SAP Business One is one of the best SME ERP systems avaiable for use in e-commerce sites but it does not come cheap. This is not a system for smaller, entry-level online stores. But it is a fantastic choice for medium-sized online sales organisations.
What makes SAP Business One such a good choice?
There is other ERP software out there but we recommend SAP B1 for two three main reasons:
- Functionality: this is a fully packaged system which can be used to run your whole business. You can use it for other areas too - sales, marketing but, most importantly, operations especially stock handling and customer service.
- Cost effective: this is not a cheap system but it is cost effective in that it delivers an awful lot of functionality for the money that you pay.
- Integration: the system integrates really well with the Magento e-commerce platform. It automates so many aspects of the business that it takes the business to the next level.
Why should an SME think beyond just an accounting system?
This is precisely our point. To get the most out of this investment, you have to think of the SAP Business One cost as something greater than an accountancy system replacement.
Where this really investment really makes its case is in integrations with other systems, especially Magento, and how it can be used to drive efficiency in other areas of the business. The system shares the same data around all of the business. If the business is ambitious and wants to become much more efficient, then this will be a great way of doing this. If the business only wants to make a small, incremental improvement then it should not.
How will SAP B1 enable better cost control?
One of the easiest places where better cost control will occur is in stock control. SAP accounting software is very good at managing stock levels, in handling the re-ording process efficiently, in keeping track of total costs dynamically and ensuring your company has the minimum amount of capital tied up in stock whilst keeping levels sufficient to ensure the minimum risk of stock-outs. That is a difficult balancing act to get right.
Are there alternatives?
There are alternatives. The likes of NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics and others are all good systems and their salespeople will put together coherent arguments why you should choose them. However, we've looked at SAP ERP systems and done an SAP business One review and think it offers the best balance of cost, functionality and - especially - integration with other critical systems.
If you liked this blog, then you might also like this previous blog too: http://inbound.itqsolutions.net/blog/3-reasons-for-online-integration-of-magento-and-sap-business-one