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Head of IT at New Products
Real User
MRP functions help manage the entire supply chain
Pros and Cons
  • "For us, the most useful feature of Business One is Material Requirements Planning (MRP)."
  • "We bought all licenses for the whole package in the very beginning, and now we're just paying for 404 licensed maintenance. It's a standard fee. Of course, we still pay partners for implementation."
  • "Business One doesn't have a proper master data management function."

What is our primary use case?

We are a beverage manufacturer in the fast-moving consumer goods sector that uses Business One throughout our whole supply chain. We start with forecasting, which is not calibrated well currently, and then we download the sales plan into SAP. Based on the sales plan, we provide plans for production via MRP algorithms. The primary function of Business One is to handle all this data we are getting about purchase orders, raw materials, packaging, etc. We also plan to acquire a production module for MRP II functionality, but we haven't acquired it yet and have not decided on the production model. Right now, upwards of 230 people using it, including salespeople, accountants, warehouse workers, production workers, purchase servers, and people who handle procurement. At the moment, it's all.

What is most valuable?

For us, the most useful feature of Business One is Material Requirements Planning (MRP). 

What needs improvement?

First of all, Business One doesn't have a proper master data management function. So, with any implementation, we had to select the work provider and determine who is responsible for which category of data. We also have to set the data format of the master data, especially an SKU, which should be formatted as an SKU. This is a vast amount of work that involves all departments. Second, I would consider the supply chain. Each function is highly dependent on another function. We still have a 1C:Accounting system, but it's not a system at all. With Business One, you have too much spare functionality. It doesn't create value for the business, but it creates a higher workload for employees in terms of payer processes, administration, development, etc. It's not easy. Because of how mature the organization is, there is less readiness for change. I would not consider this satisfactory. 

After working with Business One for a while, we are becoming more effective. However, we still have some issues involving business experts and even having a category of users like business process owners. We use almost all of Business One's functionality except maybe CRM. We don't yet use CRM. Also, we don't use forecasting because forecasting is internal in B1 forecasting. It only has two algorithms, which might not be enough for us. But it would be great to have more advanced forecasting functionality.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Business One for maybe two years.

Buyer's Guide
SAP Business One
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP Business One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Business One is pretty nice. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability has been pretty good so far. We haven't had any serious mishaps yet. If you satisfy the hardware requirements, it's completely okay.

How are customer service and support?

I have not had any direct contact with SAP technical support. Our support is provided by the partners. 

How was the initial setup?

We used a partner to set Business One up and we still use one. We are just customers. As far as maintenance goes, we have 10 people maintaining the solution counting only key users. There are about 10 more consultants and developers on top of that. We are still in the implementation phase. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We bought all licenses for the whole package in the very beginning, and now we're just paying for 404 licensed maintenance. It's a standard fee. Of course, we still pay partners for implementation.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also considered Microsoft Dynamics 365 as well as 1C, which is a domestic solution. It's an accounting system. 1C is a little bit different. It's a four-on-two for forecasting. The 1C accounting system is widely used in Ukraine and Russia. If you compare Business One to, for example, S/4HANA, the price is much, much better. And the consultants are not so specialized if you compare it with S/4HANA, for example.

So in the case of S/4HANA, you should have a team of maybe at least five or six consultants dedicated to particular modules. In the case of Business One, you only need one or two — perhaps one is enough. It has competence in the whole chain, starting from procurement, production, and sales.

The functionality is much lighter than the big SAP, so you can have just one brain covering the whole process. It's easier to build and implement something as well as to improve it and communicate with different functions.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SAP Business One eight out of 10. If you are considering implementing this solution, I recommend you start with the master data. Pay as much attention as possible to the master data and establish a dedicated function.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Operations at Santax limited
Real User
Top 20
Streamlined integration and enhanced efficiency despite customization challenges
Pros and Cons
  • "SAP Business One is pretty streamlined, with tight integration and standard best practice flows."
  • "There are limitations around integrations."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for customer, inventory management, catalog management, supplier customer management, and financials.

How has it helped my organization?

There is some time saving and lower employee headcount, around 40% to 50%.

What is most valuable?

SAP Business One is pretty streamlined, with tight integration and standard best practice flows.

What needs improvement?

There are limitations around integrations. Third-party integrations require the expertise of a functional consultant, and customizations require some technical expertise. 

Limitations in terms of the B2B commerce setup exist, and we're looking at a consultant to customize a solution. The MTG integration is not possible as it should be in the cloud, but it's on a hosted private server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for about one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable as we go through the partners, so there's no direct support.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable for our purpose, however, there are limitations around integrations.

How are customer service and support?

We go through the partners, so we have no direct support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

There are other providers, such as NetSuite.

What about the implementation team?

