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For an ERP migration, I’d hire the implementation team, not just an individual SAP résumé. The biggest risks usually come from poor process design, weak data migration, excessive customization, and inadequate change management.
SAP itself recommends using its Partner Finder to identify authorized implementation partners and evaluating them based on relevant competencies and specialization.
1. Define what you actually need before interviewing firms
Create a 1–2 page brief covering:
Current ERP: vendor/version, age, customizations, integrations
Target SAP product: e.g. S/4HANA Cloud, private cloud, on-premise, SAP Business One, etc.
Modules: Finance, procurement, manufacturing, sales, warehouse, HR, etc.
Company footprint: employees, sites, countries, currencies
approximate volume and history you need to migrate
Hiring a stellar SAP implementation consultant requires looking past a resume full of buzzwords and zeroing in on hands-on module expertise, business process translation, and communication.
Question: I need to migrate from our old ERP to a new system. How do I hire a good SAP implementation consultant?
Hiring a great implementation consultant (or partner) requires . You need someone who understands your specific industry workflows, change management, and how to align business goals with IT.
Question: I need to migrate from our old ERP to a new system. How do I hire a good SAP implementation consultant?
Migrating from an old ERP to is a massive undertaking that can make or break operational continuity. Finding the right implementation consultant (or partner) requires looking past generic technical buzzwords and evaluating deep industry experience, functional alignment, and communication skills.
Question: I need to migrate from our old ERP to a new system. How do I hire a good SAP implementation consultant?
Integrations: banking, CRM, payroll, e-commerce, EDI, WMS, tax systems, etc.
Target go-live date
Budget range
Business-critical processes that absolutely cannot fail
Whether you want a clean-slate implementation or to reproduce much of the old ERP
This lets you compare proposals on the same basis rather than choosing whoever gives the slickest presentation.
2. Look for SAP-specific experience that matches your project
Don't be satisfied with "20 years of SAP experience."
Ask:
"Show me three implementations you've completed that are genuinely comparable to ours."
For each reference, get:
Industry
Company size
SAP product/version
Modules implemented
Number of users/sites
Migration approach
Timeline and original vs. final budget
Major problems encountered
What the consultant personally did
Client reference you can actually call
SAP's current implementation approach is based around SAP Activate, with phases covering Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy, and Run. SAP A good candidate should be able to explain how those phases translate into concrete deliverables for your project—not just recite the names.
3. Interview the actual people who will do the work
This is one of the most important steps.
Large consulting firms can put senior people in the sales presentation and then staff your project with less-experienced consultants.
Ask:
"Who specifically will be our project manager, solution architect, functional leads, data migration lead, and integration lead?"
Then interview those people.
I'd particularly test the project manager and solution architect with scenarios such as:
"Our CFO insists that a process from the old ERP be reproduced exactly in SAP, but your team says SAP's standard process is different. How would you handle it?"
A strong consultant should be able to discuss business requirements, fit-to-standard, process redesign, customization, cost, risk, and governance—not simply say "we'll customize it."
4. Make data migration a separate evaluation
This is frequently underestimated.
Ask for a written migration strategy covering:
Master data cleansing
Customer/vendor/material migration
Opening balances
Historical transactions
Data mapping
Duplicate handling
Data validation/reconciliation
Mock migrations
Cutover migration
Who owns data cleansing
Ask them to demonstrate how they will prove that the migrated data is correct.
"That's handled by our data team" isn't an adequate answer unless that team and its responsibilities are explicitly part of the proposal.
5. Pay close attention to customization
I'd ask every bidder to categorize proposed requirements into:
SAP standard
Configuration
Extension
Custom development
Process change
SAP's current methodology emphasizes fit-to-standard and a "clean core" approach, so you want the consultant to challenge unnecessary customization rather than automatically recreate your legacy ERP.
A useful interview question is:
"Show me an example where you told a customer not to customize SAP, even though they initially wanted customization."
The reasoning behind the answer tells you a lot.
6. Make testing and cutover part of the contract
Your proposal should explicitly cover:
Unit testing
Integration testing
End-to-end business-process testing
User acceptance testing
Performance testing where applicable
Security/authorization testing
Mock cutovers
Final cutover
Go-live support
Post-go-live stabilization
Ask:
"What has to be true for you to recommend that we go live?"
You want objective go/no-go criteria rather than "the project is scheduled to go live on December 1."
7. Check references yourself
Don't only accept references hand-picked by the consultant.
Ask the reference:
Did they finish on time?
Did they finish within the original budget?
What went wrong?
What did the consultant underestimate?
How much internal staff did you actually need?
Were you happy with the people assigned to the project?
How much customization did they leave you with?
How was the first 90 days after go-live?
Would you hire the same team again? Why or why not?
That last question is particularly revealing.
8. Structure the commercial proposal carefully
Don't compare firms solely on hourly rates.
