My Story as an ERP Consultant: How I HELP businesses

When I started with SAP, I quickly realized how complex and overwhelming it could be. Over time, through experience and numerous projects, as an SAP ERP Consultant, I found ways to simplify the process and turn challenges into clear solutions. Now, I’m here to share my knowledge and help others streamline their SAP implementations with practical advice and proven strategies. Let’s make SAP work for you!

Your ERP Project Doesn't Have to Fail

Most ERP projects fail. That’s not me being dramatic, that’s reality. Companies spend millions on systems that either don’t work properly or take years longer than planned. I’ve seen it happen too many times.

But here’s what I’ve learned after 24+ years and dozens of implementations: it doesn’t have to be this way.

The difference between success and disaster comes down to one thing. Getting someone who understands both the technology and your business. Not just a technical expert who speaks in code. Not just a business consultant who doesn’t understand systems. Someone who gets both sides. That’s what I bring to your project.

What makes me different:

  • I’ve been the client buying these systems and the consultant implementing them
  • 24 years across every major ERP platform (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, IFS, Navision)
  • Delivered results that matter: 50% cost reductions, 40% revenue growth
  • Risk management certified because I know what can go wrong
  • Focus on AI integration because that’s where business is heading

Bottom line: Your competitors are already using technology to get ahead. The question is whether your next ERP project puts you in front or leaves you scrambling to catch up.

Ready to do this right? Want to talk about your situation?

The Real Problems I Deal With

When Everything Goes Wrong at Once

So, this Supply Chain Manager in Dubai, who I worked with before, calls me at around 2am. I was half asleep, honestly. His SAP system had completely crashed and his warehouse guys were writing orders on actual paper. Like, with pens. In 2023.

Turns out the consultant before me had set everything up wrong. I’m still not sure how they managed to mess it up that badly. We spent two weeks basically starting over. The CEO was stressed out of his mind, but at least his system works now.

Projects That Should Have Been Simple

I keep getting calls from project managers who sound like they haven’t slept in weeks. The conversation always starts the same way. “We’re six months behind and the board wants answers.” Then they explain how their system technically works but nobody can figure out how to use it.

Maybe I’m old school, but I think training matters more than most people realize. You can have the fanciest system in the world, but if your team doesn’t know how to use it, you’ve wasted your money. I’ve seen it happen too many times.

Systems Held Together with Hope

Last month I walked into this retail chain office. Their inventory system was so old they had to restart it every Friday. Not kidding. The owner showed me his Excel spreadsheet where he manually tracked everything for 50 stores. I probably looked shocked because he started defending it.

Their competition was already using AI for forecasting while they were still counting stock by hand. We got them sorted out, but they waited way longer than they should have.

The AI Thing Everyone’s Worried About

People keep asking me about AI. Some are excited, others are scared they’re falling behind. The truth is, you can’t just slap AI onto a broken system and expect magic. I learned that the hard way on a project last year.

Get your foundation right first. Then we can talk about the fancy stuff.

Need help sorting this out? Give me a call.

“I’ve helped companies grow their business by over 40% and cut down costs by 50%…”

My Experience in Public Sector and Private Sector

I work with both government agencies and private companies. They’re completely different animals, honestly.

Private sector moves fast. CEO makes a decision, project starts next month. Government is the opposite.  I once waited six months just to get security clearance to look at their existing system. It was going out of control.

But both have their perks. Private companies can change direction quickly when something’s not working. Government projects, once they get going, usually have actual budgets. No one’s asking you to work miracles with pocket change.

Here’s what I’ve figured out from bouncing between both:

Government Projects Test Your Patience: That S/4HANA telecom thing taught me this. They needed better financial reporting, but every tiny decision required a committee meeting. What takes two weeks in private sector? Three months in government. I probably complained to my wife about it every night.

The aviation data warehouse was similar. So many people involved, so many rules to follow. But you know what? When we finished, they actually had something that worked properly instead of a Band-Aid solution.

