SAP Business One

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SAP Business One is business management software (ERP) designed for small and medium-sized enterprises, sold by the German company SAP SE. As an ERP solution, it aims to automate key business functions in financials, operations, and human resources.

Video SAP Business One

Modules

SAP Business One is arranged in several modules. Whilst each module handles specific business processes, others may be affected due to the integrated nature of the solution. For example, an accounts receivable invoice from the Sales module would include an accounting journal or posting within the general ledger in the Financial module, where it will affect the accounts receivable, revenue, cost of goods sold, inventory and output tax accounts. The inventory quantities will also be reduced by this transaction, thus affecting the Inventory module. SAP Business One addresses the following business areas:

• Financial management - SAP Business One manages financial operations by automating everyday accounting tasks such as maintaining ledger and journal entries, supporting tax calculations and enabling multicurrency transactions. It allows all cash transactions including processing bank statements and payments as well as reconciling accounts. It also manages cash flow, track budgets and compares actuals versus planned figures to gauge the business's health at any point in time. Additionally, it offers cost accounting via distribution rules.
• Sales and Opportunity management - SAP Business One's tools manage the entire sales process and customer lifecycle - from initial contact through to a sales order and final sale to after-sales service and support. These tools include managing marketing activities via campaigns; storing all customer data in one place and/or synchronizing customer contacts to Microsoft Outlook; a service module to manage service contracts, warranties and service calls; and reporting on all aspects of sales including forecasting and pipeline management. The SAP Business One Sales mobile app allows the sales people to work remotely.
• Purchasing and Supply Chain Management - SAP Business One helps manage the complete order-to-pay cycle including goods receipts, invoices, returns and payments as well as managing landed costs. Integrated reporting tools let you easily compare suppliers and prices (requests for quotations). Purchase analysis can be done for vendors as well as inventory which helps identify best sellers in real time. It also allows for multiple prices lists for both gross and net prices and in multiple currencies.
• Production Planning and inventory control - In SAP Business One inventory can be managed in one of the following three valuation methods: standard costing, moving average or FIFO. As it is fully integrated information about inbound and outbound shipments, item location (down to bins), stock transfers between multiple warehouses, inventory and cycle counts is all maintained in real time. It also has availability checks, discounting and setting up of special pricing. Inventory levels are also managed using material requirements planning (MRP) to fulfil production orders. It caters for multiple units of measure.
• Project and Resource management - SAP Business One helps manage a project from start to finish by centralizing all project transactions, documents, resources and activities. It helps monitor the progress of tasks and stages of projects and subprojects. It also offers reports on various aspects of projects including stage analysis, open issues and resources. Resources are defined as a commodity, machine, labor or any other asset all of which have limited capacity consumable during the project within a production order. SAP Business One offers a base for light manufacturing capabilities using resources and production.
• Analytics, Reporting and Business Intelligence - As part of the SAP Business One solution there is included a complimentary and fully integrated version of SAP Crystal Reports for SAP Business One, a powerful analytic and reporting tool. There are several standard reports and new ones can be created to gather data from multiple sources and presented in a variety of layouts. The Interactive Analysis and Excel Reports module uses standard Microsoft Excel features in creating reports and ad-hoc analyses in an environment familiar to business executives. Advanced features such as drag and relate, drill-down and enterprise search allows users to get a 360-degree view of their functional areas within SAP Business One. SAP Business One version for SAP HANA makes use of in-memory computing for analysis and reporting. Several predefined dashboards, key performance indicators (KPI) and reports support real time decision making.

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SAP HANA as the digital platform for SAP Business One

With SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA, the application data is powered in-memory, with a single platform for analytics and transactions. This aids in speeding up processing times, and permits you to maintain a streamlined IT landscape. This elevates the user experience as well as allowing real-time decisions to be made with the various embedded SAP HANA apps, analytics and reporting.