Compare:
Area
What to evaluate
Implementation scope
Exactly what's included/excluded
Deliverables
Concrete outputs for each phase
Team
Named people and percentage allocation
Timeline
Milestones and dependencies
Data migration
Number of mock/final migrations
Integrations
Number and complexity
Testing
Who owns each test phase
Training
Materials, sessions, super-users
Cutover
Detailed plan and responsibilities
Hypercare
Duration and staffing
Change requests
Rates and approval mechanism
Payment
Tie payments to milestones
Be particularly careful with a very low initial implementation quote that excludes data migration, integrations, testing, training, or change requests.
9. Consider three types of consultants
You don't necessarily need the biggest consulting firm.
Large global SI:
Useful when you have a large, multinational, highly complex transformation and need substantial resources.
Specialist SAP implementation partner:
Often appropriate for a mid-market company that needs deep SAP expertise without a massive consulting organization.
Independent SAP consultants / boutique team:
Can be attractive for a narrower implementation or when you already have strong internal project management and business-process expertise.
SAP's Partner Finder specifically distinguishes consult-and-implement partners and provides partner competency/specialization information.
The percentages aren't magic—the important thing is to agree on the criteria before seeing the proposals.
One particularly useful trick
Give the finalists a real problem from your business and ask each to conduct a 60–90 minute working session.
For example:
"Here is how our order-to-cash process works today, including these five pain points. Show us how you'd approach designing it in SAP."
You'll learn far more from watching them reason through your actual business than from another PowerPoint about their "proven methodology."
If you tell me your current ERP, which SAP product you're moving to, company size, industry, number of locations, and approximate budget, I can turn this into a consultant RFP + interview scorecard + 20-question interview script you can send directly to prospective SAP implementation firms.
Compare:
Area
What to evaluate
Implementation scope
Exactly what's included/excluded
Deliverables
Concrete outputs for each phase
Team
Named people and percentage allocation
Timeline
Milestones and dependencies
Data migration
Number of mock/final migrations
Integrations
Number and complexity
Testing
Who owns each test phase
Training
Materials, sessions, super-users
Cutover
Detailed plan and responsibilities
Hypercare
Duration and staffing
Change requests
Rates and approval mechanism
Payment
Tie payments to milestones
Be particularly careful with a very low initial implementation quote that excludes data migration, integrations, testing, training, or change requests.
9. Consider three types of consultants
You don't necessarily need the biggest consulting firm.
Large global SI:
Useful when you have a large, multinational, highly complex transformation and need substantial resources.
Specialist SAP implementation partner:
Often appropriate for a mid-market company that needs deep SAP expertise without a massive consulting organization.
Independent SAP consultants / boutique team:
Can be attractive for a narrower implementation or when you already have strong internal project management and business-process expertise.
SAP's Partner Finder specifically distinguishes consult-and-implement partners and provides partner competency/specialization information.
SAP Activate
Hiring a good SAP implementation consultant (or partner firm) can make or break your ERP migration. Because SAP is deeply complex, you need someone who understands both the technical architecture and your specific industry processes.
Here is a step-by-step roadmap to finding, vetting, and hiring the right SAP expert for your migration.
1. Define Your Scope and Migration Strategy First
Before talking to consultants, you need clarity on your own project. Vague requests attract overpriced generalists.
Determine the migration type: Are you doing a Greenfield implementation (starting fresh), a Brownfield implementation (lift-and-shift/system conversion), or a Hybrid/Selective data transition?
Define your footprint: Which modules do you need (e.g., FICO, SCM, MM, SD, HCM)? Do you need specialized integration with legacy non-SAP systems?
Set your deployment model: On-premise, public cloud, or private cloud (e.g., RISE with SAP)?
2. Look for Relevant Experience, Not Just Certifications
Anyone can study for and pass an SAP certification exam, but real-world execution is entirely different.
Industry vertical expertise: A consultant who has implemented SAP for retail might struggle with discrete manufacturing or life sciences. Look for proven experience in your exact sector.
Methodology alignment: Ensure they are fluent in modern frameworks like SAP Activate rather than just legacy ASAP methodologies.
Verify actual delivery phases: Ask which exact phases of a project they owned—design, data migration, integration testing, user training, or post-go-live hypercare.
3. Conduct a Rigorous, Technical Interview Process
Don't rely on generic HR interview questions. Involve an internal IT leader or a trusted third-party technical advisor to vet their hands-on competence.
Ask about trade-offs and decisions: Instead of asking what they are responsible for, ask them to describe a difficult decision they made on a past migration that materially affected delivery, what alternatives they weighed, and who disagreed with them.
Test communication skills: SAP implementations require translating complex tech constraints into business logic. If a consultant relies too heavily on buzzwords or fails to listen during the interview, they will struggle during cross-departmental workshops.
