IDC Spotlight: Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
Discover why SAP Business One is the perfect ERP solution to unlock growth and agility for small and medium-sized businesses. This IDC Spotlight explores the benefits of modern ERP modernization, cloud deployment, and partner innovation, highlighting how they drive efficiency, scalability, and competitive advantage in the fast-evolving digital landscape. Télécharger le document
Discover why SAP Business One is the perfect ERP solution to unlock growth and agility for small and medium-sized businesses. This IDC Spotlight explores the benefits of modern ERP modernization, cloud deployment, and partner innovation, highlighting how they drive efficiency, scalability, and competitive advantage in the fast-evolving digital landscape. SPOTLIGHT
Sponsored by: SAP
Unlocking Business Agility and Growth
for SMBs with Modern ERP and
Partner Innovation
December 2025
Written by: Mickey North Rizza, Group Vice-President, Enterprise Software
Introduction
In today's fast-paced business environment, small and medium-sized
businesses (SMBs) are no longer just keeping up — they're leading the
charge in digital transformation. The days of legacy systems and manual
processes are behind us. SMBs recognize that to stay competitive,
resilient, and agile, they must modernize their ERP systems, embrace
cloud deployment, and tap into the power of partner-driven innovation.
These aren't just technology upgrades — they're strategic imperatives for
unlocking new levels of business agility and sustainable growth.
Key Business Priorities for SMBs
IDC's 2025 Small and Medium-Sized Business Survey makes it clear: SMBs
are laser-focused on growth, efficiency, and innovation. Increasing
revenue tops the list of action items, with 41.8% making it their main
priority. Attracting new customers (35.6%) and improving operational
efficiency (33%) follow closely behind. Productivity gains (31%) and the
development of digital products and services (29%) round out the top 5
priorities. They reflect the reality of today's market — SMBs must be
nimble, customer-centric, and ready to seize new opportunities.
Small and midsize businesses are embracing ERP modernization, cloud, AI, and partner-
driven innovation to achieve business agility, scalability, and drive growth. This advanced
technology and strategic partnerships enable SMBs to unlock new levels of efficiency,
productivity, and innovation.
KEY STATS
SMBs are laser-focused on growth,
efficiency, and innovation. Supporting
mobile workers who work securely from
anywhere is critical. According to IDC's
research:
» 56% of SMBs rank ERP and business
operations tools among their top
technology investments.
» 51.7% look to AI to drive operational
improvements and elevate customer
experiences.
» 80.7% rely on their partners to add value
to their ERP and business applications
through integrations, customizations, or
ongoing support.
AT A GLANCE
Sponsored by: SAP
Unlocking Business Agility and Growth
for SMBs with Modern ERP and
Partner Innovation
December 2025
Written by: Mickey North Rizza, Group Vice-President, Enterprise Software
Introduction
In today's fast-paced business environment, small and medium-sized
businesses (SMBs) are no longer just keeping up — they're leading the
charge in digital transformation. The days of legacy systems and manual
processes are behind us. SMBs recognize that to stay competitive,
resilient, and agile, they must modernize their ERP systems, embrace
cloud deployment, and tap into the power of partner-driven innovation.
These aren't just technology upgrades — they're strategic imperatives for
unlocking new levels of business agility and sustainable growth.
Key Business Priorities for SMBs
IDC's 2025 Small and Medium-Sized Business Survey makes it clear: SMBs
are laser-focused on growth, efficiency, and innovation. Increasing
revenue tops the list of action items, with 41.8% making it their main
priority. Attracting new customers (35.6%) and improving operational
efficiency (33%) follow closely behind. Productivity gains (31%) and the
development of digital products and services (29%) round out the top 5
priorities. They reflect the reality of today's market — SMBs must be
nimble, customer-centric, and ready to seize new opportunities.
Small and midsize businesses are embracing ERP modernization, cloud, AI, and partner-
driven innovation to achieve business agility, scalability, and drive growth. This advanced
technology and strategic partnerships enable SMBs to unlock new levels of efficiency,
productivity, and innovation.
KEY STATS
SMBs are laser-focused on growth,
efficiency, and innovation. Supporting
mobile workers who work securely from
anywhere is critical. According to IDC's
research:
» 56% of SMBs rank ERP and business
operations tools among their top
technology investments.
