Introduction

Introducing ERP offers available today

In the last 15 years, new technologies have pushed enterprises both large and small to rethink their process management with respect to the new dynamics created by the changing business landscape. Implementing an ERP is a step many businesses are taking to help organize and optimize the way they do business.

There are many business software offerings currently available on the market, however, most are focused solely on the needs of large enterprises. This document aims to give you a good idea of the features offered by the main ERP solutions for SME’s, with an emphasis on cloud-based solutions.

A cloud-hosted ERP solution offers a number of advantages over a traditional ERP that is installed locally, many of which are especially relevant to small businesses. A cloud-based ERP is often more flexible and able to adapt to a growing and changing business. Most of the time, startup and maintenance costs are much lower as well because they are included in the license fee.

Feature Comparison

In order to offer a fair comparison, we have compiled a table of the most important features into ten categories: Sales, Customer Relationship Management, Accounting & Finance, Marketing, Warehouse Management, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Services & Projects, Human Resources, and Usability & Productivity.

These categories encompass almost everything an SME might need to manage, develop, and evolve its business operations. The three products analyzed have extra third-party apps, developed by partners. Both NetSuite and Odoo have a public app store. Microsoft Dynamics NAV however has no app store; you will have to contact each partner individually in order to get information about their extra modules. As these modules usually come at an additional cost (license fees and/or implementation service), we only reported features that are in the standard package within our analysis. We have also included a comprehensive list of the pricing conditions to better weigh the costs/benefits for each solution.

We will finalize this document with some observations on market trends and customer satisfaction as well as provide input on a more global solution for SME’s.

Choosing the Right Software

Whether you are outgrowing entry-level software or replacing a legacy system, choosing an ERP that is a good fit for your company can have a strong impact on your future growth and profitability. Because the cost of implementing an ERP is so high, demanding a great deal of time and input from employees across your organization as well as potentially significant software licensing and consulting fees, there is tremendous pressure to get it right the first time.

Despite these high stakes, most decision makers selecting and implementing ERP software will not do so more than a few times in their career. The purchasing relationship is therefore tilted in favor of the vendor, with many vendors requiring hours of qualification before revealing crucial details such as features and pricing. When dealing with vendors, it is, therefore, essential to accurately and completely communicate the needs of your organization to avoid finding out 6 months into an implementation that the project isn’t feasible or that unexpected and expensive custom development is required.

Cloud or On-Premises?

In recent years there has been a trend in business software towards a software as a service (SaaS) model. Most major business software vendors, ERP or otherwise, have begun offering their locally installed products in a cloud-hosted version to provide additional flexibility. When deploying a cloud-based software, there is no need for a local server or other network hardware as data is managed and processed on a secure off-site server which, depending on the size of the deployment, can significantly reduce the initial cost of a system. This can make a cloud solution a better choice for small and medium-size businesses with less capital.

User Interface

Usability, especially in enterprise software, is an often- overlooked but critically important aspect to consider during the purchasing process. Usability affects the efficiency of users working within the system, the ease with which the software can be implemented, and can reduce the costs associated with user errors.

Additionally, users who spend most of their working day using the system will appreciate software that is easy to use. This is especially true for shop floor control systems, as workers there may be in a loud environment, moving quickly, wearing PPE, or otherwise not optimally situated to use a traditional computer interface with a keyboard and mouse. The special design considerations of shop space or production line must be taken into consideration for any interface used there.

We have selected screenshots of analogous menus within each software to demonstrate the visual elements and interface options for each software in this comparison. While it is difficult to assess software usability with a static image, a rough comparison can be made. The additional information can only aid your analysis.

User Interface – SAP Business One

SAP Business One -BOM

SAP Business One – Product Master data

User Interface – Odoo

Odoo -BOM

Odoo Production scheduling