Red flags to watch for: Claiming deep expertise across an implausibly broad range of unrelated modules, or talking only about the company’s success without detailing their own individual contributions.
4. Leverage Official Ecosystems and Check References
Check official credentials: Use the official SAP Partner Finder to verify tier-based competencies (Essential, Advanced, or Expert) if you are hiring a boutique or enterprise partner firm.
Always check independent references: Request references from past clients of a similar size and scope to your company, and specifically ask them about budget overruns, handling of custom code, and post-go-live support.
Perspectives from the Field
The CV tells you where someone has worked. The interview needs to establish what they did there, so vague answers to specific delivery questions should concern you.
Good communication skills will be needed during requirement gathering, the implementation, in meetings, presentations, training, knowledge transfer and several other important tasks.
To help narrow down your search, could you tell me:
What current ERP system are you migrating from?
Are you leaning toward an individual independent contractor or a full-service implementation partner/firm?
If you’re migrating from a legacy ERP to SAP, I’d hire the implementation team, not simply the person with the most SAP certifications. The key is finding people who have actually delivered migrations similar to yours.
SAP itself recommends using its Partner Finder and evaluating partners by competency, specialization, expertise, and delivery track record. For RISE with SAP, the competency framework also considers certified implementation consultants, project managers/developers, and successful go-lives.
A practical hiring process
1. Define the project before interviewing consultants
Write down:
Your current ERP and version
Target SAP product — e.g. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, or another SAP ERP offering
Number of users and locations
Countries/currencies/tax regimes involved
Core modules: Finance, Procurement, Sales, Manufacturing, Warehouse, etc.
Major integrations
Approximate transaction/data volumes
Required go-live date
Whether you want a new implementation, system conversion, or selective data transition
Your appetite for customization versus adopting standard SAP processes
This matters because SAP's implementation methodology treats these as materially different transition scenarios.
2. Start with SAP's partner ecosystem
Use sap.com and filter for Consult and Implement partners, your SAP product, industry, geography, and relevant competencies.
I'd initially shortlist 3–5 firms, rather than hiring the first consultant recommended by a salesperson.
For each candidate, ask for three references from customers whose implementations resemble yours.
3. Interview the actual delivery team
This is extremely important. Don't just interview the partner's sales executive.
Ask to meet:
Program/project manager
Solution architect
Finance lead
Supply-chain/manufacturing leads as applicable
Data-migration lead
Integration architect
Testing/quality lead
Change-management/training lead
Ask explicitly:
"Who exactly will be assigned to our project, and how much of their time will actually be dedicated to us?"
A common failure mode is selling you a senior architect and then staffing the project predominantly with less-experienced consultants.
4. Test them with your real business problems
Give the finalists a 60–90 minute scenario such as:
"We currently have 15 years of customer, vendor, inventory and financial data. Our legacy ERP has 200 customizations and 35 integrations. We operate in three countries and cannot shut down operations for more than one weekend. Walk us through your proposed migration."
Then ask them to explain:
What they would keep versus redesign
Their data-migration approach
How they would handle integrations
How they would test the system
How they would manage cutover
What they see as the biggest risks
What they need from your internal team
What they would not customize
That last question is particularly useful. SAP's current methodology emphasizes fit-to-standard and a clean-core approach rather than reproducing every legacy customization in the new system.
5. Demand evidence, not promises
For every major claim, ask:
"Can you show me an example?"
For example:
"We've done large data migrations." → Show a comparable project and provide a reference.
"We're experts in manufacturing." → Give us a manufacturing customer reference.
"We can go live in six months." → Show the assumptions and project plan.
"Our consultants are certified." → Identify the actual consultants and certifications.
"We've done RISE." → How many comparable RISE projects reached production, and when?
SAP's RISE competency framework specifically incorporates successful customer go-lives, which makes this a useful area to investigate rather than relying solely on generic certification claims.
6. Make the proposal comparable
Give every finalist the same RFP and require:
Area
Require from consultant
Scope
Explicit inclusions/exclusions
Team
Named people + allocation
Methodology
SAP Activate/appropriate SAP methodology
Timeline
Phase-by-phase plan
Data
Migration strategy + responsibilities
SAP Activate currently organizes implementation guidance around phases including Discover, Prepare, Explore, and Realize, with subsequent deployment/operations activities; your consultant should be able to map its proposed work clearly onto the applicable methodology.
Questions I'd ask every finalist
"Show us your last three comparable SAP implementations."
"Which people from those projects would be on ours?"
"How many SAP implementations has our proposed project manager personally taken through go-live?"
"What percentage of your proposed budget is customization?"
"What are the five things most likely to make this project late or over budget?"
"What responsibilities must our internal team own?"
"How will you prove migrated data is correct?"
"How many mock cutovers will we perform?"
