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So you’ve submitted your IT annual budget, and it’s approved. Now comes the crucial next step: figuring out how you’re going to achieve your technology objectives with that allowance, and delivering everything on an acceptable timeline.

Until recently, IT vendors gave businesses like yours few choices in terms of deployment and pricing. Software was paid for up-front and deployed on-site. Implementation services were paid for at the completion of each phase.

But the world has changed. Today, there are myriad ways that software can be designed, deployed, and used: client-server, distributed, Web, public cloud, private cloud, mobile, insourced, outsourced, as a service—the list is long and keeps growing.

Now you can select from a range of technological approaches and financing options to find those that best meet your needs, best fit your budget, and best position you for growth. That said, with ample choice comes ample confusion.

So here’s a primer on the purchasing and deployment options that SAP offers today, along with actual customer examples of the choices our customers are making, and why.

Buy Now, Pay Later, or Pay Per Use

One of the first discussion items at the beginning of every software deployment project is financing. Today’s options boil down to: pay in full, pay over time, or pay by subscription (which some refer to as “pay by the drink” or “pay as you go”). Here’s a quick summary of each.

• Pay in full. If you have the cash-on-hand for the project, it’s often wise to pay in full to avoid interest charges and potentially obtain other discounts (there’s nothing like cold cash to put you in the strongest negotiation position). This said, there are many opinions on the strategic financing of IT and other corporate projects. It might be wise to touch base with trusted advisers to hear their thinking, especially considering the advent of cloud computing and its impact on pricing and payment models.
• Pay over time. If you’re not inclined to pay in full but you qualify for outside financing, paying over time is the next logical option. Talk to your investors, your bank, SAP, and even SAP implementation partners about what options they offer. As with full payment, it makes sense to run any proposed financing plans and contracts by your outside accountant, lawyer, and other trusted advisers before signing on the dotted line. Keep a keen eye on the interest rate and total of payments, and make sure you’re aware of any pre-payment penalties.
• Pay by subscription. Welcome to the new world. This option is available when you select SAP Business By Design and other on-demand software that operates in the cloud. With subscriptions, you can establish contracts to pay per user or pay per month, as well as other options. SAP subscription-based pricing is a good choice if the number of users you support is in flux, if your business is growing fast and you’ll need to scale up quickly, if you want to minimize your initial outlay, or if you need budgetary flexibility.

Have It Your Way

The next area of the software project discussion is the implementation process. Your choices are:

1. Start small. Some companies prefer to do an initial “proof-of-concept” project before committing to a full suite of new software applications. Other companies can’t justify a large initiative at the current time, but have targeted requirements they want to address. In either case, you can think big but start small with a single SAP deployment, such as Financials. Then you can easily add other modules later, such as CRM, Inventory Management, and so on.
2. The “Big Bang.” It worked out well for the universe, and it can work out well for strategic software platforms, too. If you’ve completed that proof-of-concept project or are committed to a broad, strategic technology initiative, then full implementations of SAP Business By Design and SAP Business All-in-One are for you. If you go the full initiative route, we recommend you involve one of our 10,000 implementation partners from the first planning meeting and onward. They might have domain expertise specific to your industry, and have a long track record of quick and successful big-bang rollouts.
3. On Demand. Cloud computing, as discussed in our first story, brings a new dimension of IT options and benefits to the table. Software on-demand boasts quick deployments, flexible subscription pricing options, limited hardware investment, limited IT staffing requirements, and other benefits. It might make good sense for you to leave the application hosting and maintenance to someone else, so you can keep your IT staff lean, and focused on innovation and strategic initiatives.

Four Tailor-Made Solutions and the Companies that Chose Them

SAP solutions provide various affordable options designed specifically for the needs of small businesses and mid-size companies. They’re easy to implement, easy to use, and easy to maintain, requiring minimal training and IT involvement.

And you can help address your most important business issues first, speeding time to value. Here’s a list of SAP’s core offerings, their deployment options, and some brief case studies of SAP customers who opted for different approaches.

SAP Business One

SAP Business One is for small businesses. It provides a single application that handles all key business activities, helping to eliminate the complexity and expense of integrating multiple systems. It can be deployed quickly (in as little as a few weeks), and needs minimal maintenance.