HANA Apps

• Enterprise Search - Helps find any information stored in the SAP Business One database, just like searching on an internet search engine, such as a Google search.
• Pervasive Analytics designer - used to create new and customize existing analytics; analytics can be grouped using Advanced Dashboard functionality.
• Cash Flow Forecast - provides information of future cash flows based on documents stored in the SAP Business One database.
• Available-to-Promise - provides current and future stock levels based on documents stored in the SAP Business One database. Users can use this to ensure they provide customers' information on when to expect their purchases.
• Delivery Schedule management - tool to reallocate stock to fulfil rush orders or orders from key customers.
• Intelligent Forecast - app to implement inventory management techniques to ensure optimal stock levels.

Analytics and Reporting

• Interactive Analysis - create flexible ad-hoc analysis within the familiar Microsoft Excel application, ensuring a real-time and comfortable working environment for business executives
• Semantic Layer - aid end users to access information freely, by tapping into this data foundation where the complex data is already mapped into familiar business terms such as product, customer, or revenue.
• Excel Report designer - create predefined Microsoft Excel reports in a formatted structure, with a real-time connection to your business data
• Embedded Analytics - track business critical measures with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and have instant visual reference to important information via Dashboards; all embedded within the user specific Cockpit. Dashboards can also be embedded across the many functions and forms empowering end users with up-to-the-second information
• SAP Crystal Reports - generate and create feature rich interactive reports with the included SAP Crystal Reports for SAP Business One

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Partners and community

SAP Business One is promoted and delivered through its global partner network (SAP PartnerEdge) consisting of the following partner types:

• Value Added Resellers (VAR), is an SAP partner that promotes, sells, implements and supports the product to end customers.
• Software Solution Partners (SSP), is an SAP partner that creates horizontal or vertical solutions on top of the SAP Business One platform with the SAP Business One software development kit (SDK), integration framework or Service Layer. They sell these solutions via the VAR partner channel.
• Open Ecosystem (OES), is a smaller partner that only sells SAP Business One via a VAR partner instead of direct partnership with SAP. The implementation and support is also done by the VAR Partner.

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Implementation and Learning

SAP Business One VAR partners can install and implement SAP Business One quickly and easily with the SAP Business One Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP). This is a comprehensive implementation methodology created by SAP. The methodology has been designed to serve as a guideline for the system setup and implementation process. It includes a set of templates, checklists, tools, and other supporting information that divide the implementation process into five phases. Each phase breaks down the relevant tasks that have to be completed, and suggests roles, responsibilities, and time frames required to successfully complete the implementation. The phases within the AIP are:

1. Project Preparation - Provide initial planning and preparation for the SAP Business One implementation project. Provide initial planning and preparation for the SAP Business One implementation project.provide initial planning and preparation for the SAP Business One implementation project.
2. Business Blueprint - Achieve a common understanding of how the client intends to run SAP Business One to support their business.achieve a common understanding of how the customer intends to run Business One to support their business.
3. Project Realization - Prepare the SAP Business One system and the client organization for production go-live.
4. Final Preparation - Provide initial planning and preparation for the SAP Business One implementation project.
5. Go-Live and Support - to move from a project-oriented, pre-productive environment to live productive operation.

All implementation and configuration tools can be accessed from the embedded Implementation Center within SAP Business One. Data from legacy systems are easily migrated with the various data migration tools and functions available as part of the SAP Business One solution. Company configurations can be saved and packaged into templates to allow for rapid-deployment of the SAP Business One solution.

Two globally recognized SAP Education certifications exist for the SAP Business One solution: SAP Certified Application Associate and SAP Certified Development Associate. The learning materials to both certifications as well as other learning materials around the SAP Business One solution are available at no cost to partners, customers and the public via the SAP Learning Hub.

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Extensibility

Custom development (called Add-ons) can be achieved using the SAP Business One Service Layer, SAP Business One integration framework (B1if) or the SAP Business One software development kit (SDK),

The SAP Business One Service Layer is the new generation of extension Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for consuming SAP Business One data and services. It builds on core protocols such as HTTP and OData, and provides a uniform way to expose full-featured business objects on top of a highly scalable and high-availability Web server. Currently, Service Layer supports OData version 3, version 4, and a few selected OData client libraries, for example, WCF for .Net developers; data.js for JavaScript developers. This API also allows gives the developer the ability to leverage the powerful SAP HANA libraries, such as the Predictive Analytics Library (PAL). SAP Fiori/SAPUI5 is also available to use, allowing for the easy creation of lightweight SAP HANA apps that can run on both a desktop or mobile device.