"What happens if we miss the go-live date?"
"Give us the name of a customer whose project did not go smoothly and tell us what you changed afterward."
That final question can reveal much more than asking for success stories.
One important distinction
If by "consultant" you mean one individual SAP consultant, rather than a consulting firm, I'd still make sure you have access to the broader disciplines above. A serious ERP migration normally requires architecture, functional configuration, data, integration, testing, security, change management and project governance—not just an SAP configurator.
For a small company, one lead consultant plus specialist subcontractors may be sufficient. For a complex multi-country migration, I'd generally structure the engagement around a named implementation team with a single accountable program lead.
If you tell me your current ERP, company size/users, industry, countries, and which SAP product you're considering, I can turn this into a concrete SAP implementation-consultant RFP + interview scorecard you can send to 3–5 firms.
"We currently have 15 years of customer, vendor, inventory and financial data. Our legacy ERP has 200 customizations and 35 integrations. We operate in three countries and cannot shut down operations for more than one weekend. Walk us through your proposed migration."
Then ask them to explain:
What they would keep versus redesign
Their data-migration approach
How they would handle integrations
How they would test the system
How they would manage cutover
What they see as the biggest risks
What they need from your internal team
What they would not customize
That last question is particularly useful. SAP's current methodology emphasizes fit-to-standard and a clean-core approach rather than reproducing every legacy customization in the new system.
Hiring the right SAP implementation consultant is one of the biggest success factors in an ERP migration. The best person is not necessarily the one with the most SAP certifications or the biggest consulting-company logo; it is the consultant who has successfully delivered migrations like yours, understands your business processes, and can manage change.
Here is a practical hiring process:
1. Define what you actually need before interviewing
SAP is broad, so avoid hiring a generic “SAP expert.” Define:
Target SAP platform:SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, SAP Business ByDesign, etc.
Modules involved: Examples: - FI/CO (finance)
MM (procurement/inventory)
SD (sales)
PP (manufacturing)
EWM (warehouse)
SuccessFactors (HR)
Migration type: - Greenfield (new implementation)
Brownfield (system conversion)
Selective data transition
Your biggest risks: - Data cleanup
Integrations
Customizations
User adoption
Regulatory requirements
A consultant who is excellent at SAP Finance migrations may not be the right person to lead a manufacturing ERP replacement.
2. Look for proven implementation experience
Ask candidates for specific completed projects, not general experience.
Good questions:
“Tell me about the last three SAP implementations you personally delivered.”
“What was the old ERP system?”
“What SAP version and modules were implemented?”
“What was your role from blueprint through go-live?”
“What went wrong, and how did you handle it?”
“Can I speak with a customer reference?”
Prior implementation experience and references matter more than certifications alone.
3. Verify the actual person who will do the work
A common problem with large consulting firms is that senior people sell the engagement, then junior consultants execute it.
Require:
Named project team members
Individual resumes
Their percentage of involvement
Who will be onsite vs remote
Replacement approval rights
The people assigned to your project matter more than the consulting firm’s brand.
4. Test business understanding, not just SAP knowledge
A strong SAP consultant should talk about processes, not only transactions.
For example:
Weak answer:
“I configured SAP MM purchasing workflows.”
Strong answer:
“Your current approval process creates delays because purchase requests are manually routed. In SAP, we would redesign approvals using workflow rules, clean up vendor master data, and train buyers before cutover.”
Ask them to walk through one of your real processes:
Order-to-cash
Procure-to-pay
Record-to-report
Manufacturing planning
Inventory management
5. Evaluate their migration approach
Ask for their approach to:
Data migration
How will they cleanse legacy data?
Who owns data decisions?
How many mock migrations will occur?
Testing
How will they organize: - Unit testing?
Integration testing?
User acceptance testing?
Cutover
How long will downtime be?
What is the rollback plan?
How will they support users after go-live?
6. Interview for communication skills
ERP projects fail as often from poor communication as from technical problems.
Look for someone who can:
Explain SAP concepts to executives
Challenge unrealistic requests
Translate between business users and IT
Document decisions clearly
Good consultants should be comfortable saying, “That customization is possible, but here is a better standard SAP approach.”
7. Use a scoring matrix
Example:
Criteria
Weight
Similar ERP migration experience
25%
SAP module expertise
20%
Industry experience
15%
References
15%
Migration methodology
10%
Communication skills
10%
Avoid choosing only on hourly rate. A cheaper consultant who extends a project by six months can cost far more.
