Implementing the SAP Business One Application
| If you've decided to move your company to an integrated business management solution such as SAP Business One, planning ahead for the resources required to implement a new solution will help you avoid any potential surprises.
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The cost of the software – typically calculated by the number of user licenses you need – is one of several items for which you will need to budget. Depending on the complexity of your solution, there may also be costs related to migrating your data to the new solution, customizing the user interface, and aligning the solution with your existing applications. In some cases, this may be as simple as exporting QuickBooks information to SAP Business One. In more complex implementations, you may need to work with your solutions provider to ensure that financial, customer, inventory, and other information that resides on legacy systems can be migrated to the new solution efficiently.
As a small or midsize business, you will most likely be working with an independent solutions provider (such as a value-added reseller or independent software vendor) to develop and install your solution, as well as manage long-term service and support. While this provider will oversee implementation of the SAP Business One application, you will also need someone in-house to manage the consultant relationship and ensure that the project timeline is moving forward. This may fall to your IT manager, or, if you don't have someone in charge of IT full time, to another project coordinator.
You also will need to budget for training and education. As is the case with any new technology implementation, proper training reduces user resistance to the transition and ensures that employees can take advantage of the solution's full potential.
Implementation Scenarios
Let's take a look at three characteristic scenarios for implementing the SAP Business One application. Please talk to your partner about actual implementation costs in your country/region.
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A national manufacturer with annual revenues of €40 million has specific supply chain management requirements that it needs the SAP Business One application to meet. With 15 user licenses, the SAP Business One application's configuration will include financials, CRM, inventory, purchasing, manufacturing resource planning (MRP), and human resources management. This complex implementation – which may take as long as three months – will require extensive customization in areas such as workflow, alerts, reporting, and managing multiple locations. Existing accounting, customer, inventory, and materials data needs to be migrated from custom legacy systems. The solution also must work seamlessly with other solutions, including Microsoft Outlook, project scheduling applications, tax software, and the systems of key business partners.
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Potential licensing and implementation cost: €175,000-180,000 |
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