» 51.7% look to AI to drive operational
improvements and elevate customer
experiences.
» 80.7% rely on their partners to add value
to their ERP and business applications
through integrations, customizations, or
ongoing support.
AT A GLANCE
Page 2#US54106325
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
To get there, SMBs are investing in technology that supports mobile workers, enables remote access, and integrates
seamlessly with cloud applications. The rise of distributed workforces means 58.9% of SMBs, as noted in IDC's SMB
Survey, need solutions that enable employees to work securely from anywhere, such as remote access to network-based
resources and cloud applications. And bringing it all together is AI, which is no longer a buzzword but a business enabler,
with 51.7% of SMBs looking to the technology to drive operational improvements and elevate customer experiences.
ERP Modernization and Cloud Adoption
Modern cloud ERP platforms are the backbone of digital transformation for SMBs. These solutions are evolving rapidly,
offering intuitive web-based interfaces, cloud-native deployment, and robust integration capabilities. It's no surprise that
56% of SMBs in IDC's survey rank ERP and business operation tools among their top technology investments. The shift to
cloud is accelerating, with 54% expanding their use of cloud and hosted resources. Cloud-native ERP delivers scalability,
flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, which is what SMBs need to grow and adapt.
AI is front and center in ERP modernization. IDC's SMB Survey finds that 51.8% are prioritizing AI-powered features such
as predictive analytics and intelligent automation. SMBs have noted that adopting cloud technology has made
incorporating AI easier: It removes traditional barriers to new tech adoption by offering cost efficiency (pay as you go),
scalability, remote accessibility, and access to advanced AI (pretrained models, APIs, data management, and integration).
Partners can also augment this technology with their own solutions to assist clients, such as AI agents that use specialized
tools for building, deploying, and orchestrating other AI agents to autonomously make decisions, take actions, and adapt
to specific goals. The partner ecosystem is critical to SMBs: IDC's 2024 SaaSPath Survey found that 80.7% rely on partners
to add value to their ERP and business applications, whether through integrations, customizations, or ongoing support. In
addition, SMBs told IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey that their application vendors' ecosystems of partners are used in a
variety of ways (see Figure 1).
FIGURE 1: SMBs' Current and Planned Use of Application Vendor Ecosystem Partners
Q In what ways do you use or plan to use your app vendor’s ecosystem?
n = 876
Source: IDC's SaaSPath Survey, 202545
53
55
58
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Verticalization (customizations)
Change management/project management
Integrations/plug-ins/extensions
Feature/function/new workflows
(% of respondents)
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
To get there, SMBs are investing in technology that supports mobile workers, enables remote access, and integrates
seamlessly with cloud applications. The rise of distributed workforces means 58.9% of SMBs, as noted in IDC's SMB
Survey, need solutions that enable employees to work securely from anywhere, such as remote access to network-based
resources and cloud applications. And bringing it all together is AI, which is no longer a buzzword but a business enabler,
with 51.7% of SMBs looking to the technology to drive operational improvements and elevate customer experiences.
ERP Modernization and Cloud Adoption
Modern cloud ERP platforms are the backbone of digital transformation for SMBs. These solutions are evolving rapidly,
offering intuitive web-based interfaces, cloud-native deployment, and robust integration capabilities. It's no surprise that
56% of SMBs in IDC's survey rank ERP and business operation tools among their top technology investments. The shift to
cloud is accelerating, with 54% expanding their use of cloud and hosted resources. Cloud-native ERP delivers scalability,
flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, which is what SMBs need to grow and adapt.
AI is front and center in ERP modernization. IDC's SMB Survey finds that 51.8% are prioritizing AI-powered features such
as predictive analytics and intelligent automation. SMBs have noted that adopting cloud technology has made
incorporating AI easier: It removes traditional barriers to new tech adoption by offering cost efficiency (pay as you go),
scalability, remote accessibility, and access to advanced AI (pretrained models, APIs, data management, and integration).
Partners can also augment this technology with their own solutions to assist clients, such as AI agents that use specialized
tools for building, deploying, and orchestrating other AI agents to autonomously make decisions, take actions, and adapt
to specific goals. The partner ecosystem is critical to SMBs: IDC's 2024 SaaSPath Survey found that 80.7% rely on partners
to add value to their ERP and business applications, whether through integrations, customizations, or ongoing support. In
addition, SMBs told IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey that their application vendors' ecosystems of partners are used in a
variety of ways (see Figure 1).
