation calls for a different system, we say so in the conversation, before you spend money.

Both models compared

When which model fits

An independent selection consultancy is the right path when the field is genuinely open: very specific industry requirements, no prior shaping, a market your own company does not have an overview of. A specialist is the right path when the direction is foreseeable, for example because the company works in the Microsoft environment or comes from NAV, and the real difficulty lies not in choosing the system but in data, processes and implementation. The ten criteria for both cases are in ERP selection: criteria, approach and checklist.

In practice the combination also proves itself: a lean neutral pre-selection, then a specialist who takes the recommendation into responsibility, or a senior-led second opinion on the offer as a counter-check before signing.

How to recognise a partner who carries the work, in both cases

The model question decides less than the seriousness of the counterpart. Three traits apply to both: named senior owners instead of changing teams, verifiable projects at your scale, and a written answer to the most uncomfortable question: what happens if the recommendation proves wrong inside the project? What that feels like day to day is covered in What is senior-led ERP consulting? and Experiences with Business Central consulting.

For ourselves: DGP is a specialist, senior-led, with Business Central as home. Steering stays on your side, and with us the counter-check belongs in the conversation, not in the small print.