8. Consider whether you need an individual consultant or a firm
Independent SAP consultant
Best when:
You need a specialist
Your scope is limited
You already have strong internal project management
SAP implementation partner/system integrator
Better when:
You are replacing a core ERP
Multiple modules are involved
You need project governance, testing teams, change management, and support
9. Red flags to watch for
Be cautious if they:
Cannot name recent go-lives
Only discuss configuration, not business outcomes
Have no migration examples
Promise a fast implementation without understanding your complexity
Avoid reference checks
Push heavy customization immediately
Cannot explain their methodology
10. A good first step: run a paid discovery phase
Before committing to a full implementation, hire the consultant for a short assessment (often 2–6 weeks) to produce:
Current-state review
SAP roadmap
Module recommendations
Migration risks
Estimated timeline and budget
Implementation approach
This lets you evaluate how they work before making a multi-year commitment.
If you tell me:
your current ERP (Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, custom, etc.),
company size,
industry, and
whether you are moving to SAP S/4HANA,
I can suggest the type of SAP consultant profile you should hire and an interview scorecard tailored to your migration.
Current-state review
SAP roadmap
Module recommendations
Migration risks
Estimated timeline and budget
Implementation approach
This lets you evaluate how they work before making a multi-year commitment.
If you tell me:
your current ERP (Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, custom, etc.),
company size,
industry, and
whether you are moving to SAP S/4HANA,
I can suggest the type of SAP consultant profile you should hire and an interview scorecard tailored to your migration.
Here is a structured, step-by-step roadmap to guide your search and selection process.
1. Define Your Scope and Specific Module Needs
Before interviewing anyone, pin down what you actually need. SAP is massive; a Financials (FI/CO) expert won't necessarily know Supply Chain (MM/PP) or Sales & Distribution (SD) inside and out.
Determine your deployment type (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud vs. On-Premise).
List the exact business units and modules affected.
Estimate the project timeline and whether you need them for end-to-end implementation or specific phases (blueprint, configuration, testing, go-live support).
2. Settle on the Engagement Model
Decide how you want to contract your talent:
Independent Contractors: Cost-effective, highly specialized, but requires rigorous vetting on your part.
Boutique SAP Consultancies: Provide a balanced blend of project management oversight and functional talent.
Big System Integrators (SIs): Best for massive global transformations, though significantly more expensive.
3. Screen for Core Competencies
When reviewing candidates or partner resumes, look for these non-negotiable traits:
Module Mastery: Hands-on configuration experience in your specific industry vertical (e.g., discrete manufacturing vs. retail).
Process Translation: They must act as a bridge, turning messy legacy business workflows into standardized SAP best practices.
Soft Skills & Communication: They need to explain technical constraints clearly to executives and listen effectively to end-users.
Certifications & Track Record: Official SAP certifications help, but verified successful full-lifecycle go-lives are worth their weight in gold.
4. Conduct a Rigorous Technical & Scenario-Based Interview
Involve both your IT leads and key business stakeholders in the interview. Avoid generic internet trivia questions.
Present a real, messy workflow bottleneck from your current legacy ERP and ask: "How would you map this specific scenario in SAP?"
Test how they handle scope creep or pushback from resistant business units.
Evaluate how transparent they are when they don't know an obscure configuration right off the bat—good consultants know how to research and collaborate rather than guessing.
5. Check References Relentlessly
It is astonishing how many companies skip this step. Call past project managers or client sponsors from the consultant’s previous 2–3 engagements. Ask explicitly:
Did they deliver their configuration on time?
Were there major post-go-live breakage issues due to poor design?
How well did they handle user training and knowledge transfer?
If you want to narrow this down, tell me:
What industry is your business in?
Are you moving to SAP S/4HANA (Cloud or On-Premise)?
Are you looking for an independent freelancer or a consulting firm?
I can help tailor specific interview questions or evaluation criteria for your setup.
Here is a structured roadmap to guide your search and selection process:
Define Your Scope and Requirements First
Identify your core modules (e.g., FICO, MM, SD, PP), deployment preference (S/4HANA Cloud vs. On-Premise), and business drivers.
Determine whether you need an individual independent contractor, a boutique consulting shop, or a tier-1 systems integrator.
Source Candidates Through Verified Channels
Use the official SAP Partner Finder to locate certified, authorized implementation partners.
Leverage targeted professional networks, specialized ERP staffing agencies, and peer recommendations from your industry.
Verify Track Record and Industry Experience
Check for official SAP competencies, specializations , and up-to-date certifications.
Ask for case studies or references from companies of similar size and industry who underwent a comparable legacy migration.
Evaluate Soft Skills and Change Management
Technical brilliance means little if the consultant cannot explain complex concepts to your internal team. Look for exceptional communication and stakeholder management.
Ensure they emphasize knowledge transfer so your internal team isn't dependent on them forever.
Conduct Scenario-Based Interviews
Instead of standard trivia, present a mock business process bottleneck or data migration failure scenario and ask how they would handle it.
Assess how they approach testing phases, risk mitigation, and user training.
To help narrow down your strategy, tell me:
What SAP solution are you migrating to (e.g., S/4HANA Public Cloud, Private Cloud, or On-Premise)?
