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Important Questions To Ask If You Are Considering SAP Business One

In the interests of full disclosure, I’ll state right off the bat that I am a little biased. Our company was a SAP Business One reseller for 2 years, and we did not particularly enjoy the experience – we found the product to be lacking, and we found SAP itself to be an enormous headache to deal with. So like I said, I am a little biased. However, SAP Business One is a growing product, and if you are considering purchasing Dynamics GP, you may also be considering B1. If that is the case, here are a few questions you should ask:

  • What is SAP’s future solution roadmap for Business One? Can you provide documentation supporting that?

Microsoft has a solid history of investing in industry functionality, ease of installation, and customization for Dynamics GP. Additionally, Microsoft’s Statement of Direction for Dynamics GP is clearly stated – to offer a personalized user experience, deep integration with the applications people use every day, and functionality and deployment options that fit customers’ specific organizational needs 

  • How many references can you provide of existing SAP Business One users of my size in this area?

My guess? Not many! Sure, perhaps SAP will find a user of your size and industry 3,000 miles away, but does that really add value to your installation with your partner? Once you are live, will your partner be able to provide regular User Group meetings, where you can learn from other users of the product?

  • What are my choices if I outgrow Business One?

If you are evaluating SAP Business One, you probably have been assured a migration path to SAP All in One. But Business One and SAP All-in-One have entirely different architectures and underlying technologies. A migration is likely to add cost. Make sure you ask for a detailed migration path

  • How much of the functionality being demonstrated is native, “out-of-the-box” functionality versus functionality developed by a partner or through a third-party developer? How will this add-on functionality affect upgrades?

SAP Business One was designed to be a general platform for business, not a solution that has rich functionality on day one. You need to consider the amount of customization that will be needed, and how that customization will be impacted by future upgrades.

By Intellitec Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner serving Pennsylvania

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