Overview: SAP Business One & SAP Business ByDesign
One of the awesome things about SAP is that the company caters to businesses of all shapes and sizes. This is why it offers different variants of its ERP software. Depending on a company’s unique needs, budget, and size, it can choose the SAP variant that suits it the most. SAP offers two cutting-edge ERP solutions for small and medium-sized businesses – SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign. If you examine the features and functions of these two SAP ERP variants, you will find that a lot of the features in one variant overlap with those of the other. So which one should you choose? In this article, we’ll be comparing SAP Business ByDesign Vs. SAP Business One Stick around till the end because successful implementation of an ERP often starts with correctly deciding which ERP to use.
SAP Business One: A Quick Look
SAP offers SAP Business One, keeping the unique needs and budget constraints of small businesses in mind. This ERP has every feature a small business needs to manage and automate its processes. At the same time, it is not overkill with too many features. Hence it can be managed by a small team, and it is also quite cost-effective.
Features of SAP Business One: The Modules
Financials Module
The financials module automates the accounting process with support for the chart of accounts creations. Every transaction with a financial implication automatically triggers the updation of the relevant general ledger.
Sales & Purchase Modules
From creating sales and purchase orders to generating Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable invoices, the two modules can smoothly automate the entire sales and purchase journey. The sales and purchase modules are connected with the inventory module.
Inventory Module
The inventory module automates the monitoring of inventory. It helps the sales and purchase department to keep an eye on the available items. Furthermore, since SAP Business One supports manufacturing, the inventory module can be mapped with the raw materials inventory of the company.
Production Module
SAP Business One provides a structure around production and automates the backend of the manufacturing process. The module is further enhanced by the Material Resource Planning tool.
Other Modules
SAP Business One has other important modules like CRM, Human Resources, and even the Service module.
All these modules are crafted so they remain easy to use. These modules match the simplicity demanded by small businesses.
SAP Business ByDesign: A Quick Look
Back when SAP did not have SAP S/4 HANA cloud, it released SAP Business ByDesign as a cloud-native ERP software. SAP Business ByDesign provided a perfect balance between advanced ERP features and user-friendliness.
Just like SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign features all the standard ERP functionalities –
- Financial Module that’s connected with every aspect of the company
- Sales and purchase module that’s connected with the inventory
- CRM module
- Production module
- Project management module
- HR module
- Project Management module
- The service module and more
So where exactly does SAP Business ByDesign differ? SAP Business ByDesign is a more complex ERP software with more functionalities, and it is offered as a SaaS product only. We will learn more about the difference below.
SAP Business ByDesign Vs. SAP Business One: Key Differences
Although SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign have overlapping features, they are quite different from each other. Here are some key differences between the two-
SAP ByDesign Vs. Business One Pricing Difference
Although both SAP ByDesign and SAP Business One are targeted toward small and midsize businesses, the former is a little bit more pricey. SAP Business ByDesign might not be affordable for small businesses requiring cost-effective ERP solutions. For example, the Advanced User version of Business ByDesign has 160 GBP per user/month, while the Professional version of SAP Business One cost around 75 GBP per user/month – this excludes the base price or implementation costs.
Minimum User Requirement
Another important difference between SAP Business One and Business ByDesign is the minimum user requirement. While just one user can use SAP Business One Starter Package, Business ByDesign requires a minimum of 5 users. That’s because the base package of SAP ByDesign contains 5 user seats by default.
SAP Business ByDesign Vs. SAP Business One: Deployment Differences
SAP Business One is a cloud-only offering, while SAP Business One can be deployed in various ways. SAP Business One can be deployed on-premise and on the cloud hosted by the vendor. The cloud version of SAP Business One can be deployed either on public or private cloud and even on VPS.
The difference in Terms of Using Multiple Books of Accounts
SAP Business ByDesign provides more complex accounting functionalities like multi-accounting. In this kind of accounting, you are allowed to use more than one book of accounts to record the same monetary transaction. Since SAP Business One is meant for businesses with simpler accounting principles; so, this ERP does not support multi-accounting.
SAP ByDesign Vs. Business One: Add-on Availability
Since SAP Business ByDesign has reached its End of Life, you can expect fewer add-ons to be made and maintained for the ERP. On the other hand, SAP Business One does not have many functionalities out of the box – but third-party add-on makers have created a wholesome ecosystem of custom add-ons to fill the gap. You can expect more and more add-ons to be made for SAP Business One.
