How to choose a certified Infor Partner for ERP solutions in the age of AI and automation

Choosing a certified Infor partner for ERP solutions is no longer only about finding a team that can implement Infor CloudSuite. It is also crucial for the team to understand industry processes, data quality, integrations, automation, AI governance, testing, and long-term ERP support. That matters because ERP initiatives remain high-risk: Gartner says more than 70% of recently implemented ERP initiatives will fail to fully meet their original business case goals. This blog will discuss the importance of a certified Infor partner and how to select the best one for your needs.

A certified Infor partner for ERP solutions helps organizations implement, extend, optimize, and support Infor ERP platforms such as Infor CloudSuite and Infor M3.

In practice, the work includes process/solution design, data migration, integration design, testing, documentation, change management, user training, release readiness, and managed services. The best partners also help businesses identify where ERP can be improved through automation, analytics, AI agents, and industry-specific extensions.

The inter-connectedness is important for enterprise teams, because Infor ERP is not a standalone IT system. It often sits at the center of finance, manufacturing, distribution, procurement, supply chain, warehouse, and customer services.

You should engage an Infor partner before the project scope is finalized, especially if you are planning an implementation, upgrade, cloud migration, reimplementation, support transition, or automation roadmap.

Early involvement helps avoid common ERP risks such as:

• Copying legacy workarounds into the new system
• Underestimating data migration effort
• Missing integration dependencies
• Designing processes without user input
• Missing out on using industry best practices/experiences from past implementations
• Treating testing as a final-stage activity
• Planning automation before the process is stable

A partner should help define the business outcomes, technical scope, rollout approach, and post-go-live support model before the implementation begins.

Pro tip: Bringing in an Infor partner during the discovery stage helps uncover hidden dependencies, data gaps, integration risks, and process exceptions before they become expensive change requests.

An Infor partner brings product-specific and industry-specific experience that a general ERP consultant may not have.

A general ERP consultant can support broad transformation planning. A certified Infor partner understands Infor CloudSuite functionality, M3 processes, extensions, integrations, release cycles, and common delivery risks.

The right choice depends on your business needs. For Infor CloudSuite execution, optimization, and post-go-live improvement, a certified Infor partner for ERP solutions is usually the more practical option.

A strong Infor partner should stay current with new Infor capabilities and know how they apply to real business operations.

Look for familiarity with:

• Experience Designer
• Velocity Suite
• Infor OS
• AI and workflow automation
• Extensibility and integrations

Why it matters:
ERP platforms evolve quickly. The right partner helps you adopt new capabilities strategically while keeping your ERP environment scalable and future-ready.

Partner selection matters because ERP success depends on how well technology is connected to business outcomes, not just how quickly a system goes live.

Modern ERP projects involve cloud architecture, multi-country operations, integrated applications, data governance, and automation opportunities. Gartner also notes that AI-enabled cloud ERP spending is expected to rise sharply, from 14% of cloud ERP spending in 2024 to 62% by 2027.

That shift changes what enterprises should expect from an Infor partner. Technical implementation is still important, but it is not enough. The partner must be able to answer questions such as:

• Which processes should be standardized?
• Which workflows should remain industry-specific?
• Where will automation deliver measurable value?
• Which integrations are business-critical?
• How will AI access ERP data securely?
• What happens after go-live?

AI and automation are shifting the role of an Infor partner from implementation support to continuous value orchestration.

A modern certified Infor partner for ERP solutions should help businesses identify where automation belongs, where human approval is still required, and how AI should interact with ERP data securely. Infor’s evolving ecosystem, including Infor Velocity, is accelerating this shift by enabling workflow automation, process optimization, and faster operational decision-making across ERP environments.

For example, Fortude’s MCP server for Infor M3 provides a structured, reusable interface that allows AI agents to interact with Infor APIs securely and contextually. The solution handles authentication, routes requests, and returns structured responses so users can interact with ERP data more naturally.

This is where the ERP partner’s role becomes more strategic. It is not just about building an integration. It is about defining the access model, governance boundaries, exception handling, auditability, and business value.

As Infor’s largest alliance partner for CloudSuite worldwide, Fortude supports Infor CloudSuite journeys across implementation, upgrades, optimization, automation, digital advisory, and managed services. 

Fortude also brings adjacent capabilities that matter in modern ERP programs:

• Infor CloudSuite Consulting for implementation, upgrades, optimization, and support 
• Fortest for automated regression testing
• Agentic AI solutions for governed enterprise AI workflows
• Intelligent Automation for process automation
• Data and Analytics solutions that establish the right foundation for deriving real-time insights. 
• Managed Services for long-term ERP support

Fortude’s Infor product portfolio also includes M3 ecosystem accelerators such as:

• EDI content pack helps standardize data flow and streamline order processing.
• Vendor portal improves visibility and reduces manual vendor coordination.
• M3 data upload tool and M3 data mover simplify data handling in Infor M3.
• Banking Integration, Credit Card Interface, and Exchange Rate Integration support finance teams with smoother transactions and exchange rate management.
• Bartender integration and outbound packaging manager helps logistics teams improve labeling and packaging workflows.

This combination helps enterprises move beyond system implementation and focus on long-term ERP value.

Start by reviewing where ERP value is currently blocked. Look at process gaps, manual workarounds, data issues, integration dependencies, testing maturity, support needs, and automation opportunities.

The right certified Infor partner for ERP solutions will not begin with a tool demo. They will begin by understanding your business outcomes, operational constraints, and readiness for change.