SAP B1 blog

A brief look back at 2022

The pandemic as a brake

First, Mr Zinow takes a brief look back at 2022, where the Head of Product for SBO freely admits that the company did not stick particularly well to the release dates it had actually promised. This was mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic. This had required the establishment of an additional team in China to accelerate the development of the Web clients considerably more difficult. However, the problem has been solved for SAP Business One 2023.

Increased expenditure on cyber security

What was also noticeable in 2022, with the start of the war in Ukraine, according to SAP, was an increase in attacks on cyber infrastructure. This led to the need to further improve product standards. Originally intended only for the public cloud, where we were expected to see the most attacks, it was decided to apply them to all SAP solutions, including SAP B1. This effort has probably also now resulted in SAP B1 2023 being on par with SBO 2022/8 in January.

SAP Strategy 2023

Always keep up with the times

There is an overarching strategy of SAP, according to Zinow: „Our main commitment, especially with Business One and Business by Design, but also with S4 (HANA), is to keep the core stable.“This applies in particular with regard to compliance with regulations and safety. At the same time, one must ensure that the best possible infrastructure is provided. And that includes not only SAP, SAP Partnerwhich SAP B1 2023 will present in a Offer cloud-based form. This also entails ongoing work on the technical structure of SAP Business One to meet future cloud requirements. This includes, on the SAP BTP Developing solutions that work equally well on all SAP platforms. This was delivered for the first time in 2022.

CO2 footprint solution for SAP Business One 2023

One such solution comes from SAP. A conscious decision was made in favour of a solution for managing the CO₂ footprint because this solution would have been desired in all three SAP solutions. The aim is to provide manufacturing and product-orientated companies with a quick insight into the CO₂ footprint of individual products. The first version was delivered in May of this year. These functions will now also be available for SBO 2023.

Platform and API open for SAP partners

SAP is seeking cooperation with SAP partners for the strategy described. The APIs are available and partners are being helped to get extensions up and running. The strategy for the future is to build similar business solutions, and carbon footprint management is just the beginning. For example, the company is currently working on the topic of cryptocurrencies.

SAP Business One 2023 Strategy

SAP B1 2023 - as successful as ever

According to Rainer Zinow, SAP realises the value of SBO. It is still the SAP software that brings in the most new customers. With over 75,000 installations sold and 1.2 million users, these figures speak for themselves. This obliges SAP to keep the application attractive, up to date and legally compliant. The roadmap for 2023 has been published, but this does not rule out the possibility of one or two topics being added or changes occurring.
In this context, Rainer Zinow emphasises the importance of cooperation with the SAP Business One partners. Obviously, their influence is not small, as they were jointly responsible for the SAP B1 resources being increased by the board in 2023.

The SAP Business One Web Client - still a key topic in 2023

„I would say that I am about 50% % complete with the overall scope I aim to achieve,“, says Rainer Zinow about the current status of the SBO Web Client. The analysis function built into the web interface has come a long way. It is also mentioned elsewhere that the interfaces of the SAP solutions are to be further standardised. There are new designs that are likely to appeal to some Apple users.

Artificial intelligence also for SAP Business One

The aim is to pursue everything to do with machine learning and artificial intelligence and to make the benefits of artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation available to users. The first steps have already been taken. The service for recognising supplier invoices is cited here as an example. After Analytics functions automation scenarios are now on the agenda. This includes bots, for example, which are processes that still have many intermediate steps where humans have to intervene.

More single sign-on for SAP B1

One of the topics from the security area was the desire to enable identity and authentication management based on single sign-on technologies. This has already been implemented for numerous SAP Busines One services, but will be further expanded in 2023.

Extensibility of the web client

SAP is aware, according Zinow, that the „secret recipe“ for SBO is its extensibility and partner solutions. To this end, there will also be additional solutions with the web client. In addition to user-defined fields, new tabs with new functionalities will also be possible in 2023.

Invitation to the SAP BTP - Business Technology Platform

All additional developments for SAP Business One will also be based on SAP BTP. The standardised and open data and development platform for the entire SAP ecosystem in the cloud appears to be one of the key topics for 2023. The video poses the question of why you should switch to the SAP cloud platform if you already have a lot of experience with Amazon, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure or Ali Cloud. A strong argument in favour of this is that when an SAP customer buys an extension, they implicitly expect to receive an extension that meets exactly the same security requirements as the SAP application. The customer would also expect a similar look and feel to be available on the user interface. And the same standards must also be guaranteed as SAP exemplifies with regard to data compliance and the GDPR data regulation.
This can all be realised with the framework provided by SAP, which „inherits“ these properties to developments created upon it.