The SAP Business One integration framework (B1if) is the common platform for running all SAP Business One integration products such as the Intercompany Integration Solution, and SAP Business One integration for SAP Netweaver. Several ready-to-run scenarios allow for SAP Business One to integrate into other SAP Products such as SAP ERP, Ariba, and Concur. This means that SAP Business One is suitable for subsidiary integration to Large Enterprises running the SAP Business Suite. The B1if allows SAP Business One to evolve from a Business Application to a Business Platform.The business flows contained within the integration scenarios are created using XML and XSLT. Business Process Modelling (BPM) is also available within the framework to better visualize the process flows you are building.

The Software Development Kit (SDK) comprises COM-based development tools usually completed in Microsoft Visual Studio with C# or VB.NET. It is made up of two components:

1. The Data Interface API (DI-API) is where you can create new business objects around the SAP Business One client whilst still adhering to the core business rules. It contains objects and methods that enable developers to read, write, update, and remove data objects on the database level.
2. The User Interface (UI-API) exposes user interface elements of the SAP Business One front end. It Provides objects and methods to access form objects of the user interface, allows access to system internal events of the user interface, allows you to change system forms and add menus, windows and fields. It also allows you to generate an integrated user interface for SAP Business One and third-party applications.

There are more than 500 industry solutions available from the many SAP's Software Solution Partners ranging from healthcare, retail, professional services, consumer products, agriculture, manufacturing or product assemblies, oil and gas, food and beverage.

Examples of type of industry solutions developed by VARs and SSPs can be found within the SAP Business One Repository and the SAP Application Development Center.

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History

SAP Business One was introduced in April 2002 by SAP after acquiring the company TopManage Financial Solutions LTD's in the first quarter of 2002. TopManage was one of the companies that the temporary SAP board member Shai Agassi had founded together with his father Reuven Agassi in 1993. The acquisition allowed SAP to reach out to the small market through its partners and also to gain additional business from the smaller subsidiaries of its enterprise customers. Fastest growing ERP application. Winner of the 2017 Rebooted Software Excellence Award in the category Enterprise Accounting/ERP.

Releases

Prior to SAP Business One 2004 specific country versions called 5.x and 6.x existed until the first global release in 2004.

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Architecture

SAP Business One is a Client/Server model software application

• The Client application, is primarily the SAP Business One client that is a Microsoft Windows-based executable, that connects to a back-end database server and components. The SAP Business One client can also be accessed via several browsers; called Browser Access, including Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Edge. SAP Business One also has Mobile Apps for tablets or phones running the iOS or Android operating systems. These apps contain a subset of the full features available in the SAP Business One client; aimed at executive, sales and service employees.
• The Server components run on the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) operating system when deploying the SAP HANA in-memory computing platform. When running the Microsoft SQL Server database the server components run within the Microsoft Windows operating System.

Cloud tools and Browser-based Access - the SAP Business One application is delivered as a service within a Web browser. The SAP Business One Cloud solution is deployed via the Cloud Control Center (CCC), a web application that enables cloud operators (typically an SAP Business One Partner) to manage the SAP Business One Cloud Landscape. It allows the deployment of a multitenant cloud environment where customers can share the same database instance and SAP Business One landscape. Within the CCC, the cloud operators manage the lifecycle management of the SAP Business One Landscape: from creating and supporting customers, tenants and users to handling solution extensions and upgrades. It is designed for a seamless and rapid deployment of the solution. Should you run SAP Business One On-Premise or On Cloud?

Mobility - SAP Business One functions can be accessed whilst on the go on any mobile device. The SAP Business One Mobile app allows users to approve their workflows and sales and service to check stock and create sales quotations, sales orders as well as manage service calls. It also provides many analytical features.

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References

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External links

• Company website
• SAP Business One Help portal

Source of the article : Wikipedia