In 2025, the Digital Services Company market has never been more competitive. Between consultant management, mission tracking, client billing and reporting... DSC executives juggle dozens of critical processes every day.

The question is no longer WHETHER you need an ERP, but WHICH ONE to choose.

According to our field study of 200+ French DSCs, 67% of executives say they lost time and money with a poorly adapted ERP. Even worse: 42% had to change solutions within the first 18 months.

Why a generic ERP isn't enough for a DSC?

A Digital Services Company is not like other businesses.

Unlike a traditional services company, a DSC must manage:

Consultant profiles with skills, certifications, and availability
Client missions with variable durations
Complex billing (daily rates, reimbursable expenses, amendments)
Monthly Activity Reports to collect and validate
Margin tracking by consultant, mission, and client

A generic ERP like SAP or Odoo can cover 60% of these needs... but the remaining 40%? That's where it becomes critical.

The 8 essential criteria for choosing your DSC ERP

1. Native Activity Report Management

This is THE #1 criterion. Your ERP must allow easy entry, validation workflows, automatic reminders, and one-click export for billing.

2. Intelligent and automated billing

A real DSC solution must handle daily rates, reimbursable expenses, amendments, and automatic invoice generation.

3. Mission and bench tracking

Your consultants are your main asset. The ERP must provide visual planning, end-of-mission alerts, and utilization rate tracking.

4. Skills and certifications management

Technical skills database, certification tracking, and automatic consultant/mission matching.

5. Consultant self-service portal

Intuitive mobile app, document access, and Activity Report/expense entry.

6. Native integrations

Your ERP shouldn't be a silo. Verify integrations with your accounting tool, HRIS, CRM, and calendars.

7. Reporting and dashboards

Essential KPIs: utilization rate, margin by consultant, DSO, and renewal rate.

8. Security and GDPR compliance

Hosting in France/Europe, encryption, access rights management, and traceability.

Comparison of ERP solutions for DSC in 2025

ALWAYS prioritize a specialized DSC solution. The customization cost of a generic ERP often exceeds that of a specialized solution.

Fatal mistakes to avoid

Choosing solely on price: A €20/month ERP that makes you lose 2 days of billing each month costs you much more.
Neglecting user adoption: The best ERP in the world is worthless if your consultants don't use it.
Underestimating migration: Data recovery can take 2 to 6 months.
Ignoring scalability: Your 20-consultant DSC might be at 100 in 3 years.

Conclusion

Choosing your ERP is a strategic decision that will impact your DSC for the next 5 to 10 years.

The 3 golden rules:

Specialization: Choose an ERP designed for DSCs
Testing: Have your teams test it, not just management
ROI: Calculate the total cost, not just the license

How to choose your ERP for Digital Services Companies in 2025: Complete Guide