FIGURE 1: SMBs' Current and Planned Use of Application Vendor Ecosystem Partners
Q In what ways do you use or plan to use your app vendor’s ecosystem?
n = 876
Source: IDC's SaaSPath Survey, 202545
53
55
58
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Verticalization (customizations)
Change management/project management
Integrations/plug-ins/extensions
Feature/function/new workflows
(% of respondents)
Page 3#US54106325
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
The Role of AI, Analytics, and Extensibility
Innovation and agility are being fueled by generative AI (GenAI) and extensibility frameworks. IDC's research found that
more than half of SMBs (51.5%) are already leveraging GenAI, and another 42.8% plan to do so within the next year.
Figure 2 highlights the top outcomes SMBs hope to achieve by leveraging GenAI.
FIGURE 2: Top SMB Business Outcomes for GenAI Use
Q Which are the most important business outcomes that your organization wants to achieve by
leveraging generative AI in your [app category] application. Select up to 3.
n = 71
Source: IDC's SaaSPath, 2025
AI agents are also a new avenue that SMBs are currently experimenting with and one that is growing in significance. IDC's
October 2025 Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey, Wave 8, found that 40% of organizations are still
evaluating and piloting the use of AI agents. In the same survey, 28% of organizations said their cloud ERP partner will
help them use agents across their business processes, while 13% cited their IT consulting and SI partners. And with 33–0
10
11
13
13
14
15
15
17
17
18
20
20
23
27
27
30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Other
Faster time to market
Improve business resilience
Expand market share
Cost savings
Improve competitive differentiation
Improve business agility
Faster innovation
Reduce business risk
Improve customer satisfaction
Improve business insights
Increase sustainability
Drive new revenue growth
Increase profits
Improve customer experience
Improve employee productivity
Increase operational efficiency
(% of respondents)
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
The Role of AI, Analytics, and Extensibility
Innovation and agility are being fueled by generative AI (GenAI) and extensibility frameworks. IDC's research found that
more than half of SMBs (51.5%) are already leveraging GenAI, and another 42.8% plan to do so within the next year.
Figure 2 highlights the top outcomes SMBs hope to achieve by leveraging GenAI.
FIGURE 2: Top SMB Business Outcomes for GenAI Use
Q Which are the most important business outcomes that your organization wants to achieve by
leveraging generative AI in your [app category] application. Select up to 3.
n = 71
Source: IDC's SaaSPath, 2025
AI agents are also a new avenue that SMBs are currently experimenting with and one that is growing in significance. IDC's
October 2025 Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey, Wave 8, found that 40% of organizations are still
evaluating and piloting the use of AI agents. In the same survey, 28% of organizations said their cloud ERP partner will
help them use agents across their business processes, while 13% cited their IT consulting and SI partners. And with 33–0
10
11
13
13
14
15
15
17
17
18
20
20
23
27
27
30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Other
Faster time to market
Improve business resilience
Expand market share
Cost savings
Improve competitive differentiation
Improve business agility
Faster innovation
Reduce business risk
Improve customer satisfaction
Improve business insights
Increase sustainability
Drive new revenue growth
Increase profits
Improve customer experience
Improve employee productivity
Increase operational efficiency
(% of respondents)
Page 4#US54106325
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
34% of organizations in the survey believing GenAI and AI agents are critical for their business intelligence and analytics
environments, partners can expect to be busy helping SMBs modernize their systems with AI.
Digital workspaces are also expanding. In IDC's 2025 SMB Survey, 21% said they are enhancing collaboration and
productivity for distributed teams. Extensibility is a game changer for SMBs. APIs, low-code/no-code platforms, and
partner-developed extensions allow SMBs to customize and extend their ERP systems quickly and efficiently across the
organization. This flexibility is critical for staying ahead in a dynamic market.
Partner Ecosystem: Driving Customer Success
IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey found that SMBs leverage partners for new features, functions, and workflows (58.3%),
integrations and plug-ins (55.5%), and change management and project management (53.8%). Industry-specific expertise
was also in demand, with 44.5% of SMBs seeking verticalized solutions and customizations.
