When the time comes to implement Oracle Financial Applications for your firm, your first move is also your most important: Build The Right Team. This is one project no firm wants to do twice. Not only does each decision made during implementation build on the last, many initial options are irreversible, leaving very little room for guesswork. The question is, what should you look for in an Oracle professional? Proper Training Look for Oracle Certified Professionals. Certification means overall system knowledge, not just a module or two. Financial Accounting Experience Understanding your Business Requirements not only makes implemention more efficient, it makes the results more accurate. Cross Training Most functional consultants know little about the technology and technical consultants know even less about the functionally. Bridge that gap with a Techno/Functional Resource experienced in both areas. Allow me to introduce myself... I started my career in 1985 as a financial manager in a project cost accounting environment. After a few years I joined a software firm specializing in financial accounting applications. The only way to push the application to greater ability was to become more technical, so I moved from implementation and support, to design and development. In 1997 I joined Oracle Consulting Services as a Senior Principal Consultant and found the perfect merger of my functional and technical interests. Wanting to be more objective during implementations, I went independent in 1999 and became an Oracle Certified Professional in 2001. My understanding of accounting principles, functional knowledge of multiple application modules, and technical foundation in Oracle Database and Financial Applications have made me a valuable member of my clients implementation teams. Please review my site for more details or feel free contact me for a copy of my resume/cv.