SAP has announced that SAP Business One, its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system, which is designed for small to midsize businesses (SMBs), has just passed an important milestone. It has added 60,000 customers.
These 60,000 customers are distributed across 170 countries around the world. The total number of end-users is more than 1 million.
Although SAP has traditionally been known more for its large enterprise products, it has now achieved great success in the SMB market with SAP Business One.
Reasons for Growth
It's easy to see why SAP Business One has become a top seller.
Its fast implementation and low total cost of ownership has made it popular for SMB's, not only helping SAP to reach a new market, but also transforming its brand image.
Its 15 modules, covering functions such as finance, purchasing, sales, production, inventory and so on, make it a comprehensive solution allowing SMB's to consolidate their technology tools into a unified system.
Yet the system was designed with extensibility in mind. More than 300 SAP partners have developed more than 500 add-ons that either work within the SAP Business One system or run as integrated portals or handheld device systems. These add-ons allow SAP Business One to be customized for specific industries, meaning it's not only comprehensive but also specialized for the needs of the customers in unique industries.
SAP's Partnerships—Better Together
Part of its success can surely be attributed to SAP’s partnership model.
SAP distributes its SAP Business One system through partners, or VARs, who sell, implement, and service the system for its customers.
This partnership model has a number of advantages for customers. First, customers can find a partner that focuses specifically in its industry, meaning that it can have access to the expertise of those who understand their needs and workflow.
Second, customers can switch to a new partner for service if desired without having to change a new ERP.
Third, SAP provides a uniform pricelist to all its partners, meaning that the customer will not be lured in with a low price at the beginning but then have the prices jacked up later when they grow. The simple and predictable pricing structure, which is distributed to all partners, means that the cost of further license purchases and implementation is predictable and reasonable.
The phenomenal growth of SAP Business One is due to its clear value to SMB’s. SAP is poised to achieve more growth as it continues to delight its SMB customer base.
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