Professional services vendors — systems integrators and consultants — are pivotal in successful application and ERP
deployments. According to IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey, nearly 70% of SMBs engage partners for application
implementation, and over half do so for ERP systems. These specialists bring technical know-how and project
management skills to ensure smooth transitions and maximize ROI.
AI continues to expand in its role as more organizations seek out partners to take their technology underpinning to a new
level. This new level helps them focus on technical performance, including prediction accuracy, processing speed, and
error rates; operational efficiency with more automated workflows; reduced manual processes; and increased adoption
and usage of AI across their organizations.
Benefits
Unlocking new levels of business agility and sustainable growth requires SMBs to utilize a modern ERP system that is in
the cloud and driven by partner innovation. In IDC's December 2024 Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey,
Wave 11, the top factors for modernizing enterprise applications were preparing for greater use of AI in the business
(41%) and reducing IT operating costs (35%).
IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey underscores the need for AI-enabled, modernized ERP systems. SMBs reported the following
benefits from modernizing to a new cloud ERP system with integrated AI:
» 34% found AI now supports better, faster decision-making
» 32% optimized processes
» 29% improved customer experience and employee experience
» 27% improved agility (the ability to think, understand, and move quickly)
» 27% found AI enabled more automation, reducing manual processing
IDC's 2025 Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business Survey found that 74% of SMBs purchased their software from a
partner. These partners helped the SMB navigate complex technology choices, providing expert advice, product
selection, industry expertise, and integration services. Such assistance was especially beneficial for those with limited IT
resources. In addition, partners can offer customization, integration, and innovation (e.g., AI agents), tailoring solutions to
SPOTLIGHT Unlocking Business Agility and Growth for SMBs with Modern ERP and Partner Innovation
34% of organizations in the survey believing GenAI and AI agents are critical for their business intelligence and analytics
environments, partners can expect to be busy helping SMBs modernize their systems with AI.
Digital workspaces are also expanding. In IDC's 2025 SMB Survey, 21% said they are enhancing collaboration and
productivity for distributed teams. Extensibility is a game changer for SMBs. APIs, low-code/no-code platforms, and
partner-developed extensions allow SMBs to customize and extend their ERP systems quickly and efficiently across the
organization. This flexibility is critical for staying ahead in a dynamic market.
Partner Ecosystem: Driving Customer Success
IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey found that SMBs leverage partners for new features, functions, and workflows (58.3%),
integrations and plug-ins (55.5%), and change management and project management (53.8%). Industry-specific expertise
was also in demand, with 44.5% of SMBs seeking verticalized solutions and customizations.
Professional services vendors — systems integrators and consultants — are pivotal in successful application and ERP
deployments. According to IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey, nearly 70% of SMBs engage partners for application
implementation, and over half do so for ERP systems. These specialists bring technical know-how and project
management skills to ensure smooth transitions and maximize ROI.
AI continues to expand in its role as more organizations seek out partners to take their technology underpinning to a new
level. This new level helps them focus on technical performance, including prediction accuracy, processing speed, and
error rates; operational efficiency with more automated workflows; reduced manual processes; and increased adoption
and usage of AI across their organizations.
Benefits
Unlocking new levels of business agility and sustainable growth requires SMBs to utilize a modern ERP system that is in
the cloud and driven by partner innovation. In IDC's December 2024 Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey,
Wave 11, the top factors for modernizing enterprise applications were preparing for greater use of AI in the business
(41%) and reducing IT operating costs (35%).
IDC's 2025 SaaSPath Survey underscores the need for AI-enabled, modernized ERP systems. SMBs reported the following
benefits from modernizing to a new cloud ERP system with integrated AI:
» 34% found AI now supports better, faster decision-making
» 32% optimized processes
» 29% improved customer experience and employee experience
» 27% improved agility (the ability to think, understand, and move quickly)
» 27% found AI enabled more automation, reducing manual processing
IDC's 2025 Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business Survey found that 74% of SMBs purchased their software from a
partner. These partners helped the SMB navigate complex technology choices, providing expert advice, product
selection, industry expertise, and integration services. Such assistance was especially beneficial for those with limited IT
resources. In addition, partners can offer customization, integration, and innovation (e.g., AI agents), tailoring solutions to