The BASIS of SAP

I recently came across an interesting article on SAP’s SME Solutions – A Guide to the Product Portfolio. It breaks down the four SAP products for SME products by size, functionality, industry coverage, deployment options and cost of ownership.

The most important point the post makes is that there exists a range of SMEs, and that a one-size software solution does not fit all. This leads to some further points worth noting.

The smaller the SME, the less likely they are to adopt complex technology. While there is movement to Linux and open source ERPs (because of the TCO perceptions), when they do get into technology, they tend to select Microsoft platforms (e.g. .Net, SQL Server).

Because of TCO concerns, the smaller SMEs were the first to adopt software as a service (SaaS), and that model continues to gain traction within the SME market. The implication is that any SME strategy must include a SaaS strategy.

SAP Product	Product Description
SAP Business Suite	The “original” suite of applications for enterprise-class customers. Includes ERP, CRM, PLM, SCM and SRM. Built on the original (and evolving) ABAP/Java platform.
SAP Business All-in-One	A partially “pre-configured” version of Business Suite, offering 80% configured solutions for larger SMEs in a wide range of industries.
SAP Business One	>A completely different product designed for smaller SMEs. Acquired in 2002 (through TopManage), the product is developed in Microsoft .Net technologies.
SAP Business ByDesign	A completely software as a service (SaaS) system developed by SAP and introduced in 2007. For SAP, it’s an entirely new approach to software design and deployment.

Given that its a blog post, the article does a good job of detailing the four SAP products that resulted from the new SME Strategy, albeit at a high-level view. While it won’t answer all your questions, it will give you a good starting point, especially about costs and appropriate products, for your conversation with SAP or your implementation partner,