Private Sector Wants Everything Yesterday: Manufacturing clients are really focused about speed. That Dubai warehouse mess? Private company. CEO called me at 2am because every hour cost them serious money. We had two weeks to fix everything or they’d lose their biggest contracts. No pressure, right?

Retail is worse. When their inventory system breaks, they’re bleeding sales by the hour. No time for proper planning sometimes.

The AI stuff is getting interesting in both sectors. That government chatbot project was actually cooler than most private work I do. They genuinely wanted to help citizens, not just save money. Private companies usually ask about ROI before anything else.

I think government is catching up faster than people realize. And private sector is learning that cheap solutions end up costing more later.

"I safeguard your investment from the predictable mistakes that turn ERP projects into business disasters."

My Focus on Artificial Intelligence

Look, AI is really overwhelming for all of us. After dealing with ERP projects and cloud migrations for more than twenty years, I figured I had enough on my plate. Then this manufacturing client in Dubai calls me up, completely frustrated with their production line. Nothing they tried was working.

So, we ended up trying machine learning to predict when their equipment would break down. I was pretty doubtful at first, to be honest. But then the system started flagging problems weeks before anything actually went wrong. Their maintenance bills went down, production stayed smooth. That got my attention.

These days I find myself doing more AI work than I expected. The variety keeps me interested, I suppose. Sometimes it’s a factory, sometimes a retail chain. Government work has been rewarding, even though those projects take forever to get approved.

Here’s what I’m working on lately:

  • Factory equipment that predicts its own maintenance needs
  • Retail systems that figure out what to stock and when
  • Government chatbots that actually help citizens instead of frustrating them
  • Tools that catch fraud in public spending
  • Quality control cameras that spot defects better than human eyes

Just last month I helped this retail chain in Riyadh fix their inventory mess. Their system now learns from sales patterns and adjusts stock automatically. Still has quirks, but it beats having someone guess what to order every week.

Government projects are weird. I worked with an agency drowning in citizen complaints and requests. We built something to handle the simple stuff and send the complicated cases to real people. The staff loved it because they could actually solve problems instead of just answering the same questions all day.

The thing about AI is it should make people better at their jobs, not replace them. Too many companies think they can just throw AI at a problem and magic happens.

SAP ERP Noel DCosta

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this.

Look, ERP projects fall apart all the time. Yesterday everything works fine, today your warehouse team is calling you panicked because they can’t ship orders. I’ve been cleaning up these disasters for over 20 years now. Same problems keep happening and I’ve seen a lot of it.

What I actually do for you:

  • Consulting: I’ll come look at your mess and figure out what went wrong. Maybe your monthly reports take three days to generate when they should take an hour. Or your accounting team stays late every night because the system fights them on everything. I’ll dig around, find the real problem, and show you how to fix it.
  • Training: Your team probably hates the system because nobody taught them properly. I’ll show them the shortcuts that actually work. Like how to close your books without working weekends, or why you should ignore half the advice your IT guy gives you.
  • Blog stuff: I write about the problems I see over and over. System crashes, security nightmares, failed upgrades. No email required, just real solutions.
  • Guides: Practical stuff for the headaches that keep you up at night. Moving to S/4HANA without losing your mind. Locking down access so people can’t break things accidentally.

Most problems have simple fixes once you know what you’re looking for.

If your system is making your life miserable, Give me a call.

So finally,

Here’s the reality. While you’re reading this, your competitors are implementing AI and SAP solutions that give them real advantages. The companies I work with are preventing costly failures and optimizing operations while their competitors struggle.

I’m not here to overwhelm you with a lot of stuff. After twenty years, I know what works and what wastes time. The window for getting ahead is closing fast. Companies that move now will dominate. Those that wait will spend years catching up.

Your competition is not waiting. Neither should you. Check my contact details below and let’s discuss positioning your organization ahead of what’s coming. The cost of waiting exceeds the cost of acting.

Phone

+1 415 230 2108

Website

https://noeldcosta.com

LinkedIn

Click here

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