SAP Business ByDesign review by Inspector Jones

SAP Business ByDesign is a software as a service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Acknowledging the increasing adoption of SaaS solutions, especially in the middle market, SAP Chose to develop a completely new code base to target the SaaS opportunity. SAP Business ByDesign is a system that serves all the key needs of a business.

SAP Business ByDesign is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) package, accessible over the Internet using a web browser. SAP manages all of the hosting, maintenance and upgrades of the system.

The system’s setup and configuration takes between four and eight weeks and is designed to scale with young businesses as they grow into mid-sized enterprises.

Some of Business ByDesign’s key features include:

Customer relationship management supports processes that include marketing, sales and service.

Financial management helps provide companies with a single, up-to-date view of financial condition by integrating core business processes and financials that span financial and management accounting and cash flow management.

Project Management offers a comprehensive solution for managing the organization’s projects from start to finish.

Supply Chain Management focuses on supply chain setup management, supply chain planning and control, and manufacturing warehousing and logistics.

Supplier relationship management focuses on relationships with suppliers, procurement processes aimed at reducing costs, and performing self-service procurement.

Human resources management covers organizational management, human resources and employee self-service.

Compliance management offers companies help with maintaining compliance with changing laws and regulations and to meet regulatory standards.

Ease of use

SAP Business ByDesign is an integrated business solution that supports a wide range of business operations. Its rapid implementation delivers immediate business value and its support for rapid change minimizes disruption to business processes.

Business ByDesign is easy to adopt and use while providing a personalized try-and-buy process with fast, intuitive software configuration driven by business users. The solution also helps speed user adoption and productivity with a built-in learning environment as well as built-in service and support.

The system’s underlying functionality allows business users to configure and adapt the solution to their unique and changing needs without requiring extensive, expensive IT resources.

Customer Service

SAP Business ByDesign offers a wide range of customer service options, providing helpful and efficient answers to questions from knowledgeable people.

Setup and implementation are quick and easy due to an array of comprehensive documentation, videos, and webinars.

Add-Ons and Integration

SAP Business ByDesign offers integration for several different helpful add-ons including:

SAP Mobile Platform SDK for building apps on the SAP mobile Platform.

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile app allows users the ability to make informed decisions based on targeted, personalized information anywhere and anytime.

SAP Sales Manager lets you better meet your customer needs by giving you the tools needed to increase revenue, accelerate buying decisions and maximize productivity anywhere, at anytime.

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer lets you improve your competitive edge by measuring performance and analyzing data anywhere and any time.

SAP Mobile Secure, cloud edition is an integrated, cloud-based enterprise mobility management portfolio with a superior user experience for all. IT admins get up and running in minutes, even when establishing the most detailed device or app-level policies.

Problems and Complaints

SAP Business ByDesign offers several comprehensive business solutions that are able to grow with a company, offering easy adaptation. However, as with anything it isn’t perfect, there were a couple complaints we had including:

Business ByDesign has adopted Microsoft’s Silverlight presentation layer for an improved user interface (UI). However, even though the UI is satisfactory it doesn’t incorporate the consumer-like technologies that deliver an inviting or stimulating user experience.

Business ByDesign was built on the NetWeaver platform. While NetWeaver is an impressive framework, its future is uncertain. Further, some IT pros frown on the idea of having to learn yet another proprietary development environment in order to perform system integration, software customization and application extension development.

In Conclusion

SAP Business ByDesign is a comprehensive ERP that offers a whole suite of solutions focused on the smooth operation of your business. The system strikes me as a very well thought out application in which SAP invested a lot of time and thought, to create a quality product, rather than just another app.

Business ByDesign is available around the world supporting multiple languages, currencies and accounting conventions. It is one of the most complete and adaptable on-demand business solutions designed specifically for midsize companies.

SAP Business ByDesign helps you streamline and optimize every area of your business and provides transparency and control over all your operations, so you can identify and respond to issues and opportunities immediately.