We use implementation partners, so it wasn't our process.

What was our ROI?

It's a perpetual investment. In the long term, it is more cost-efficient than some of the cloud SaaS services in ERP available today.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing is acceptable, and it is one of the lower-cost solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
SAP Business One
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP Business One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Asim Nilose - PeerSpot reviewer
COO at INDIBA
Reseller
Top 5
A highly stable and scalable solution useful for manufacturing businesses
Pros and Cons
  • "The graphical view of connections between different transactions is a valuable feature of the solution."
  • "In SAP Business One, customization can be made easier...I would tell those planning to use the solution that though it is a good solution, it might not be a complete solution since there are some missing features in it."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is mainly used by customers in the manufacturing industry, particularly in areas where there is no need for extensive maintenance and quality control modules. Maintenance and quality control modules are not a part of the core SAP Business One. In short, we serve those businesses that are involved in core manufacturing and have a supply chain but don't need quality control and maintenance. The modules that come with SAP Business One are typically used for procurement, sales, or finance, and we, as implementers, are involved in the implementation phase.

What is most valuable?

The graphical view of connections between different transactions is a valuable feature of the solution.

What needs improvement?

In SAP Business One, customization can be made easier. Even though UDF is available in the solution, form creation and all such related activities should be made easier.

In the solution's future releases, I would like to see quality control and plant maintenance modules.

For how long have I used the solution?

My company is a service provider and acts as implementers for SAP, including SAP Business One. So, we implement SAP ERP, and we have been involved in the implementation work for SAP since 2014. As time progresses, new modules or versions get introduced in the solution, and we take up the implementation process for them.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Around 100 users in my organization use the solution.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy, I rate the initial setup process a seven.

I rate it a seven because they recently came up with the browser access, while many other solutions were already on the browser access for a long time.

Some clients prefer the solution to be deployed on the cloud, while some prefer it to be deployed on-premises. Also, the deployment process takes place in less than a day.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the solution's pricing a six or seven out of ten since it is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would tell those planning to use the solution that though it is a good solution, it might not be a complete solution since there are some missing features in it. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Ranjan Dwivedi - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Business Development Manager at Softcore Solutions Pvt. Ltd
Real User
Top 5
Strong production capabilities, highly scalable, and reduces management personnel
Pros and Cons
  • "SAP Business One has valuable and helpful features for standard utilities, such as sales, purchasing, inventory, and finance, including Indian localization. Additionally, it is strong in the area of production. It has enhanced capabilities in advanced production planning, maintenance, and other features as needed through the use of add-ons provided by partners. These add-ons run within the solution and can be provided to customers based on their specific production needs."
  • "The standard SAP Business One is sufficient for the Indian region. There is no need for further enhancement as custom solutions can be designed and developed to meet specific needs. For example, HR and payroll is not a standard feature of the solution, but they can be created as a separate custom solution. However, payroll is not a standard function due to the varying norms and regulations across India's 29 states and union territories. Therefore, a standard payroll solution cannot be provided by SAP to add utility and features. Adding it would lead to different versions of the solution and more complexity in managing them. However, it would be useful to have addons to cover the other states which have different regulations."

What is our primary use case?

The main use case for SAP Business One is for small and medium-sized enterprises in various industries, such as manufacturing, trading, and services. It can be implemented across various domains.

What is most valuable?

SAP Business One has valuable and helpful features for standard utilities, such as sales, purchasing, inventory, and finance, including Indian localization. Additionally, it is strong in the area of production. It has enhanced capabilities in advanced production planning, maintenance, and other features as needed through the use of add-ons provided by partners. These add-ons run within the solution and can be provided to customers based on their specific production needs.

What needs improvement?

The standard SAP Business One is sufficient for the Indian region. There is no need for further enhancement as custom solutions can be designed and developed to meet specific needs. For example, HR and payroll is not a standard feature of the solution, but they can be created as a separate custom solution. However, payroll is not a standard function due to the varying norms and regulations across India's 29 states and union territories. Therefore, a standard payroll solution cannot be provided by SAP to add utility and features. Adding it would lead to different versions of the solution and more complexity in managing them. However, it would be useful to have addons to cover the other states which have different regulations.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP Business One for approximately 12 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SAP Business One is highly stable in regions or countries where the taxation norms are simple, such as European and American companies. However, in regions such as India or Asia, where more customizations are required, it may be less stable. In those cases, support would be needed to manage stability.

I rate the stability of SAP Business One an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of SAP Business One is great. It is highly scalable and can be designed and developed to add any kind of features and functionalities required. Additionally, it is highly integrable with other third-party applications.

I rate the scalability of SAP Business One a ten out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The support typically provides query resolution for the customers and customization if it is required.

