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IT Senior Manager at Viettel IDC
Real User
Helpful modules, highly reliable, but many modules missing
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of SAP Business One are the financials, sales, and production. They are very helpful. Additionally, it is very easy to use and the user interface is stable in the application and on the web."
  • "SAP Business One could improve project management, quality assurance, material management, forecasting, full costing, and quality control. Many modules are missing in this solution."

What is our primary use case?

Our whole business depends on SAP Business One for many aspects, such as sales, and financials. E\verything is done through the solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of SAP Business One are the financials, sales, and production. They are very helpful. Additionally, it is very easy to use and the user interface is stable in the application and on the web.

What needs improvement?

SAP Business One could improve project management, quality assurance, material management, forecasting, full costing, and quality control. Many modules are missing in this solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

Buyer's Guide
SAP Business One
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about SAP Business One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SAP Business One is a highly stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SAP Business One is scalable.

We have approximately 145 users using this solution at all levels of my company.

I rate the scalability of SAP Business One a four out of five.

How are customer service and support?

The support from SAP Business One is good. However, sometimes they can be slow with their response.

I rate the support from SAP Business One a four out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SAP Business One was not complex. The migration from our older electric system was straightforward and took three to four months to complete.

What about the implementation team?

We used a local consultant to do the implementation.

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

There is a license to use this solution and the price is good.

I rate the price of SAP Business One a seven out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

We are planning to migrate to SAP S/4HANA.

We use five people for the maintenance of the solution.

I strongly recommend this solution to others.

I rate SAP Business One 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
reviewer1765542 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO/GM at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Great financials and general ledgers with flexible licensing options
Pros and Cons
  • "We like it as it's easy to use, cost-effective, easy to deploy, and easy to get support for."
  • "They have a web client now. It primarily does sales. They just added purchasing. It'll be far more effective when I have inventory and financials as well into the web client version."

What is our primary use case?

It's an enterprise resource printing system. I use it for all accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger management, inventory management, services, HR, et cetera.

How has it helped my organization?

We moved from QuickBooks to the SAP product due to the fact that it's more feature-rich, has more integrated capabilities, and SAP is just a giant company that puts billions of dollars into its R&D. You get enhancements coming out every year.

What is most valuable?

We heavily use the accounting, sales and AR, purchasing, and AP modules more than any of the other modules. We like it as it's easy to use, cost-effective, easy to deploy, and easy to get support for.

For us, the financials and general ledger are the most valuable features. It supports fixed assets, cost accounting, and other more complex capabilities out of the box, and I don't have to buy third-party solutions. It's made it easy as we get more complex in our business.

What needs improvement?

They have a web client now. It primarily does sales. They just added purchasing. It'll be far more effective when I have inventory and financials as well into the web client version. That way, I can deploy it to users through the web instead of a remote desktop connection. That's probably the biggest competitive weakness that I run into at the moment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for a decade, give or take a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

On-premises, the solution is very stable. We use the Microsoft SQL Server database version. They have another version. It runs on the HANA database, which is an SAP proprietary database. We used SQL Server just as we had in-house expertise and we already had a license for it, so it is easy for us to maintain. 

The system tends to run pretty well. It's not a whole lot of support, so I don't have to have a dedicated IT team managing it. I just have one person really part-time that makes sure it continues to run. That's about it from a stability standpoint.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I've seen reference customers that can do up to two million transactions a month. I'm not at all worried about scalability. If we hit that level, I will long be retired.

From what I've seen, unless I do one hundred times my current business, I don't see any scalability issues.

We have 12 concurrent users on it. Salespeople, purchasing people, accounting. We also have operations who are doing work for customers that use the service module quite a bit. It's kind of a mixed bag of capabilities that are using the system. Every person has a login. They use a named user license approach. Everyone has their unique ID tied to their unique authorizations of what they can and can't do.

We're using just about every module. We also have a couple of extensions for things that we do outside the system that will automatically update. Any enhancements that we tend to do now are usually web apps that are using a web service connector - for example, collaborative project management through the web. I then update the project details inside the system automatically. Those are really the primary drivers that we tend to run into. I'm using probably 75% of what you get in the box.

How are customer service and support?

The first level of support is really through your value-added resale partner and then they have escalation to SAP and we have the ability to log in with SAP and check their website for support tickets and also documentation updates and training materials since we signed on and bought the solution. 

It's usually pretty good support from that standpoint. It really comes down to whatever partner you've decided to work with. If you work well with that partner, you'll get really good support. If that partner tries to sell you something and then runs away, well, you'll get not as good support. Luckily, we made sure to partner with people that have dedicated support staff available to help as needed.

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

We did use QuickBooks.