What is the approximate size and industry of your company?
Hiring the right SAP implementation consultant is one of the biggest success factors in an ERP migration. A strong consultant should do more than configure SAP — they should help you redesign processes, manage data migration, control scope, train users, and get the business operating successfully after go-live.
Here is a practical hiring approach:
1. Define what you actually need before interviewing consultants
Create a short project profile:
Current ERP system (e.g., legacy SAP ECC, Oracle, Infor, custom ERP)
Target SAP platform (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP S/4HANA on-premise)
Avoid hiring someone who only says “we do SAP.” SAP implementations vary greatly by industry, module, and migration approach.
2. Decide whether you need an individual consultant or an implementation partner
Independent SAP consultant
Best when:
You already have an internal SAP team
You need expertise in a specific module
You need an advisor to challenge vendors or manage a workstream
Risks:
Limited capacity
May lack full migration, testing, and change-management resources
SAP consulting firm / system integrator
Best when:
This is a full ERP replacement
You need project management, developers, testers, data migration specialists, and training support
Examples of firms to evaluate include large integrators and specialized SAP boutiques. Focus less on brand name and more on the exact team assigned to your project.
3. Require proof of similar SAP migrations
Ask candidates:
“Show me three SAP migrations similar to ours.”
“Was it a new implementation, brownfield conversion, or selective data transition?”
“Which SAP modules were involved?”
“How many users?”
“How many countries?”
“What went wrong, and how did you fix it?”
A good answer sounds like:
“We migrated a 2,000-user manufacturing company from an older ERP to S/4HANA, including Finance, MM, PP, and EWM. We had 12 months of data cleansing before cutover.”
A weak answer sounds like:
“We have hundreds of SAP projects.”
You want evidence tied to your situation, not a generic résumé.
4. Interview the actual consultants who will work on your project
Do not select based only on the sales presentation.
Ask:
Who is the SAP program manager?
Who is the solution architect?
Who leads each module?
Are those people committed in the contract?
How much of their time is reserved for us?
A common ERP failure pattern is meeting senior experts during sales and receiving a less experienced delivery team afterward.
5. Test their implementation methodology
Ask them to walk through:
Discovery
How do you document current processes?
How do you identify what should be standardized versus customized?
Design
How do you avoid unnecessary SAP customization?
How do you handle business process conflicts?
Data migration
How do you cleanse legacy data?
Who owns data validation?
How many mock migrations do you perform?
Testing
How do you organize unit, integration, user acceptance, and regression testing?
Cutover
What does the final weekend/hour-by-hour cutover plan look like?
Go-live support
How long do you provide hypercare?
What happens when critical issues appear?
Data migration and cutover planning deserve especially close scrutiny because they are frequent sources of ERP project risk.
6. Check references the right way
Ask for references from companies that match:
Similar industry
Similar size
Similar complexity
Similar SAP version
When you call references, ask:
Did they stay on budget?
Did the team you met stay on the project?
How did they handle problems?
Would you hire them again?
What surprised you negatively?
7. Use a scoring model instead of gut feel
Example:
Criteria
Weight
Similar SAP migration experience
25%
Industry knowledge
20%
Assigned team quality
20%
Data migration capability
15%
Methodology/governance
10%
Cost
10%
The cheapest consultant is rarely the lowest-cost option if they cause delays, rework, or excessive customization.
8. Watch for warning signs
Be cautious if a consultant:
Promises an unusually fast implementation without reviewing your processes
Gives a fixed price before understanding your scope
Cannot explain data migration in detail
Talks mostly about SAP features rather than business outcomes
Has no references you can contact
Avoids discussing risks
A good first step
Create a short SAP implementation consultant RFP and invite 5–8 candidates. Ask each to provide:
Relevant project examples
Proposed team members
Implementation approach
Timeline assumptions
Risks and mitigation plan
Cost estimate and assumptions
If you share your industry, company size, current ERP, target SAP product (if chosen), and whether this is a replacement or upgrade, I can help you build a consultant evaluation scorecard and interview questions tailored to your migration.
SAP isn't a monolith; it is broken down into specific functional and technical modules. Clarify what you need before you start looking:
Core Functional Modules: Do you need supply chain and manufacturing (MM, PP, SD), or financial and controlling (FICO)?
The Platform: Are you implementing SAP S/4HANA (cloud or on-premise), which requires modern architecture understanding?
Integration & Customization: Assess whether you need custom code management (WRICEF objects) or if you plan to stick strictly to standard SAP "best practices" processes.
Key Criteria to Evaluate in Candidates
Industry-Specific Experience: An SAP consultant who understands discrete manufacturing will struggle in retail or life sciences. Insist on a candidate who has successfully deployed SAP in your exact industry sector.
