When SAP introduced the Version 10 product update for SAP Business One, it was aimed at positioning it as the ideal ERP software for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the digital economy.
To achieve this, Version 10 introduced several innovations that increases the ease of use and operation in a cloud-based environment, as well as new ways to extend and integrate the ERP software.
This is part of SAP’s plan to transform Business One on HANA into a solution that provides the benefits of a cloud ERP, while retaining the strengths that have made it a top choice of ERP software for SMEs around the world.
And the launch of Version 10 is only the first step; SAP plans to introduce even more innovations in future updates for Business One, to fulfill its promise as the digital core from which SMEs can undertake their digital transformation into Intelligent Enterprises of the future.
The new features and enhancements that are in the pipeline for SAP Business One Version 10 is laid out in its Roadmap, which was recently updated in October 2021.
%20(1)%20(1).png?width=1000&name=SAP%20Business%20One%20RoadMap%20(As%20of%20Oct%202021)%20(1)%20(1).png)
SAP Business One Road Map (As of Oct 2021); Source: SAP (2021).
If you’d like to download the Product Roadmap for SAP Business One to read later at your leisure, click on the image below to download the PDF.
Otherwise, let’s take a look at some of these upcoming innovations.
1. Optimisations To Core Processes
SAP aims to make Business One a solid core foundation for SMEs like yours to build vertical solutions, to make the ERP software a more attractive option for existing and potential new customers.
The launch of Version 10 was also intended to enable users to access Business One’s core features through multiple platforms, and leverage the latest versions of operating systems, database engiens and browsers to apply innovations faster than before into day-to-day business operations.
To that end, future updates to SAP Business One will including the optimisation of the following business processes:
- Logistics and Inventory
- CRM and Service
- Financial
Future updates will also add value for customers of SAP Business One by enhancing the integration of the ERP software with Microsoft 365, as well as other SAP solutions.
Other planned enhancements include introducing automation into online banking processes through the integration of payment gateways that are used at SAP, and leveraging machine learning (ML) to implement a business card scanning function through an integration with the Document Information Extraction API.
2. Enhancements To The Web Client
%20(1).png?width=1000&name=Example%20of%20SAP%20Business%20One%20Web%20Client%20Home%20Page%20(1)%20(1).png)
Example of SAP Business One Web Client Home Page; Source: SAP
The introduction of the Web Client with Version 10 made it possible for end users of SAP Business One for HANA could access the ERP software’s core features and functionalities anytime, anywhere.
SAP has further enhancements planned for the Web Client in the near future to increase its functional coverage, and thus extending its target audience and market coverage. These include:
- Extended business logic coverage
- Analytics, reporting and printing
- New extensibility capabilities
- Extended integration with Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams
You can access the powerful analytics tools of SAP Business One through the Web Client. Source: SAP
These enhancements are intended to increase the efficiency and productivity that the Web Client provides, and thus improve the competitive edge that SAP Business One provides to its end users.
3. Globalisation Enhancements
To help position SAP Business One on HANA as the cloud ERP software of choice for SMEs all over the world, SAP has new enhancements to the ERP software’s globalisation features in the works.
These are intended to facilitate their customers to meet their legal obligations, and make it easier to meet local legal reporting requirements, thus helping new and existing customers to operate in any part of the world competitively.
Some of these enhancements include, but are not limited to:
- Legal compliance and localisation enhancements
- Expansion of localisation to new markets
- Increased number of supported languages, and harmonized functions across localisations
- Integration and leveraging of existing SAP cloud services for legal adaptations (e.g. the digital compliance platform), and SAP solutions for advanced compliance reporting.
4. Enhancements To Analytics And Reporting
Analytics capabilities are indispensable for businesses for getting end users like yourself the data you need to make faster, better-informed business decisions.
To that end, SAP is planning on further leveraging the capabilities of SAP HANA to accelerate partner innovation, provide intuitive and easy-to-use features that help end users retrieve key data, and have it presented to them in a way that facilitates business processes.
The enhancements planned will provide the following benefits:
- Better real-time visibility, and deeper analytics scenarios based on pervasive analytics
- New functions such as demand planning, and payment/invoice auto-matching
5. Enhancements To The Integration Framework 2.0
%20(1).png?width=1000&name=SAP%20Integration%20Framework%20(1)%20(1).png)
Overview of Integration Framework For SAP Business One; Source: SAP
SAP Business One boasts powerful and intuitive integration with third-party solutions as a unique selling proposition, and Version 10 significantly enhanced its integration capabilities with the introduction of the Integration Framework 2.0.
Further enhancements to the Integration Framework 2.0 are planned to ensure SAP Business One can be easily integrated with other SAP and third-party software to extend its capabilities, and facilitate the exchange of data between the ERP software and solutions integrated with it.
New features for the Integration Framework 2.0 include:
- Mapping between DI API and service layer
- Replacing the event sender with a flexible event-handler mechanism
- Support for advanced user authentication
Through this, SAP plans to make the Integration Framework 2.0 the key differentiator for SAP Business One as a robust business platform.
6. Intercompany Integration Solution For SAP Business One
%20(1).png?width=1000&name=SAP%20Intercompany%20Integration%20(1)%20(1).png)
Example of Expense Allocation across companies in the Intercompany Integration Solution for SAP Business One; Source: SAP (2020).
SAP will introduce an Intercompany Integration Solution for SAP Business One, which will enable harmonisation across all Business One databases to optimise business processes beyond countries or legal entities, and reduce total operating costs.
This includes an Integration Hub, which is a tailor-made solution for integrating cloud-based business applications and services with SAP Business One.
The Integration Hub will come with pre-configured templates for the most popular third-party solutions such as CRM, expense management, or other SAP software.
Overview of SAP Business One Integration Hub; Source: SAP
This will allow for faster integrations of these solutions with Business One, without requiring detailed knowledge of said solutions.
7. Innovations For SAP Business One Cloud
Enhancements to the cloud capabilities of SAP Business One are also in the works, ensuring that the ERP software will be able to scale with and provide a competitive advantage to SMEs like your business.
It’s also designed to position SAP Business One as an attractive option for businesses like yours that are looking for an easy and affordable deployment of a cloud ERP software, and provide a flexible, simple and intuitive solution for running your business more efficiently.
The planned innovations for SAP Business One Cloud includes those specifically for the SAP-hosted option, which includes:
- Improved self-service for resellers
- Support for advanced user authentication
- Staged introduction for regions and countries
For partner-hosted options (such as the one provided by AFON), some enhancements in the works include:
- Enhanced tools in the SAP Business One Cloud control centre
- Enhanced tenant configurator
- Integration to Microsoft Active Directory organisational units
- Lifecycle management (patch delivery and maintenance)
SAP Business One As A Continually Evolving Solution
Apart from plans to develop and introduce innovations and enhancements to the ERP software, SAP’s product direction for SAP Business One will include further enhancements to core processes, globalisation, analytics, extensibility, and cloud capabilities.
While longer-term plans for the ERP software are not yet set in stone, they provide an insight on what SAP envisions for their ERP software products for SMEs like yours.
As Rainer Zinow, the Head of SAP Midmarket Product Management of SAP SE said,
“We are making SAP Business One fit for the next generation, for the next decade, by enabling the digital services so the digital transformation can be done with SAP Business One.”
The Product Roadmap is part of SAP's plans for developing Business One over the next 20 years, to make it the ERP software of choice for SMEs all over the world. For a better idea on the direction that SAP is taking with Business One, take a look at this 2017 article by Mint Jutras.
Alternatively, you can download SAP's own white paper on their long-term vision for SAP Business One by clicking on the image below.
