In conversations, I keep realising that people don't make a big distinction between the various SAP applications such as SAP Business One and SAP ERP. For them, SAP is the software that the supplier or customer has, which is why it always reacts so inflexibly when you need a quick change in the process.
The surprise is therefore all the greater when it is explained that one and the other, i.e. SAP Enterprise (formerly R/3) and SAP Business One, have less in common than the shared logo might suggest.
It is almost impossible to go into the functional differences here. Just this much: SAP Business One is for a completely different target group than SAP Enterprise. To put it simply, SAP Business One is for small and medium-sized companies, while large companies and corporations prefer to use SAP Enterprise.
Well, it's not quite that simple. When does big become big and small become small? I would prefer to talk about requirements: The more complex the requirements, the more likely you are to favour SAP Enterprise. SAP Enterprise is basically the big toolbox with everything that a craftsman ever needs, will need or could need. SAP Business One, the multi-tool for your pocket.
To make the whole thing a little less confusing for beginners, there is also SAP Business All In One. To stay in the picture: Here, too, we are dealing with the huge toolbox of SAP Enterprise, except that special toolboxes have been put together for various industries. Technologically, it remains the same basis.
So where is the advantage of SAP Business One if there are fewer functions in the tool? As always, the small, lean solutions have advantages in terms of speed and flexibility. Business One can be introduced and trained in a company with considerably less effort. Ergo the so-called "total cost of ownership" is considerably lower than with a corresponding introduction of SAP Enterprise.
SAP Business One highly extensible
Before the dear reader breathes a sigh of relief with an "aha, all clear", there is one more caveat: SAP Business One is expandable and not insignificantly so. So-called add-ons provide more and deeper functionality. More than 500 large and small add-ons turn Business One into a fully-fledged PPS or an industry solution for service providers that can easily compete with the "big solutions" in terms of functional depth. These enhancements usually come from SAP development partners who contribute their specialised knowledge. This is not a side effect of the programme structure of SAP Business One, which is always praised by all developers, but a strategy behind the product. Friedrich Neumeyer, SAP's Chief Operating Officer for midmarket sales worldwide, explains: "Above all, we want to utilise the innovative strength and speed of our partners for the development of Business One".
Last but not least and increasingly important: With SAP Business One an integration platform is always delivered (b1i), which has it all. This allows other software packages to be integrated into Business One in order to work with a database. The possibilities are diverse and, above all, can be implemented so quickly that the question of replacing or integrating existing software often arises again.
One difference that can play a role, especially with a larger number of users, is the structure of the clients /server relationship. Firstly, both packages follow the client/server principle: a local system (client) makes a request to a central system, which returns the required information. With SAP Business One, the logic, i.e. the "intelligence", is in the client. The server is a Database. This dual principle is also called 2-tier. In SAP Enterprise (R/3) there are three layers: The user interface (Presentation Server), the application server in which the business logic is located and the database server. The advantages of such a "3-tier" system. For example, an R/3 system can also use several application and/or presentation servers in order to cope with large numbers of users or high data volumes.
But the 2-tier architecture also has its advantages: The lower overall complexity also means less implementation effort and can mean better performance, especially for smaller systems.
However, even this difference is not set in stone. Firstly, SAP is apparently considering developing a 3-tier system for Business One and secondly, new add-ons are also coming into play for some applications. Run Time Solutions, for example, offers a Java client that runs independently in any web browser and uses Business One as an application server. The functions here are limited to the CRM -processes could theoretically be expanded.
Finally, of course, there's the licence price: yes, that varies too 😉
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