I rate the support from SAP Business One a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SAP Business One is straightforward, but it depends on the specific processes and requirements of the organization. It may need to be configured to fit the organization's needs.

The implementation for a trading company will take a minimum of two and a half months. If it is a manufacturing company, the time can be higher, approximately eight to nine months.

I rate the initial setup of SAP Business One an eight out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

We used three to four technical people for the implementation of the solution.

What was our ROI?

Utilizing SAP Business One can greatly reduce the people needed for management and time efforts for the organization. Additionally, when it comes to managing inventory, using the solution can lead to a significant ROI by reducing leakage and inefficiencies. We estimate that by using this system, inventory management costs can be reduced by five to eight percent.

I rate the ROI from SAP Business One an eight out of ten.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of SAP Business One is not comparable to other solutions. SAP is a well-known brand, and its price is on the higher side. However, if the solution offers the right fit for an organization the price is not a major concern for those who choose to use it.

There are two main types of licenses, one for administrative management and the other for users. Users are the ones who input the transactions. In addition, there are other licenses, such as integration licenses that are provided as needed. However, generally, there are two types of licenses.

What other advice do I have?

SAP Business One does require annual maintenance and support from the partner who implemented the solution after implementation. We provide maintenance to our customers the solution.

A dedicated team is responsible for providing support services for SAP Business One, consisting of approximately 32 individuals. This support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week as customers are located in various time zones, including India, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and European countries.

I rate SAP Business One a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Managing Director at a construction company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Holds data and traceable information
Pros and Cons
  • "So there are a lot of features included with the ERP system."
  • "SAP could improve the performance of the business alignment with other products."

What is our primary use case?

We use SAP Business One as a back-office role for information on products. We use SAP APIs to connect directly to our financial systems and in the cloud and for customers. It supports SMEs. We have between 10 or 20 clients using ERP.ERP is used for food resource management and vehicle car sales business. The ERP system allows control, tracking, and reporting via analysis reports. It is also useful for sales reports and historical reporting, in addition to current productivity reporting.

How has it helped my organization?

SAP holds more data and traceable information. Information on any issues is saved, and SAP can recreate errors on the NCP portal. Solutions to issues are also available. You can find SAP features on Android with Samsung phones.

What is most valuable?

Accounting is a good feature, hence why we use SAP Business One. We use a single application to handle and control our resources. We also leave it overnight to process our purchasing tasks. All this is held in one secure database. The system provides information on products sent out to the customer. The system holds data and AI voice data. It also includes accounting control. So there are a lot of features included with the ERP system. We support SAP as we have a lot of experience within the team.

What needs improvement?

SAP could improve the performance of the business alignment with other products.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have 10 years of experience with SAP Business One.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Overall, the ERP solutions are stable, but it is more complicated and is not always stable for some customers. It helps to understand the product so you can manage it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SAP is scalable, as the versions of HANA are constantly being updated. They are currently up to version 6.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very good.

How was the initial setup?

Setup is okay generally, but not so easy with integrated products such as Microsoft 365.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation is often complicated on the manufacturing side, as it requires integrations with .net. It usually involves using highly skilled SAP consultancy. It is often difficult for the implementer to integrate add-ons and customization, which deviate from a standard installation. I often work with the implementor, and this helps my learning curve. It isn't easy to learn at the beginning. Sometimes, while the implementation occurs, people use Excel and other control documents as a workaround until the system is ready.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We compared the Microsoft solution with Oracle NetSuite, as they have a price decrease. It is, however, not that much cheaper, and the price is comparable to SAP.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have considered using an add-on to the pack using Oracle NetSuite. They don't have a simple method of using the console or for the implementer to create an add-on. They said it was difficult to communicate on the cloud. There were also some defects when they tried to control everything on their contact form. So it didn't work very well.

What other advice do I have?

It is simple for users to use, but we can design and understand how to customize the menus for technical staff. It takes a lot of experience to technically understand the environment, especially when you need to integrate other systems such as the HANA database. We need to have more Linux and freedom experience, but not as much as with Microsoft SQL Server. You also need network knowledge, which is something you can compare the HANA database to. 

I would rate SAP at about 8 out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Head of IT at Prerana Motors India
Real User
Good for all finance requirements, but the customization functionalities take time
Pros and Cons
  • "We are using it for accounts and finance and also for maintaining third-party transactions and non-CRM transactions."
  • "The reading and retrieving of data are slow in the system."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for accounts and finance and also for maintaining third-party transactions and non-CRM transactions.

What needs improvement?

As we have customized the SAP Business One as per our business requirements, we have found that some of the features that we need are not available in the version of SAP Business One that we are currently using. So we have been advised to move to a higher version that can provide us with all the features that we need. So, I would say that there is definitely room for improvement in SAP Business One in terms of providing more features and functionalities that can cater to the specific needs of businesses like ours.

