SAP's Business One can be too complex for smaller companies

Lack of functionality meant Beta Group, an SME user, had to spend money researching how to put the matter right

SAP's Business One (B1) can be too complex for SMEs without in-house IT support, according to one user, Martin Lewis, managing director of Beta Group.

Beta Group, a filtration and engineering specialist in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry, adopted B1 in 2006.

Lewis explained that the company originally adopted the SAP ERP system for small businesses because the SAP system does not comprise a series of plug-ins unlike the competitive ERP systems from Sage, NVision and other manufacturers. SAP is a complete stack offering accountancy, CRM telesales, service, manufacturing and HR modules, which means that the system is better integrated than other solutions.

However, the company found the technology too complex once it realised that B1 was lacking essential functionality and it would need to either invest in SQL training to alter the source code, or obtain help from outside experts.

The missing functionality includes no job costing in the service module, and there is only room for the diaries of seven engineers to be visible at one time in the calendar. However, Beta Group needs a constant view on where all engineers are at any given point, to assign them jobs. In addition, there is no way of working out how old the company's debts are in the accountancy module.

These difficulties added extra layers of complexity to Beta Group's work and slowed its operations. At the same time, Beta Group has been finding it difficult to train staff to use B1 and other third-party solutions to their full extent.

While the cost of training and need to take users out of productive work is an issue, the main problem for Beta Group has been the difficulty of sourcing the correct technical advice, enhancements and training for its SAP B1 product.

Lewis said: "SAP B1 is a very complex system. If companies are big enough to have their own in-house IT capability, they would probably be able to modify the system to help overcome the problems we had. However, we did not have this capability and had to go out of the business to get help."

SAP's Business One can be too complex for smaller companies

Lack of functionality meant Beta Group, an SME user, had to spend money researching how to put the matter right

To overcome the problems Beta Group signed up to the government's Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme and worked with Salford University to develop an SAP add-on to alter the calendar view. The company had to invest money and time into researching a solution to the problems with B1.

In addition, SAP has since rectified some of the issues cited by Lewis. Its purchase of Business Objects in 2007 saw it acquire a reporting system, Crystal Reports, which has helped resolve the problem of listing debts in terms of age. The company is now using version 8.81 of the software.

The company has also started attending the SAP User Group to try to resolve its problems, and it said that SAP has taken on board some hard facts and criticism from the group. Lewis added that it provides companies such as Beta Group with "invaluable training and education" in the products.

"SAP also provides members of the User Group with roadmaps, meaning users know how the products are going to be developed," said Lewis.

"In addition, networking with other SMEs helps us to work through some of the problems we have faced with this product."

Lewis explained that the problems Beta Group has faced with B1 are largely the company's own fault: "At least some of the blame for the problems we had lies squarely on our shoulders - we simply didn't do enough research. We didn't have the patience to do the mockups and testing procedures that we should have done. Ultimately, the solution is probably the best in the field, but it did cause us considerable problems along the way."