If you missed the previous article, Misconceptions About SAP Business One and the Truth – Part One, we discussed a few common myths about SAP Business One including 1) the perception of SAP Business One as being too complex for SMEs 2) that ERP is too time-consuming and complicated for SMEs to adopt successfully and 3) that SAP Business One requires too many customizations.
Although we’ve covered the basic and most common misconceptions, there is still a lot more to cover. Let’s dispel the myths surrounding equally important areas including ERP implementation process, data and analytics, employee training with SAP Business One, and more!
Myth 4: SAP Business One is Not a True Cloud Solution
SAP Business One was first built as an on-premise solution before the cloud even existed. It has evolved today to perform both on-premise, on the cloud, or a combination of both. According to finance consulting giant, Grant Thornton, Cloud ERP is an approach to ERP that makes use of cloud computing platforms, virtualization and services in order to provide a more flexible business process transformation. The cloud can host your own ERP application or it can provide you with a rented ERP solution, known as Software as a Service (SaaS). Vision33 is happy to offer SAP Business One on the flexible and best-in-class Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud, the largest and most secure cloud services provider in the world.
Myth 5: SAP Business One has Limited Mobile Access
SAP offers free mobile apps for SAP Business One on iOS and Android, making the software accessible on the majority of mobile devices.
- Manage customer and partner contacts as well as scheduled sales activities
- Get alerts about deviations from approved prices and other significant events
- Visualize key business information with real-time reports
- Create or view sales opportunities and orders, and handle service call activities
- Monitor inventory levels and get detailed product information
Myth 6: Data and Analytics from an Advanced ERP Solution are Not Necessary For My Small Business
As a small business owner, data-driven decision-making is crucial for growth and success. To get proper insight into how your business is performing you need to invest in a solution that will put you on the right path. With data and analytics, you will instantly see the facts behind your company, make quick decisions based on what is actually happening and forecast properly. Dashboards are an element of the SAP Business One cockpit, which present easy-to-understand visualizations, such as bar or pie charts, of transactional data from the SAP Business One database. Depending on the dashboard, data can be presented either as time-specific static snapshots or as refreshable visualizations.
Myth 7: It will Take Months for Employees to Become Comfortable with SAP Business One
Users quickly become familiar with the new system and improvements in productivity are often reported sooner than expected. It's more about having a good consultant with a training plan since SAP Business One is very intuitive to use. Post implementation training should focus on how to empower users to do things for themselves and not rely on partners solely.
Our Vision33 SAP User Group (VSUG) was established to provide valuable information and training programs that empower SAP Business One users to learn the application quickly and become self-sufficient. To build insight into SAP Business One and help you capitalize on your software investment, VSUG offers:
- Hands-on training
- Weekly webinars
- Special user events
- Resource library
- Networking opportunities to connect with other users
Myth 8: You Need a Big Team Dedicated to Implementing SAP Business One
All you really need is one good ERP implementation partner. At Vision33, we provide SAP Business One consulting services from requirements and process consulting through to implementation and our industry leading Vision33 TOTAL Care support program. Partnering with a single partner for all of your ERP needs means working with a smaller team that can leverage knowledge from the world's largest and most experienced team of SAP Business One consultants.
Our advice? You shouldn’t rely too much on what you hear or read online about SAP Business One. Online research is an important step of the ERP selection process, but it’s only one part. Your path should also involve speaking to people in the industry, reading partners’ pages, asking for demonstrations of project-specific functionality and full due diligence, including site visits and client references. That way, you’ll know exactly if SAP Business One is right for your business. For more on ERP selection including everything you need to know about SAP Business One, visit Vision33's ERP research page.
