For those who wished to know the role of a functional consultant.

Below is one view:

A functional consultant evaluates the demands in talking with the customer's representatives, transforms the essence into an abstract and algorithmic business model. Hence, he identifies the use cases and transforms them into logical and technical views.

Then the main task starts: customizing the respective business area and making sure the system reacts in the manner according to the constraints of the requested use case.

The consultant documents the settings and prepares proper guidelines that allow other consultants to do further changes or repairs with due efforts.

The consultant takes care that proper training is given to the users and that the system is usable, performing appropriately and the business flow is complete and correct.

During go live he assists the technical staff by testing the behaviour of the system.

After go live he guarantees that the procedures remain usable and consistent in real live situation and proposes enhancements.

The main duty of a consultant is to transfer external know-how to the client. It is not manpower that counts but intelligence, understanding of processes, a feeling for defects and general a common sense.