SAP in detail

SAP Business One is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that targets business software requirements of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from SAP AG based at Walldorf, Germany.

SAP Business One contains 14 "core modules":

Administration Module = where configuration is performed
Financials Module = where various accounting and financial activities are conducted
Sales Opportunities Module = where existing customers and potential amounts are structured tracking
Sales Module = where orders are entered, shipped and invoiced
Purchasing Module = where purchase orders are issued and goods received into inventory
Business Partners Module = where Business Partners (customers, vendors, and leads) are contacted and maintained
Banking Module = where cash is received and paid out
Inventory Module = where Inventory is valued and managed
Production Module = where bill of materials is defined and manufacturing is tracked
MRP Module = where purchase and production planning takes place
Service Module = where after-service products are managed
Human Resources Module = where employee information is kept
Reports Module = where user-defined reports are generated (as printouts or Excel files)
E-commerce= allowing customers to buy and sell online to consumers or other businesses.

History
In March 2002 SAP purchased TopManage Financial Systems, an Israel-based developer of business applications and branded their system as SAP Business One. TopManage was founded by Shai Agassi who was formally president of the Product and Technology Group at SAP and his father Reovan – the team behind portal company TopTier, which SAP bought in March 2001.

The acquisition allowed SAP to reach out to the midmarket through its partners and also to gain additional business from the smaller subsidiaries of its enterprise customers

In December 2004, SAP acquired the technology and assets of iLytix Systems AS, a privately held software company based in Oslo, Norway. As a result SAP introduced new reporting and budgeting capabilities in SAP Business One called XL Reporter.

In July 2006 SAP acquired Praxis Software Solutions and plans to integrate the company's Web-based CRM and e-commerce capabilities into SAP Business One. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Minneapolis-based Praxis, a private software company, had previously been a SAP Business One partner.

The company also began reporting revenues from the SME space separately from revenues for the larger customers, as a way of showing dedication to the SME market.


Integration
Integration can be achieved using the SDK component called DIAPI. The DIAPI provides COM based interface to the business objects & business logic of SAP Business One. As those are APIs, using them require software development skills. More simple way to achieve an integration is using the SAP Business One integration platform (a.k.a. B1i) the integration platform enables simple (XML based) definition of integration scenarios. the B1i platform is being used for integration with SAP's large enterprise systems R/3.

Integration needs are present even for small business users. For example, SAP Business One offers a client/server and Microsoft Windows GUI only. It is also limited to a single chart of accounts. Obviously, many of the potential users of SAP Business One need integration of their existing websites, consolidation of multiple ERP systems and other integration solutions. The Business One SDK provides some other components that allow development of addons to the Business One Application. Developers that use the SDK can share their knowledge and experience on the SAP Development Network (SDN). At the end of 2006, the product reached 13,000 customers worldwide.


Resellers & Partners
In order to become a SAP Business One reseller, a company must be part of SAP's Partner Edge Program. Partnership starts at the Certified level, and as higher standards of knowledge and support can be shown, it can progress through Bronze, Silver and Gold.


Competitors
SAP Business One competes with Microsoft Business Solutions globally, and with a variety of national packages such as those sold by Sage in many countries around the world.

Recently new competitors with online offerings have emerged in the marketplace. Companies such as NetSuite (CRM & ERP) and Salesforce.com (CRM only) offer similar functionality in web based applications.