Does your company use SAP R/3 (often referred to as SAP ECC)? If so, you've no doubt heard that SAP is phasing out this version. That means you will eventually have to switch to another ERP system. A drastic decision, because an ERP implementation affects virtually all business processes.

For organizations that have been working with SAP R/3 for years, such a switch often feels like a necessary evil. You know the system inside out, employees are used to it and everything is up and running. A switch brings with it turmoil, time and costs that you may not want!

The question, however, is not whether you should switch, but more importantly, what is the best successor to SAP R/3 for you?

Is SAP S/4HANA always the most logical choice?

For many larger organizations, SAP S/4HANA Cloud (Public Edition) seems a logical next step after SAP R/3. ERP vendors also often recommend this package as a standard solution. Yet SAP S/4HANA is not automatically the best choice for every company.

In practice, we at Logres see that SAP Business One is a better fit - and often a cheaper alternative - in many situations. In this article, we'll tell you what the differences are and help you determine which trade-offs to take into account.

SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business One: what are the differences?

SAP S/4HANA is designed for large organizations with complex and often international business processes. The platform is available in two variants:

• Private Cloud - with a lot of freedom, but high initial investment (often starting from several tons)
• Public Cloud - more accessible priced, but with fixed standard processes

In many cases, SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is portrayed as the successor to SAP R/3. However, it is important to realize that this variant deliberately works within predefined processes. This makes the system scalable and manageable ... but also a lot less flexible!

The Public Cloud is made up of separate "silos": Purchasing, Sales, Logistics... This means that you sometimes have to click quite a bit to get to the desired information when working across functions (purchasing also does sales, for example). In addition, we see in practice that the implementation often requires several specialized consultants. This makes the process strong in terms of content, but also costly and complex.

SAP Business One, on the other hand, is a proven all-in-one solution made for SMEs and SMB+ (up to about 200 licenses). This means that all modules and functionalities are already present by default and communicate optimally with each other. The implementation of this package is a lot easier and in principle only one Business Consultant is needed. And that while much more is possible by default than in SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud!

Is SAP Business One big enough for my organization?

Many companies wonder if SAP Business One is one size "too small" for their business.

Just because SAP Business One is made for SMB+ companies doesn't mean that the options with SAP Business One are limited. Precisely not! Over 85,000 SMBs are already working with SAP Business One, locally and internationally, and thousands more are being added: every year.

Extensive functionalities, more of which are added every year, ensure that almost all industries are supported in SAP Business One. Often additional modules, such as an intelligent warehouse management system, are fully integrated into the package.

When do you choose SAP Business One over SAP S/4HANA?

The choice depends heavily on scale, complexity and desired flexibility:

• SAP Business One is suitable for SMB and SMB+ organizations that want to implement quickly, seek flexibility and keep a grip on their ERP landscape.
• SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is a better fit for larger corporates who want to work within fixed standard processes and prioritize scalability.

Note: Even in international organizations with multiple branches or warehouses, we see that SAP Business One is excellent in many cases.

Scaling up and further development

Organizations are constantly changing. Growth, new markets or changing legislation require an ERP system that can move with them.

SAP Business One offers a lot of freedom in this thanks to thousands of available add-ons. Additional functionalities are easy to add without customization. Adjustments to screens, fields and workflows are also relatively quick to implement.

With SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, these capabilities are fixed within the standard framework. Extensions are usually through external applications and links, which can affect user experience and management.

Take control

If you choose SAP S/4HANA public Cloud, you give up a piece of control. After all: you are completely dependent on your ERP vendor for all adjustments. You also have no choice when it comes to hosting: that lies entirely with SAP itself.

Is your system slow? Is something not going well? Do you need support? Then you should contact SAP's support department instead of the Dutch-speaking support of your local hosting party.

Does an update become available? Then you have to go along with that update, just like an app on your phone. You cannot choose to let this update pass you by and keep working in the old way for a while longer.

Many companies using SAP S/4HANA feel locked into a system they can't get out of.

Subscribe or invest?

SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud works with a SaaS model: monthly fees as long as you use the system. With SAP Business One, it is possible to purchase licenses once. In the longer term (often after four to five years), this proves more financially beneficial for many organizations.

Advantages of both ERP packages

Of course, switching from one ERP package to another is not pleasant. But fortunately, switching from SAP R/3 to another, more modern SAP ERP Package does bring some benefits that can more than make up for the switch.

These benefits apply to switching to SAP S/4HANA as well as switching to SAP Business One:

• Faster database
  SAP' s new in-memory HANA database is used by both SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business One. This way of storing data provides faster reporting, real-time analysis and generally better performance. This difference is really significant compared to SAP R/3 which usually runs on traditional relational databases (such as Oracle or an SQL Server).
• Better interface
  Both SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business One look more modern, but - more importantly - they work more intuitively. That means that functions can be found in a logical place and work simply. Regular users will quickly get used to them and the familiarization period is relatively short.Note: For users who need to write queries and create new processes, there is a difference between SAP Business One and SAP S/4HANA. Such customizations require much more training and knowledge with the latter package.

For whom is Logres the right partner?

Are you facing the choice to switch from SAP R/3 and are you hesitating between SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud and SAP Business One? Then we would like to think along with you.

Logres Business Solutions has been supporting wholesalers and process industry companies for more than 30 years. That is where our experience and strength lies. Does your organization not fit in? Then we will be honest about it and refer you to a suitable ERP partner.

Our promise is clear: no standard advice, but a solution that really suits your organization.

Want to spar? Through this website you can easily schedule a short Teams call. Prefer more extensive? Then we are happy to visit you for an on-site consultation.