Full Lifecycle Track Record: Look for professionals who have taken projects from blueprinting and data migration all the way through go-live and post-implementation hypercare.
Soft Skills and Translation Ability: The best technical minds often fail if they cannot speak "business." They must act as a bridge between your internal legacy business unit leads and deep IT developers, avoiding dense jargon.
Best Practices for the Interview Process
Involve a Trusted Technical Peer: If your internal team lacks deep SAP expertise, bring in a trusted third-party technical advisor or fractional CIO to help conduct the technical screening.
Scenario-Based Testing: Avoid generic interview questions found online. Instead, present a real workflow bottleneck or data migration hurdle from your current legacy system and ask: "How would you map this specific process constraint into SAP?"
Mandatory Reference Checks: Never skip checking references. Ask past clients about their ability to manage scope creep, handle budget discipline, and stay calm under go-live pressure.
“I found... involving a technical IT resource or consultant that you trust to ask some specific SAP technical/functional questions [is critical].”
“Good communication skills will be needed during requirement gathering, the implementation, in meetings, presentations, training, knowledge transfer and several other important tasks.”
If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me:
What is your current legacy ERP system and company size/industry?
Are you looking for an individual freelancer/contractor or an implementation agency/consultancy firm?
I can help tailor the specific interview questions or evaluation rubric you should use.
For an ERP migration, I’d treat this less like hiring an individual consultant and more like selecting an implementation partner + accountable project lead. The biggest risk is hiring someone who knows SAP technically but has never successfully migrated a business like yours.
SAP itself recommends using its Partner Finder and evaluating partners by competencies, specializations, expertise, proficiency, and maturity.
1. Define what you actually need first
Before interviewing anyone, create a 1–2 page requirements brief covering:
Current ERP: vendor/version, customizations, modules, database
Target SAP: e.g. S/4HANA Cloud Public/Private or on-premise
Company size: users, locations, countries, entities
Modules: Finance, Controlling, Sales, Procurement, Manufacturing, Warehouse, HR, etc.
Integrations: CRM, e-commerce, payroll, banking, EDI, third-party applications
Data migration: approximate volume and data quality
Timeline: desired go-live and any hard deadline
Budget range
Biggest business problems: what the new ERP must improve
Internal resources: who will own the project on your side
This prevents consultants from giving you a generic SAP proposal.
2. Build a shortlist of 3–5 firms
Start with sap.com and filter for Consult and Implement partners. SAP specifically distinguishes these from resellers, managed-service providers, and other partner types.
I'd deliberately mix:
One large/global integrator — deep SAP expertise and lots of resources.
Two or three mid-sized specialists — often more senior attention and potentially lower cost.
One smaller specialist — particularly if your ERP is industry-specific or your project is relatively small.
Don't automatically choose the biggest firm.
3. Evaluate the actual team, not the sales presentation
This is probably the most important step.
Ask each firm:
"Who specifically will be working on our project?"
Then require names and CVs for:
Project/program manager
SAP solution architect
Functional leads
Technical/integration lead
Data migration lead
Change-management/training lead
Cutover/go-live lead
Ask how much time each person will actually spend on your project.
A common failure mode is getting impressive senior people during the sales process and then receiving a largely different, junior team after signing.
4. Demand relevant references
Don't settle for:
"We've done hundreds of SAP implementations."
Ask for 3 references from projects resembling yours.
For each reference, ask:
What was their old ERP?
Which SAP product/version?
How many users?
How many countries/sites?
How long did implementation take?
What was the original budget vs. final cost?
Did they go live on schedule?
What went wrong?
What would they do differently?
Would they hire this consultant again?
And, ideally, speak directly to the reference customer, rather than accepting a written testimonial.
5. Test their implementation philosophy
A good SAP consultant shouldn't immediately propose rebuilding your old ERP inside SAP.
For modern SAP implementations, ask them to explain their approach to fit-to-standard, process redesign, extensions, integrations, and customizations. SAP's current implementation guidance emphasizes SAP Activate and standardized implementation practices.
Ask this question:
"Give me five examples of things you would tell us NOT to customize in SAP, and explain why."
A strong consultant will have opinions.
I'd be cautious if the answer is essentially:
"We'll analyze your requirements and customize SAP to match everything you do today."
That can turn an ERP transformation into an expensive recreation of your legacy system.
6. Make them demonstrate their thinking
Give the finalists a realistic scenario from your business.
For example:
"Our legacy ERP has 15 years of customer, vendor, inventory and financial data. We have 4 warehouses, 2 legal entities and integrations with our CRM and e-commerce platform. Show us how you'd approach migration."
Have each firm present:
Discovery
Process design
SAP configuration
Data cleansing/migration
Integrations
Testing
User training
Cutover
Go-live
Hypercare
You'll learn far more from this exercise than from another PowerPoint about their company.
