SAP Business One adds e-commerce and web-based CRM tools

Capabilities will help firms set up online stores and deploy CRM systems more quickly

SAP is extending its Business One offering for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with e-commerce and web-based customer relationship (CRM) capabilities from its recent acquisition of Praxis Software Solutions.

The German enterprise applications giant said it plans to add the new functionality to help customers set up online stores and deploy CRM systems quickly while retaining a single view of information about sales, financials, manufacturing, reporting and customer-facing activities. The e-commerce and CRM capabilities are based respectively on Praxis’s NetPoint Commerce and NetPoint Focus.

SAP said it has about 10,000 customers for Business One, suggesting the integrated suite strategy that gave it leadership in the large enterprise market could also attract smaller firms.

“Integrated front-office and back-office are the core pieces that are required to run an SME efficiently,” said Sanjeev Aggarwal of analyst Yankee Group. “Integrated e-commerce plays a key role in increasing the productivity and overall efficiency of the workforce for SMEs.”

SAP plans to integrate the Praxis e-commerce and CRM tools into Business One, although they will still be available as standalone tools. Also, SAP said it will develop both for on-premises and off-premises systems.

“Our philosophy is that the way the customers consume the software is up to them to choose,” said Gadi Shamia, SAP senior vice-president of solutions management.

One customer said Business One was chosen because it was a popular option with staff. “We decided to go with SAP at first through integration to an accounting system 18 months ago,” said Parminder Basran, business controller of The Authentic Food Company, a maker of ready meals and snacks. “We allowed our users to choose which product they liked using best. Getting their support was key.”

However, SAP’s lateness into the software-as-a-service sector and its insistence that a hybrid model - offering on-premises and hosted software - is the best approach has led to some scepticism and sniping by rivals.

“The SAP and Praxis solutions are Stone Age on-premise applications [and] clearly the wrong delivery model for SMEs who are selecting on-demand software for their future needs,” argued Zach Nelson, chief executive of NetSuite, which offers an online applications suite. “One look at the list of requirements to run Praxis, not to mention SAP Business One, will scare any SME away.”