SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP Business One

We compare SAP Business ByDesign and SAP Business One to discover which best suits the needs of your business.

When talking about an SAP ERP, the names that most often come up in the market are SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign.

SAP Business One is a product designed for growing companies that want to order and manage their operations from a single place to make better decisions. It is a very effective solution that has already been proven in its efficiency, having a wide range of partners and add-ons that make it flexible.

SAP Business ByDesign was created as a cloud ERP for corporations that needed to manage more complex and dispersed processes, with international reach and high integration between areas such as finance, sales, purchasing, logistics, or accounting. It became a very relevant product for a long time; however, SAP announced that ByDesign will be discontinued, which forces companies that use it to rethink their technology strategy.
Let's analyze both products and the reason why SAP Business ByDesign is about to be discontinued. Does it really not work anymore?

SAP Business One: a classic for growing companies

SAP Business One has been the reference ERP for small companies looking to organize their information, automate tasks, and have better control of their projects, clients, and sales for years. Currently, it is very useful for large corporations because:

• It can be installed on local servers or in the cloud (cloud option).
• It adapts well to companies of up to 100 employees, although it can grow a little more according to requirements.
• Its user interface is quite simple and connects with accounting, warehouse, production, and supply chain modules.
• The initial investment can be lower than in ByDesign, but it requires some hardware maintenance, licenses, and updates.

In short, Business One is ideal for a business that wants to control its operation without getting bogged down with a too robust architecture.

SAP Business ByDesign: the cloud solution that paved the way for new generations of ERP

SAP Business ByDesign or simply SAP ByDesign was created from scratch as a cloud ERP, designed for medium-sized organizations with a track record or startups with rapid growth.  It worked very well at the time because it has these features:

• 100% cloud, does not require local infrastructure or additional hardware.
• Designed to easily handle more than 1000 users.
• It has functions in project management, services, supply chain, sales, finance and even international marketing.
• It had a monthly subscription model which always allowed you to have the latest version of the software.
• Updates arrived four times a year, without the need for intervention from the company's IT department.

However, all things come to an end and its improvements led to Business One, which made it obsolete over time and with the growth of new technologies. 

2027: Will ByDesign be discontinued?

SAP Business ByDesign is scheduled to be discontinued in 2027. SAP has announced that its long-term strategy will be more focused on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, which leaves ByDesign with a limited horizon without receiving updates.

This does not mean that your investment will be lost immediately: SAP will continue to offer support until that date but without innovations or a roadmap, therefore, companies that are thinking about the future should consider transforming to another platform, the most recommended for your company will be to take the step towards Business One.

Why should you make this change?

The decision between continuing with SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP Business One depends on the needs of your company:

• If your business is a growing company looking for a flexible ERP, with local or cloud installation, and with a more traditional cost model, Business One will always be  the best option because it is a solution that has been proven with thousands of implementations globally with the possibility of adding AddOns that  make it adaptable in all its forms.
• If your organization plans strong growth, requires a 100% cloud solution, with great user capacity and more robust modules, ByDesign has advantages but they will be limited by 2027. Are you interested in investing for only a couple of years?

Both systems represent two sides of the same objective: to improve performance, optimize processes, integrate functionalities and give employees more efficient tools for their daily work.

However, it is important to mention that this is where SAP S/4HANA Cloud comes in, which becomes the equivalent option to what ByDesign sought to offer at the time. It is a product available in Public and Private editions and is designed for corporations and medium-large companies that require scalability, constant innovation and above all the long-term guarantee in the SAP roadmap.

The important thing is to analyze your sector, your infrastructure, the available budget and your company's growth plans. At that point you will find the answer to which product best suits your organization.

How can we support you at Xamai?

At Xamai, we understand that choosing the immediate upgrade from SAP Business ByDesign to SAP Business One and taking that step is not a simple decision. That's why, as an SAP Gold Partner, you can be sure that we will accompany you throughout the renewal process and leave behind outdated software, and we will even provide continuous support so that your ERP functions with maximum performance.

We offer customized consulting services that help you define the best alternative according to your sector, your growth plans, and the type of infrastructure you already have. In addition, we guarantee more agile implementation times, with a team specialized in finance, production, supply chain, and cloud technology, so that your company can focus on what really matters: growing.