7. Put data migration under a microscope
ERP migrations frequently underestimate data problems.
Ask specifically:
Who owns data cleansing?
Who maps legacy fields to SAP?
How many mock migrations will you perform?
How will historical transactions be handled?
How will you reconcile financial balances?
How will you validate inventory?
What happens to legacy documents?
Who signs off on migrated data?
What are the cutover validation procedures?
If they say "data migration is straightforward," I'd consider that a warning sign.
8. Make the contract protect you
Don't accept an enormous vaguely defined "SAP implementation" statement of work.
Your SOW should clearly specify:
Deliverables
Milestones
Acceptance criteria
Project assumptions
Customer responsibilities
Consultant responsibilities
Named personnel
Expected staffing levels
Change-control process
Testing responsibilities
Data migration responsibilities
Go-live criteria
Warranty/hypercare
Post-go-live support
Knowledge transfer
Documentation
Pricing and payment milestones
For a sufficiently well-defined project, consider fixed-price or milestone-based components rather than making everything time-and-materials.
SAP itself highlights predictable costs and predefined implementation services as an advantage of some packaged cloud ERP partner approaches.
9. Score candidates objectively
I'd use a scorecard like this:
Criterion
Weight
Relevant SAP experience
20%
Relevant industry/business-process experience
15%
Quality of proposed team
15%
References / track record
15%
Migration & integration capability
10%
Implementation methodology
10%
Notice that price is only 10%.
A consultant who is 20% cheaper but takes 18 months longer or creates expensive customization can be vastly more expensive overall.
Also check the partner's SAP competencies and specializations rather than relying solely on what the sales team tells you. SAP's partner framework is specifically designed to help customers make this distinction.
10. Ask these 10 interview questions
I'd use these almost verbatim:
"What SAP implementations most closely resemble ours?"
"Who exactly will be on our project team?"
"Which people you're proposing have personally taken an SAP project through go-live?"
"What are the three biggest risks you see in our migration?"
"What would you refuse to customize?"
"How will you approach legacy-data cleansing and migration?"
"How will you prove that our financial and operational data reconciles after migration?"
"What is your cutover strategy?"
"Tell us about an SAP implementation that went badly. What happened?"
"Give us three customers we can call who had a similar project."
That ninth question is particularly useful. Good consultants don't pretend their projects are perfect; they can explain failures and what they changed afterward.
One more thing: check SAP's current partner signals
As of 2026, SAP has also introduced a support proficiency designation in Partner Finder intended to identify partners with demonstrated support expertise and collaboration with SAP. That's worth checking alongside the partner's competencies and specializations.
Week 1: Define requirements + shortlist 5 firms
Week 2: Issue an RFP + interview proposed teams
Week 3: Run scripted demonstrations + reference checks
Week 4: Negotiate SOW, staffing, milestones and commercial terms with the top 2
Then select based on team quality + relevant experience + implementation approach + references, not the lowest bid.
If you tell me your current ERP, company size, industry, number of users/locations, and which SAP product you're moving to, I can turn this into a consultant RFP and a weighted evaluation scorecard you can send directly to SAP implementation firms.
Migrating to SAP is a massive undertaking, and the quality of your implementation consultant (or partner) will make or break the project. You need someone who doesn’t just know the technical configuration, but actually understands your operational workflows.
A structured, step-by-step roadmap will help you evaluate, interview, and hire the right SAP implementation consultant:
Define Your Scope and Module Needs First
Before looking at resumes, pin down what you are implementing (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Public/Private Cloud vs. ECC, and specific modules like FICO, MM, SD, or PP). Determine if you need an individual independent contractor, a boutique advisory firm, or a tier-1 system integrator (SI).
Look for Industry-Specific Experience
An SAP expert who spent their career in discrete manufacturing might struggle in retail or pharmaceuticals. Demand proof of full-lifecycle implementations (from blueprinting to go-live and hypercare) in your specific industry vertical.
Verify Certifications and Track Records
Check for official SAP Certification credentials matching the specific solution stack you are deploying. However, don't rely on paper credentials alone—require detailed walkthroughs of past projects they personally architected.
Test for Business-to-Tech Translation Skills
The best consultants don't hide behind heavy jargon. They act as a bridge between your operational business leads and the technical backend. In the interview, present a real operational bottleneck from your current legacy ERP and ask them to talk you through how they would design the future-state process in SAP.
Involve a Trusted Technical Peer and Check References
If your internal IT team doesn't have deep SAP expertise, bring in a trusted external technical advisor to help conduct the technical portion of the interview. Most importantly, always check references —ask previous clients specifically about their post-go-live support quality, adherence to budgets, and how they handled scope creep.
If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me:
Are you implementing SAP S/4HANA (Cloud or On-Premise) or another version?
Are you looking to hire an individual consultant or an implementation firm / system integrator?