An intuitive user interface minimizes training, while SAP Business One‘s inherent flexibility lets you start small and add users and capabilities as your business grows. Deployment options include:

• On-premise
• Hosted by a partner
• Hosted by a partner with subscription-based licensing

One SAP customer, Alison’s Pantry, chose the on-premise version of SAP Business One with a perpetual license implemented by an SAP Business One partner. The initiative was conducted mainly to upgrade Alison’s legacy accounting software, but had several other goals as well.

After weighing the options, Alison’s Pantry deployed SAP Business One integrated with SAP Crystal Reports. Company officials say they achieved outstanding results in the areas of business processes including purchasing, general ledger, and data management. Owner Alison Chuntz was especially pleased with implementation speed. It took just six days to be up and running.

“With our prior system, we needed a designer and a programmer to make any changes on our forms,” says Joshua Kissee, General Manager at Alison’s Pantry. “Having SAP Crystal Reports integrated with SAP Business One, we can make our own changes on the fly and everything looks professional.”

SAP Business All-in-One

SAP Business All-in-One is for “larger than small” businesses, providing a comprehensive, integrated business solution that helps improve operational efficiency by integrating workflows and processes across the organization.

In addition, SAP Business All-in-One gives companies the ability to share consistent master data to help prevent errors and accelerate business processes. Deployment options include:

• On-premise
• Hosted by a partner
• Hosted by a partner with subscription-based licensing

Nuestro Queso, a Hispanic food products company based in Illinois, chose SAP Business All-in-One fully hosted by implementation partner Optimal Solutions to keep it on its fast growth pace. In its first year of operations, the company reached $20 million in sales, and made the strategic choice to outsource its IT rather than hire a full team in-house.

“I still don’t have an IT department,” says Guy Paproski, President of Nuestro Queso. “We’ve outsourced the vast majority of that as part of the software and solutions package that we purchased from Optimal Solutions. And that made the cost of entry sufficiently attractive so that we could step into a potentially large-scale system like SAP’s that could grow with us as we took off.”

SAP Business ByDesign

SAP Business ByDesign is the on-demand platform option for SMEs. It provides a common workspace environment with built-in services and user help to minimize training. Expert remote support is “baked in” to ensure smooth, predictable deployment and operation, helping to maximize productivity and minimize IT costs.

It also provides groupware integration with Microsoft Outlook and Office to facilitate collaboration with co-workers, customers, suppliers, and partners. As an on-demand offering, deployment options for SAP Business ByDesign are straightforward: you leave the hosting to SAP or a partner, and focus on scaling your employees on the applications as required.

More and more SAP customers are opting for the benefits of on-demand software in the cloud. And we expect this trend to continue and expand. Ask your SAP implementation partner if SAP Business ByDesign is right for you.

SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI

As discussed in our first story, business intelligence is a potent addition to the enterprise IT portfolio. SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI is packaged and priced right for midsize companies. It helps address a wide range of BI requirements, from operational reporting and ad hoc analysis, to world-class data visualization.

Powerful data integration and management come together to give you the accurate data you need to make informed decisions fast. And pre-packaged data mart functions can be deployed quickly to achieve broader data integration.

SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI can either be hosted by a service provider or deployed on-premise, and is available in three versions:

• SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI standard package, which provides enterprise and ad hoc reporting, as well as world-class visualization
• SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI with data integration, which has the ability to combine data from multiple sources; populate a data warehouse expediently; and leverage ad hoc, advanced, and drill-down analysis
• SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI with data management, which enables data parsing, cleansing, and address synching

Keep the End Game in Mind

No matter what your IT goals, solution deployment, or budget realities are, SAP and its 10,000 global partners can give you more options than ever before. In as little as a few days to as few months, depending on your business and solutions required, SAP’s small and medium enterprise solutions can help you build a unified, integrated business system that promotes process excellence, automates routine and administrative tasks, and helps make employees more efficient and productive.

To see SAP Business One in action, watch this video.

How can I find out more about SAP Business One?

Contact Blue Ocean Systems’ team of ERP specialists who can guide you in finding the best SAP Business One solution for your organisation.