For additional functionality, my suggestion would be to improve the speed of report generation. The reading and retrieving of data are slow in the system, particularly when generating reports. It takes a huge time to fetch the reports. Another area for improvement is the setup and customization process for SAP Business One.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP Business One for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is great. I would give it an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten because it is somewhat complex. Our company has seventeen limited and five pro licenses; I’m the only person maintaining the solution. The call team is available, but I’m handling all the IT-related technical parts.

How are customer service and support?

I have not directly interacted with SAP, but our service partner (SAP partner) has been supporting us. However, I’m not happy with the current service partner. Recently, they sent a mail saying that henceforth, we are not going to support SAP Business One. I am looking for a new one as the current service partner has stopped supporting SAP Business One and is now focusing on other business intelligence products. I’m actively working on finding a new partner.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple if no customization is required, but if customization is needed, it can be quite complicated and time-consuming. Our own customization and implementation project took almost two years for a six-month project. The project is 91% complete, but there are still some hiccups, particularly with the management reports, which represent about 5% of the remaining work. It took a lot of time to test and implement.

What about the implementation team?

An in-house team deployed the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

SAP has a high cost of licensing. It is high compared to other licensing options.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the product a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Jayarami Reddy Pujeri - PeerSpot reviewer
ERP Head at ID Fresh Food
Reseller
Top 5
Good for simple business processes but problems with automation and reporting
Pros and Cons
  • "Business One's best feature is transport management and collections."
  • "There are problems with Business One's collection management and reconciliation."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use Business One to manage operations, including finance and sales.

What is most valuable?

Business One's best feature is transport management and collections.

What needs improvement?

There are problems with Business One's collection management and reconciliation. It's also quite difficult to automate with external systems, and its reporting could be clearer. In the next release, Business One should include automation for mobile apps.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Business One for over seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Business One is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Business One is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

SAP's technical support used to be good but has become very unresponsive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used SAP S/4.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was a very simple process and took a couple of hours since we were using a client web version.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Business One's prices are really high, with a one-time cost of around one lakh.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated Tally, a local Indian product, but it lacked data security.

What other advice do I have?

Business One is good for smaller and medium-sized companies that want to handle simple business processes. For those companies, I would rate Business One nine out of ten, but overall I give it four out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Head Of Information Technology at Kasapreko
Real User
Good stability and technical support but needs careful implementation in order to be effective
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is quite good. They are helpful and responsive. We are quite satisfied with their level of support."
  • "Our business has grown beyond the capabilities of Business One. We need a bigger ERP solution, and therefore we are moving away."

What is most valuable?

The solution is pretty straightforward to set up and gets easier over time.

Technical support has been quite good.

We've found the stability to be very good.

What needs improvement?

We aren't overly satisfied with the solution. We are moving away from it.

The solution needs to be implemented properly, otherwise, a company will not be able to get the full benefit of the product.

They need to do more with, budget planning within the solution, in terms of financial budgeting. Right now, we can only input values at our sales target, however, we can't input numbers. The solution also needs to look at the monthly balance. There will need to have some type of maintenance in there. Yet, there is no model for maintenance. If you buy it you need to go and find another solution for your maintenance however, if they can do a maintenance solution within this solution that that would be a wonderful thing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for seven years or so. It's been a while. I've spent a lot of time on it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash and freeze. It's very reliable in terms of performance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our business has grown beyond the capabilities of Business One. We need a bigger ERP solution, and therefore we are moving away. We're looking at SAP S/4 HANA since we already use other SAP products.

We currently have 101 users. In the future, we'll be looking at 130 to 150 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is quite good. They are helpful and responsive. We are quite satisfied with their level of support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are actually going to move over to S/4HANA. We looked at Oracle, however, we decided on SAP as we already had SAP products. I've worked with a lot of ERP and other products, including other SAP products.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not overly complex. It's pretty straightforward. However, at the outset, when we were fresh users, it seemed to be a bit complex. Over time, you get more and more comfortable with the process.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the solution itself is not the issue, however, the cost of the licensing is strange. No other ERP that concurrent licensing. As I have what will be a hundred users at the time to use it, doesn't matter whether Samuel or George come on, SAP requires an individual attached to a license. That means even if a person is no longer a user, we have to untie the license so nobody can use that license. I need to fill it with a different person.

What other advice do I have?

I am a customer and end-user of the product.

I'd recommend the product to others. Anyone who wants to use SAP Business One should do so. It's a good solution. They need to get a good implementer, however, as if it's not implemented well, you will have issues. 

I'd rate the solution at a six out of ten. At first, we really liked it, however, as of now, we need to change as it no longer meets our needs.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SAP Business One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free SAP Business One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.