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SAP Business ByDesign and SAP Business One delineated upwards

One thing can be said with certainty. Conceptually and technologically, both software packages have little in common with the solutions for the big players in the industry. S4/HANA is not only in a different league in terms of functional depth and complexity. The underlying concepts are also very different. Last but not least, the costs to be recognised are in other hemispheres. It sometimes happens that a customer is offered a different solution from different sources. SAP Business One SAP Business ByDesign and S4/HANA are proposed. These are often scenarios that are intended to bring branches in larger corporations or groups into an SAP landscape. Conceivable with all SAP tools but with a completely different approach.

How tall do you have to be?

As you can see: Size doesn't matter

SAP Business One can and is used in companies of very different sizes. A two-man company starting out with a starter package will never be able to utilise the full functionality. Nevertheless, it makes sense at this stage. On the ERP side, you are prepared for growth. Because there are companies using SAP Business One that have 1000 or more employees.
SAP Business ByDesign is also defined by SAP for companies that are not at the lower end of the SME spectrum. However, the cloud solution can be rented for five or more users and is sometimes used in companies with "only 20" employees.
As you can see: Size doesn't matter.

Only cloud and can cloud

ByDesign is operated exclusively in Software as a Service (SAAS) mode, which is provided by SAP.

The operating models with which the respective ERP package can be used can be answered clearly, at least when it comes to SAP Business By Design: ByDesign is used exclusively in the Software as a Service (SAAS) Operation provided by SAP.
SAP Business One offers more options here. The ERP software can be installed and operated on your own home servers. This task can also be handed over to an IT and/or hosting service provider. SAP Business One can also be obtained from the cloud. Either directly from SAP or from special SAP partners such as Cloudiax. Amazon Google and Microsoft also have a special offering for SAP Business One based on their respective cloud services.

HANA and can HANA

For ERP packages started as it SAPHANA did not yet exist, or at least was not ready for the market. SAP Business One used an MS SQL database as a purchased product with "Microsoft genes". SAP Business ByDesign was developed as an in-house product by SAP on its own technical platform.
SAP Business One was actually the first SAP product to utilise SAP's in-memory technology after the market launch of HANA. A little later, however, SAP Business ByDesign was ported to the HANA platform.
To this day, SAP Business One is available for both database technologies and this flexibility pays off for one customer or another.

International as you would expect

70,000 installations worldwide, address a correspondingly large number of countries that have their own legal requirements for business software.

SAP is a global company and addresses the world market. Naturally, the software of the global market leader is internationally orientated. The two ERP solutions in this comparison differ in terms of the number of country versions and interface languages.

The fact that SAP Business One is slightly ahead here is probably due to the now widespread use of the ERP software. Over 70,000 installations worldwide address a correspondingly large number of countries that have their own legal requirements for business software. There are now 50 country versions that have been implemented directly by SAP. In total, SAP Business One is used in 170 countries. Where no extra country version exists, either another country's version is used or one has been customised by SAP partners. The software has now been translated into 28 languages.

SAP Business ByDesign has 20 country versions that are delivered directly by SAP. SAP partners have already customised the software 46 times according to local requirements. So far, SAP has delivered 12 languages.

SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign functions

In both cases, we are dealing with fully integrated and expanded ERP software.

If you wanted to describe the functional depth of both ERP packages in this article, the attempt would go too far. Too many functions with too much variation. In both cases, we are dealing with fully integrated and expanded ERP software. They address almost all areas of a medium-sized company. Both solutions start the process in marketing and sales and have integrated extensive CRM functions. All processes in purchasing and sales are supported. Logistics and production are supported in the same way as service processing. At the heart of the applications is a finance with integrated financial accounting and cost accounting.
SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign pursue clearly different strategies in the way they take their users by the hand and guide them through the processes.

Adaptability and extensions

Clearly, SAP Business ByDesign should be orientated more towards what is available. Although there are customisation options for the cloud software, it is in the nature of things that freedom in the cloud is limited. Many customisations contradict standardisation and increase the challenges in terms of updates and upgrades. The focus is therefore more on concepts that position additional functions in software outside the application. These should then be integrated via interfaces.

SAP Business One has various tools for customisation. These range from integrated customising tools to a software development kit (SDK). This allows you to develop your own integrated modules. However, the trend in SAP Business One is also towards outsourcing additional functions to so-called Loosely Coupled Solutions. SAP Business One is responding to the trend towards ever greater networking with its own integration server.
SAP Business One has a slight advantage with regard to existing extensions. The greater distribution of the software naturally also generates more demand for Add ons and industry solutions. In other words, the choice is huge. Over 450 extensions are known.

Conclusion: Two for the centre

SAP Business ByDesign and SAP Business One are therefore both aimed at SMEs. However, the middle ground is broad in nature. And indeed, even after a closer look, it is not easy to draw up a catalogue of criteria that supports a clear demarcation. Although SAP tries to pin this down to company sizes, the nature of the SME landscape is diverse. It doesn't mean that companies work or are organised in the same way, even though they operate in the same sector, are similar in size and serve the same market. The objectives and strategies or short-term reasons for the ERP project can be completely different.

If a company is looking for a great deal of freedom and flexibility in the implementation of its processes within an ERP, it is more likely to opt for SAP Business One.

However, a fundamental strategic difference can be identified. If a company is looking for a great deal of freedom and flexibility when implementing its processes within an ERP, it is more likely to opt for SAP Business One.
Instead, if you are in a hurry and can rely on more specifications based on best practices then SAP Business ByDesign is more likely to come into question.

So for whom is SAP Business ByDesign and SAP Business One (ideally) suited? You have to analyse this precisely for each company!