The SAP Business One strategy

In a very detailed video, Rainer Zinow (Senior Vice President: Product Management, Business One & Business ByDesign) explains the strategy and the future of SAP Business One.

As a senior product manager, Rainer Zinow is not only responsible for SAP Business One but also for SAP ByDesign. As such, he naturally has an overview of the entire SAP strategy for SAP's SME ERP systems.

SAP Business One has many faces

Versino Financial Suite for SAP Business One Finance

What is interesting in the first part of the video is the clear commitment to the diversity of requirements for ERP solutions and therefore also the reason for the different solution packages. Contrary to what one might sometimes think, many medium-sized companies still prefer the on-premises Variant instead of a purebred SAAS (Software As A Service) Solution.
In terms of SAP Business One the train is moving (as emphasised in the video) towards both. SAP sees the partners as the provider for hybrid models. In these, the advantages of a cloud solution can be combined with the on-premise advantages. A typical example of this is the offer from Cloudiax.

SAP Business One - Global Player

Another important role is of course played by the international focus in the SAP Business One strategy. This is also prominently referenced in the video. The ERP package is now used in more than 170 countries. 44 localisations that map the fiscal and legal specialities of a country and 28 languages that are available are relatively unique in the ERP world.

SAP Business One 10 is coming

Rainer Zinow ventures relatively far ahead when he talks about the near and distant future of the SAP Business One strategy. You always have to bear in mind that an unfulfilled announcement represents a legal and financial risk. Someone could want to sue for a supposed promise. Or the press could generate headlines that might even have an impact on the stock market.
Regardless of these constraints, the video announces that with SAP Business One 10.0 is to be expected in Q4 / 2019. Strategically, everything is going in the direction of a platform that also makes the entire range of SAP innovations usable from SAP Business One. The presentation also refers to the system of the Loosely Coupled Solutions. By definition, these are extensions to SAP Business One in which each of the components has little or no knowledge of or use of the definitions of other separate components. In other words, these solutions are based on a separate environment, while the digital core (a.k.a. SAP Business One) remains fully standard and no (or little) customisation is made.

Version 10 details

The last part of the video goes into more detail about the new features in version 10. A web client for various use cases is on the list, as are additional functions in the retail sector. In terms of technology, the move is towards HANA 2.0 with its Multi Database Container (MDC) technology. There will also be new mobile applications.

SAP Business One strong in analysis

In the video, Rainer Zinow rightly points out the existing strengths of SAP Business One in the area of data analytics. Easy access to the depths of a data set as well as (especially in the HANA version) analysis capabilities are an asset that the ERP package can capitalise on. If the focus is more on the planning approach, Zinow recommends using the integration with SAP Analytics Cloud. This SAP HANA-based suite offers a broad portfolio of analytics and BI functions. Business Intelligence, planning, predictive analytics and dashboarding.

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