Hi ksenthil,
Welcome to the software industry and the world of Progress.
QAD Mfg/Pro is an ERP system. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP packages are large softwares usually consisting hundreds of thousands of programs. Most ERP softwares are generally capable of handling most (if not all) of a Company's operations from Purchasing right up to final Financial Reporting. This level of integration enables an ERP to be very helpful in planning business activities. Planning is therefore, a key capability of an ERP. One point to be noted is that, ERP being a general package (not customised for any particular company /industry), configuring it to ones business process is necessary. This is called mapping the business process in the ERP.
Functional people in ERP are generally people with actual business knowledge and can be non software professionals also. For eg., an experienced accountant will have excellent functional knowledge of Financial modules of ERP. Or a production planner can become an expert in Manufacturing Modules (of the ERP). It is the job of the functional consultant to understand business processes and map them into the ERP system. Generally functional consultants act as an interface between Technical consultants and the User.
On the other hand, technical persons are generally programmers who write the code and do activities associated with programming. This required understanding of programming and the underlying programming language that the ERP is made from.
If a person is capable of functional as well as technical roles he is called as a techno-functional .
Which path you take is totally dependent on your choice and your qualifications / experience.
Hope this information helps you.
Regards,
-Allan
