Infor LN: Contractor, Partner or Independent?

By Matty Hatton, independent Infor LN consultant, Wirral. Published 25 October 2026.

Quick answer: Hire an Infor partner or systems integrator if you need a full implementation, a large team or round-the-clock support. Hire a contractor if you have a clear gap in your own team and the capacity to direct the work. Hire an independent consultant if you need focused, accountable work on a defined problem, such as data readiness before cutover. Many projects use more than one.

I'm an independent Infor LN consultant, so I'm one of these options. Read the comparison with that in mind, and notice where I tell you not to hire me.

How do the three options compare?

This is a general comparison, not a rule. Individual suppliers vary, so test each row against the people you are actually considering.

	Contractor (usually via agency)	Infor partner or SI	Independent consultant
Cost	Day rate, plus agency margin. Advertised UK Infor LN rates sit around £625 a day.	Highest day rates. G-Cloud 15 ceilings for NTT DATA run from £815 to £2,125 a day.	Often nearer contractor rates, and often available as a fixed price for scoped work.
Availability	Can start quickly once the agency and IR35 checks are done.	Depends on their bench and your contract. Can staff large teams.	One person, so one booking at a time. A partner can be brought in for extra capacity.
Depth	Varies widely. Often deep in a niche, taken on to fill a gap.	Broad. Many specialists under one roof, plus a link to the vendor.	Deep in the person's own strengths, thinner outside them.
Accountability	You direct the work and carry the delivery risk.	Contractual. Statements of work, service levels and a firm behind the people.	Direct. One named person, with deliverables agreed up front.
Support cover	Only while they are on contract.	Usually available as a managed support service, including out-of-hours.	Limited to what one person can cover. No 24/7 support desk from me.
Conflict of interest	Low, but paid by the day, so more days is more income.	May also sell licences, hosting, support and later phases. Ask what follows.	Sells time only in the sense that more days is more income. Ask for a fixed price and defined deliverables.

When is an Infor partner or systems integrator the right choice?

Often, and this page would be dishonest if it said otherwise. You should look first at a partner if:

You are doing a full implementation, a re-implementation or a multi-site rollout.
You need a team with several skills at once: functional, technical, testing and project management.
You need a managed support service, with out-of-hours cover and service levels.
Your procurement rules, or your board, expect a firm with insurance, references and a framework listing.
You want the supplier to carry delivery risk contractually.

The trade-off is cost and overhead. You pay for the account management, the bench and the layers, and the person doing your work may be junior to the person who sold it. Ask who will actually be on your project, and for how long.

When is a contractor the right choice?

You have a gap in your own team, such as a leaver, a peak or a skill you lack, and you can direct the work yourself.
You know exactly what you want done and have someone internally who can review it.
You need a person quickly and for a fixed period.

The risks are dependence and handover. The knowledge walks out with the contractor unless you make them write it down, and an agency adds margin you don't see.

When is an independent consultant the right choice?

You have a defined problem, such as data readiness, reconciliation, reporting or functional configuration, and want a named person accountable for it.
You want a fixed price and written deliverables rather than open-ended days.
You want to talk to the person who will do the work, not a salesperson.

My own background is mainly functional with some technical capability: ten years across Infor LN 10.3, 10.7, 10.8 and CloudSuite, including multi-tenant. My strengths are data migration from legacy systems, manufacturing, procurement, warehousing, finance and Power BI, and I have used Factory Track and done MRO configuration. I led the data migration on a £4m programme that consolidated four legacy ERP systems onto one Infor LN cloud instance for a 220-user manufacturing group.

Being one person is the limit. I can't staff a full implementation, I have never run a support service, and if I'm unavailable there is nobody else in the firm to step in. A partner can be brought in for extra capacity, but that is something to agree up front.

What should you ask before choosing?

What exactly am I buying? Write down the outcome, not the role. "Reconciled opening balances signed off by finance" is better than "an LN consultant".
Who does the work? The named person, their experience on your LN version, and whether they will be there for the whole job.
What happens when they are not there? Cover for illness, leave and leaving.
Is the price fixed or open-ended? And what is excluded.
What else is the supplier hoping to sell you? Licences, hosting, support and later phases all change the incentive.
What do I get at the end? Documents, registers and sign-offs that survive the person leaving.
What happens after go-live? If you need support, who provides it, and on what terms?

Can you combine them?

Often you should. A common split is a partner running the implementation while an independent checks your data before each test load, because data readiness is the part nobody on a delivery team has time to own. Whatever mix you use, put one person on your side in charge of data decisions, and agree in writing who is responsible for each deliverable.

Contractor, partner or independent: common questions

Is an Infor partner always better than an independent consultant?

No. A partner is usually the better choice for a full implementation, a multi-site rollout or 24/7 support, because it has a team, processes and service cover. An independent suits focused work where one experienced person can do the job, such as data migration readiness, reconciliation or reporting.

Can an independent work alongside an Infor partner?

Yes, and it is a common arrangement. The partner runs the implementation while an independent takes a defined piece, such as checking the data before test loads. Agree who owns each deliverable in writing so nothing falls between the two.

What is the risk of hiring a single contractor?

Dependence. If the contractor leaves, falls ill or moves to another client, their knowledge goes with them unless it has been written down. Ask for documented deliverables and a handover, whoever you hire.

Does Digital Adaption offer Infor LN support?

Digital Adaption is a one-person consultancy. It does data, migration readiness, reporting and functional LN work, and brings in a partner for extra capacity. It has not run a support service and does not offer a 24/7 support desk.

Not sure which route fits?

If your concern is data, the Data Readiness Review is a fixed 5 to 10 day piece of work with defined deliverables, quoted as a fixed price after a call. If it is something else, I'll say so. For cost reference points, see how much an Infor LN consultant costs in the UK. Book a 30-minute data risk call.

Contractor, Infor partner or independent consultant: who does your Infor LN project need?