QuickBooks is great if you're a three-person shop and don't have to scale very quickly. You will outgrow it very quickly, especially if you have inventory or if you have services or other functions that are not inside the QuickBooks application. If you want all of that integrated, you're going to have to go to something bigger. It also doesn't have as many regulatory compliance functions built-in. For example, you can do a non-balanced journal entry in QuickBooks, if you really want to, whereas you can't do that in the SAP product due to the fact that it has to be U.S. GAAP compliant out of the box so it can pass audits. 

Usually, once you start having to deal with inventory or more complex operations integrations or things like fixed assets or cost accounting, you're going to upgrade out of QuickBooks into something more robust - and that's what we did.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very straightforward. We did a migration from QuickBooks, so we worked with a value-added reseller who provided expertise to do the migration. We were able to carry the data over with no major hiccups and it went very fast.

For us, deployment took three months as we really don't have a lot of products. We're primary services, and therefore the migration of master data was limited to financials, customers, vendors, things like that.

Our implementation strategy was to migrate all the QuickBooks functionality as quickly as possible so we could start doing transactions in the new system. We generally followed a provided implementation methodology that was provided by the partner, and that was pretty much it. We just followed the steps.

We don't have any 100% dedicated staff on deployment or maintenance of this. We have an internal IT team. It's really one and a half persons, however, they also maintain all of our IT including emails, websites, and other things. Therefore, no one is full-time just maintaining the ERP system. It's pretty bulletproof and if I need to bring in extra people to help when we're making any major changes, my consulting partner that I did the implementation with can provide resources for things like customizations, special reports, or anything that I don't have the capability to do in-house.

What about the implementation team?

SAP does not sell Business One directly. They always go through a valuated resale partner and those partners provide you with consultants who know how to set it up and how to train you.

What was our ROI?

It's hard to come up with the exact return on investment due to the fact that you have to have an accounting system to operate a company of our size. I'm generating five million-plus in revenue a year, so I've got to have a decent accounting system. 

It's hard to say what would I measure my return on investment against. That being said, I haven't had to hire more IT staff or more accounting staff to do this in a more manual way. I probably have saved money on my staff expansion and my overhead costs. I didn't have to buy a whole bunch of new software support so I was able to put it on my same servers, versus having to buy additional servers, which also is usually built into the cost of your software as a service monthly fee, which makes that a little higher.

I probably see some savings there. Also, it is an easy to manage and effectively bulletproof solution once it's up and running, I didn't have to have a dedicated IT staff, so I didn't have to augment my current staff on that. However, it's hard to figure out what your exact return on investment is other than the fact that I'm able to do more business with the same amount of people.

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

The licensing is flexible. If you buy the license in the CapEx model, then you have an 18% to 20% maintenance fee that covers you for bug support and access to upgrade patches and releases. 

If you do the software as a service model, dollars are effectively built into the monthly fee. Therefore, you're not having to pay that on top of it. You're just paying a monthly fee and that's usually it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at all the major small to mid-size ERP packages available. We went with SAP due to the fact that they are the 800-pound gorilla in the ERP marketplace. 

They have about a 65% global market share in ERP systems, so they're not going to go away anytime. Plus, they take what they learn in their big products that cost millions of dollars and put it into the Business One allocation so that you have a lot of pre-designed capabilities out of the box that you just can't get in a smaller solution. Those were our primary decisions on why we went the way we did.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

It's competitive with anything else in its space. We checked that out. No one likes to pay for licenses, so we all complain about the pricing, however, everything costs roughly the same. I know that in newer versions when I was asking about hosted options, they're starting to offer software as a service. That way, instead of doing a CapEx investment, you can do OPEX and just pay a monthly fee per user. We've done some evaluations on that. For us, it was cheaper to do the CapEx and buy the license and not do the software as a service due to the fact that, after two and a half years, you basically paid for your license if you'd bought it, and the other way you're still paying a monthly fee. After three years, you're actually in worse financial investment shape than you were if you've just done the CapEx upfront.

It's just a game of where you want to put the money and either way you're going to buy licenses. All solutions in this space fall within a percentage of each other. None of them are giant. You have to be competitive to get the business, so they all price it pretty close.

I'd advise new users to make sure you got a partner you can work with as it's not going to be a one-time deal. It's a relationship that you're going to want to keep intact, in place, going forward. Every year a new version and new capabilities are going to be available. You'll need additional training. Every time you hire new people, you'll need someone to help get them up to speed and make sure it's working. Therefore, it becomes a relationship, and regardless of what ERP system you go with, the partner you work with, especially in the small to mid-size space, makes all the difference in the world. A good partner makes your life easy. A bad partner makes you hate everything about the ERP system.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. I would probably take it up to a nine, however, they're not there yet. It's coming. It's in their roadmap. However, I wish I could get it earlier.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SAP Business One
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about SAP Business One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Head of Information Technology at Biogenomics Limited
Real User
Useful modules, full featured, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is all the functionality of the modules together. It is a full-featured solution."
  • "The price could improve for SAP Business One."