SAP Business One Vs ByDesign: Difference in Terms of Industries Served
Since SAP Business One is geared towards small businesses, it serves those industries where small businesses operate. From retail to pharma, from food & beverage to automotive – SAP Business One can perfectly fit the business processes of dozens of companies working across industries. However, SAP Business One is not fit for multinational businesses, full-fledged manufacturing processes and companies that have to take care of strict compliance. SAP Business ByDesign can handle the processes of companies belonging to these industries.
Difference In Terms of Data Security
Both SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign come from the house of SAP. Hence from the application point of view, both of these ERPs maintain solid data security. Since SAP Business ByDesign is hosted by SAP itself, it is secure from the network access point of view as well. SAP Business One, however, is hosted by companies on their premise or on the vendor-managed cloud. Hence, the security of data in SAP Business One depends largely on how the on-prem or cloud system is managed and kept secure.
Implementation Time: SAP ByDesign Vs. SAP Business One
In terms of time taken to implement, both SAP Business One and SAP Business BuDesign fall almost in the same league. It takes somewhere between 3 weeks to 6 months for SAP Business One to be implemented. Since most vendors these days offer ready-to-use cloud instances of SAP Business One, the implementation time is really not that much. On the other hand, it can be assumed that businesses opting for SAP Business ByDesign might already have an existing ERP system. Hence lifting and shifting the data to a different system can take some time.
Business Process Flexibility: SAP Business One Vs. ByDesign
Since both SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign both come from the house of SAP, they offer a fairly similar level of awesome business process flexibility. That being said, small businesses might find SAP Business One more user-friendly since it is made keeping simplicity in mind. Businesses that can spend more IT resources will be able to tweak SAP Business ByDesign more.
Final Judgement: SAP Business One Vs. Business ByDesign- Which One Is the Best for Your Business?
As we said in the beginning, SAP Business ByDesign has reached its End of Life. Hence, no optimization or advanced feature will make its way to this ERP software. SAP Business One, however, has been able to create an ecosystem of SAP partners, add-on makers and cloud solution providers. It has been going strong since its inception, and SAP has been giving extra focus on this ERP. It can now run on SAP’s flagship HANA database platform, which makes it more snappier.
If you run a small business, SAP Business One is the ERP to go for if you want to future-proof your business process. Once implemented, SAP Business One – especially the cloud version – can cater to the needs of your business for years to come.
Regardless of Which ERP You Choose, the Expertise of the Implementation Will Decide Its Success
No matter whether you choose SAP Business One or SAP ByDesign, how the ERP is implemented will make or break the success of the ERP. Globally around 70% of ERP implementations fail due to poor ERP implementation processes.
Choose Silver Touch Technologies as Your ERP Implementation Partner – Offload the Complexities to Us!
Silver Touch Technologies is a multinational ERP vendor with offices in the UK, the US, Canada, and India. We have gained immense experience by virtue of our more than 100 ERP implementation projects.
Do you know what it takes for a successful implementation? Sound technical knowledge along with the knowledge of how businesses work. At Silver Touch, we have a dedicated team of technical and functional SAP consultants enabling your business to leverage a wholesome method of ERP implementation.
Do you want your business to avoid future issues with SAP implementation? Contact Silver Touch Technologies!
- More than 100 ERP Projects Completed Successfully
- 17 Industries Served
- Presence in 3 Continents
- Proven Track Record of Success
- Dedicated after-sales support
Contact Us For a Scientifically Sound ERP Implementation.
SAP Business One vs SAP Bydesign: FAQs
Ans. SAP Business One is geared more towards small businesses. This is why it focuses more on simplicity and less on too many bells and whistles. However, it does its job perfectly well. This ERP seamlessly automates and manages the processes of small businesses.
SAP Business ByDesign is targeted to medium enterprises that can hire more resources – technical and human. As a result, ByDesign has more bells and whistles – but those extra features also reduce some level of simplicity.
From a technical point of view, SAP Business One can be deployed on-prem, off-prem, on public cloud or private cloud and on VPS. SAP Business ByDesign is a pure SaaS app that is offered by SAP as a cloud-only ERP.