What is our primary use case?

SAP Business One is used for many business tasks, such as purchase requisition, PO creation, vendor management, and virtual management.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is all the functionality of the modules together. It is a full-featured solution.

What needs improvement?

The price could improve for SAP Business One.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

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

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the scalability of SAP Business One an eight out of ten

How are customer service and support?

We use support from a third-party company. We do not use the vendor's support.

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

I used SAP S4HANA prior to SAP Business One. SAP Business One uses Microsoft Windows as the operating system while SAP S4HANA uses Linux.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SAP Business One is not complex. The implementation can take approximately two weeks to complete.

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

What about the implementation team?

We used a third party for the deployment of the solution.

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

I rate the price of SAP Business One a seven out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate SAP Business One a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1540719 - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head, Emergys India at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
High availability, helpful support, and increased operation transparency
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is the price and reputation of the vendor. The solution is widely accepted around the world."
  • "The analytics data capabilities could improve which will provide businesses with much more insight into how their companies are performing."

What is our primary use case?

SAP Business One is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that enables businesses to oversee various domains, including financial management, inventory control, equipment tracking, supply chain management, and sales operations.

The solution can be deployed on-premise and on the cloud. There is no limitation on what cloud provider can be used.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is the price and reputation of the vendor. The solution is widely accepted around the world.

What needs improvement?

The analytics data capabilities could improve which will provide businesses with much more insight into how their companies are performing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP Business One for approximately 14 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SAP Business One is a reliable solution.

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

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can be used for multinational and small-sized companies.

We have customers with 10 to 300 people using the solution.

The solution can scale well.

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

How are customer service and support?

The support from SAP Business One is helpful.

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

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I have not used a similar solution to SAP Business One.

How was the initial setup?

The installation process requires time to complete and it is complex. It is an enterprise-grade solution. The solution could take approximately two to three months to implement.

What about the implementation team?

There is an expert needed to implement the solution. We do the implementation of the solution for our customers.

What was our ROI?

Based on our past collaborations with other clients, we've found that they benefit from increased transparency in their supply chain, order management, payment collections, and financial operations. This is precisely why the solutions are highly favored across diverse use cases.

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

The price of the solution is reasonable. 

The licensing cost of the solution depends on the geography, but SAP provides discounts. There are implementation cost 

What other advice do I have?

Two consultants are sufficient for the maintenance of this solution.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate SAP Business One a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Christodoulos Panagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Accountant at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Simple data entries, one click financial statements, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of SAP Business One are that it has plenty of features and an easy general ledger entry. Additionally, we have an internal team that supports the solution and they provide is good. The solution is easy for us to support."
  • "SAP Business One could improve by automatically inputting exchange rates in the software. We currently have to enter them manually to find the appropriate exchange rates from a website. If it could be done with one click it would be helpful and more straightforward."

What is our primary use case?

SAP Business One has been used in my organization to make life easier for us accountants to implement our financial statements, create our AR invoices, and our general ledgers.

How has it helped my organization?

SAP Business One has improved the way we work because we used to have to enter manually, such as filling in invoices. Using SAP Business One has made our accountant's work a lot easier. All the accountants worldwide use the SAP software because they can create financial statements with a click of a button. It's amazing.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of SAP Business One are that it has plenty of features and an easy general ledger entry. Additionally, we have an internal team that supports the solution and they provide is good. The solution is easy for us to support.

What needs improvement?

SAP Business One could improve by automatically inputting exchange rates in the software. We currently have to enter them manually to find the appropriate exchange rates from a website. If it could be done with one click it would be helpful and more straightforward.

We have one person in our IT department that does the maintenance and support of this solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have SAP Business One on a hybrid server which is very stable and it doesn't lag. We do not have issues with the login, it is fast.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SAP Business One is scalable.

I use the SAP Business One daily. We have over 20 accountants and our reconciliation department is using the solution.

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

I have not used another solution previously.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SAP Business One was straightforward. The 

I rate the initial setup of SAP Business One a five out of five.

What about the implementation team?

We used a third-party consultant to do the implementation of SAP Business One.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment from SAP Business One is great.

I rate the return of investment from SAP Business One a five out of five.

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

The price of SAP Business One is not expensive for the features and the benefits it provides.

I have not found there to be any additional fees other than the standard license.

I rate the price of SAP Business One a five out of five.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did not evaluate any other solutions because SAP Business One is the best.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others is SAP Business One is one of the best accounting software in the market right now. Using it has made my life much easier.

I rate SAP Business One a ten out of ten.

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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sohail Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Vice President at Abacus Consulting
Real User
Top 10
It's one of the best solutions for automotive use cases
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Business One depends on the industry. Generally speaking, Business One works best in automotive industry use cases."
  • "Business One's production module has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are a consultancy with more than 500 customers worldwide in Pakistan, the UK, the United States, and the Middle East. Our customers are in various industries, including pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Business One depends on the industry. Generally speaking, Business One works best in automotive industry use cases.  

What needs improvement?

Business One's production module has room for improvement. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used SAP Business One for 17 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate SAP Business One eight out of 10 for stability. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate SAP Business One 10 out of 10 for scalability. 

How are customer service and support?

I've contacted SAP support many times, and they've been very helpful. 

How was the initial setup?

The complexity of the deployment and the time needed depends on the project's scope. You can complete the deployment in two weeks to a month if you are doing a standard implementation without much customization. We handle the implementation for the customer, and we have teams in various cities who specialize in different industries. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate SAP Business One eight out of 10. I recommend it. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

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

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Vice President at Ayurvet Limited
Real User
Top 20
Good ERP software for overall company management
Pros and Cons
  • "SAP Business One consolidates various functions, including production, sales, inventory, and purchase management."
  • "There are issues with inventory management and quality management."

How has it helped my organization?

Our organization has been using SAP Business One as an ERP software for overall company management, which includes production, sales, inventory management, and purchase management.

What needs improvement?

We have continued to use SAP Business ONE due to its add-ons and customization options, but there are still some areas that could use improvement. Otherwise, there are issues with inventory management and quality management, as well as the software not providing detailed information for production.

We managed to continue using SAP Business One with the help of add-ons.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP Business One for the past eleven years. The current version we are using is 9.2.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. I would rate it a seven out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I would give technical support a six out of ten. There is room for improvement, particularly in areas such as quality management, production operations, and store inventory management. We faced some constraints but managed to overcome them by using add-ons.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

We deployed the solution on the premises, on our own servers. The whole process took almost a year.

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

I would rate the cost of licensing SAP Business One a six out of ten, with one being low-priced and ten being very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it an eight 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
PeerSpot user
Owner at BPAS
Real User
Impressive dashboards, helpful support resources, and implementation straightforward
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is the dashboards."
  • "The extension of dashboards into mobiles is something which SAP Business One has to improve on."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SAP Business One is the dashboards.

What needs improvement?

The extension of dashboards into mobiles is something which SAP Business One has to improve on.

It's very difficult to talk about improvements in an ERP because every ERP has a focus. For example, if you pick Oracle, it goes well with finance. There is a lot deeper you can get in. However, SAP Business One has made everything more balanced among all the different functionalities of a medium-level company. Starting from CRM, the service module, project management, inventory, and distribution management it has a perfect blend of features. Whereas if you only asked about the functionality, there are hundreds of functionality you can add. There is no end to it.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SAP Business One is stable, it is fantastic.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found SAP Business One to be highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The service support is fabulous. There are a lot of knowledge bases available, white papers, and technical articles. Everything is available. Additionally, there is training available, SAP is providing a fantastic knowledge base.

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

I'm working only on two products, SAP Business One and SAP Signavio Process Manager. SAP Signavio Process Manager was a recent acquisition of SAP.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. However, it is important to know about the business process.

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

This solution can work with a very small company, but the price may not be the right, it may not be the right fit for them. We can't help with this because we have to really understand the market, the target audience, and we have to position the product accordingly. The price is not a very big concern because if the customer is finding value or the dealer, distributor, or implementation partner can show real value in the solution, then the price will not be a question at all.

What other advice do I have?

People have to really look at the product they are wanting to use. Today with a lot of automation and additional features people jump on the bandwagon and have features they do not need. There is digital transformation, business transformation, digitization, these are many buzz words out there on the market. 

My advice to the clients is to look back to your drawing board to understand your business processes. Once you document them properly, then you can find which transaction can be automated. You then need to look at the right tool that will be the right fit. I would not suggest selecting the prescription model, whether it is Oracle, Microsoft, or SAP they are all good. Everything is good as long as it meets your requirements. No one other than you can define what exactly are your requirements. This is what exactly I'm helping the customers with.

I go into the customer's business or location. I set up the whole expectations as well as the requirements and business processes model using one of the tools, such as Visual Paradigm or Signavio. Then the customer will be able to understand which will be the right fit, whether it's Microsoft, SAP Business One, Oracle, NetSuite. I'm not a prescriptive model person, I'm a consultative selling person. My advice to the people who are looking for an ERP is to please don't look at ERP as a magic wand. It is not going to solve your problems unless you are clear about what your problems are. Automating a wrong process is not going to give you any sort of productivity increase. Automating a wrong process is going to give you more unwanted information.

I rate SAP Business One a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SAP Business One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
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ERP
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SAP Business One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.