ORACLE NETSUITE
OVERVIEW
The name SAP has long been synonymous with enterprise business software, one of the original pioneers of ERP software developed in the 1970s. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is a major investment for many SMB sized businesses. Apart from the obvious costs and time commitment it carries, it bears the responsibility of being the “command center” of your operations, tasked with supporting, managing, and integrating data and business processes across departments.
There are dozens of ERP solutions available to small and medium businesses, but, through the years, two have emerged as the clear frontrunners: Oracle NetSuite and SAP Business One. This post will provide a side-by-side comparison of NetSuite ERP to SAP Business One. Keep reading to learn more about cloud-based ERP, NetSuite, and the NetSuite Alternative, SAP Business One, the SMB & Mid-Market ERP solution.
When choosing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for your company, cloud deployment offers many advantages over on-premises deployment – simplified IT, better security, and a lower total cost of ownership. And for businesses with a limited budget, the price is crucial when choosing an ERP. Don’t jump for the first inexpensive price tag you see; however – if the initial price looks too good to be true, it probably is. Many businesses are surprised to learn about the hidden costs of ERP solutions such as NetSuite. Consider these areas before using price as the deciding factor for your next cloud ERP solution.
Key Takeaways:
- SAP Business One and Oracle Netsuite are two popular enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions that cater to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
- While Oracle Netsuite is deployed exclusively in the cloud, SAP Business One offers both on-premise and cloud deployment options, providing businesses with flexibility in choosing their preferred deployment method.
- Both SAP Business One and Oracle Netsuite offer multi-language and multi-currency support, enabling businesses to operate in diverse regions and expand globally.
- Pricing models for SAP Business One and Oracle Netsuite vary, with SAP Business One typically charging a one-time license fee plus ongoing maintenance costs, while Oracle Netsuite follows a subscription-based pricing model.
- Ultimately, the choice between SAP Business One and Oracle Netsuite depends on factors such as industry focus, scalability requirements, integration needs, localization support, and budget considerations.
KEY FUNCTIONS
Comparing NetSuite or SAP Business One By Features and Background: History Overview, Deployment,
Implementation, Licensing, Reporting And Analytics, Relevant Industry Use Cases, and Softengine’s Conclusion.
ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: HISTORY
SAP Business One is an ERP solution specially built for small- and medium-sized businesses, i.e. those with a range of 5 – 500 users. It boasts an expansive client base of over 60,000 companies in 150 countries.
Business One covers nearly every business area, including sales, reporting, financial planning, vendor management, inventory management, project management, and customer relationship management. It also provides 1,500+ integrations for supply chain management, e-commerce, finance, and CRM.
Over the years, SAP and its partners have developed a plethora of industry-specific solutions and use cases that have been tried and tested in manufacturing, retail, energy, food and beverage, public service, and financial service.
The software’s biggest strength is its underlying machinery–a combination of Microsoft’s SQL Server Database and SAP’s very own HANA in-memory database.
Founded in 1998 in San Mateo, California, and acquired by Oracle in 2016, Oracle NetSuite holds the distinction of being the first cloud-based ERP solution. It has an impressive track record, serving 24,000 clients in more than 100 countries.
Although the software was originally built for accounting, it has since expanded to include other business areas like finance, supply chain management, order management, procurement, marketing automation, human capital management, and many others.
Oracle NetSuite has a global network of partners spanning several industries and features hundreds of third-party integrations for a variety of use-cases.
COMPARE ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: DEPLOYMENT
Compare The Benefits Of The Cloud Solutions And Hybrid
SAP Business One has a flexible selection for those looking for an on-premise or hybrid solution, as well as for those still transitioning from physical servers to cloud. In addition, SAP Business One Cloud upgrades deployed are optional. Upgrades can be planned, dodging issues from sensitive times in your business.
Oracle NetSuite is 100% cloud solution. One of the most significant differences between Oracle NetSuite or SAP Business One is that Oracle NetSuite is strictly cloud-based ERP solution, whereas Business One offers both cloud and on-premise deployment. This freedom and flexibility may provide you with greater value and options.
COMPARE SAP BUSINESS ONE AND ORACLE NETSUITE
ERP Implementations Are Complex, A Good Partner Makes All The Difference
SAP Business One Partnership Program enables experts in all industries to provide specialized implementations that meet your business needs. Utilize local resources who can implement all application modules from proposal, work alongside you on critical tasks like system configuration, data conversion, report or analytic creation, system testing, and cutover.
Oracle NetSuite is known for outsourcing their direct implementation making timing for meetings difficult with offshore consulting resources at local consulting rates. Fixed-fee implementations quickly lose appeal when customer misses responsibilities (resource commitment/timing) and therefore fixed-fee is forfeited.
COMPARE SAP BUSINESS ONE OR ORACLE NETSUITE: LICENSING
Choosing the Right Licensing for Your Needs
With SAP Business One you get a dedicated partner and the full support of SAP behind your evaluation and purchase. SAP Business One is only licensed through authorized resellers whereas Oracle NetSuite is sold and licensed through both partners (resellers) and offered directly by Oracle NetSuite sales reps.
Oracle NetSuite’s licensing model is complex and generally more expensive whereas with SAP Business One licensing is based upon the number of user licenses and the core platform. Within the Oracle NetSuite community partners cite frustration by having to “compete” for the same customers and oftentimes being undercut on price and services offered. Oracle NetSuite payment terms are a year in advance.
ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: REPORTING AND ANALYTICS
Streamline Your Processes and Effectively Analyze Your Product
SAP Business One HANA outperforms Oracle NetSuite when it comes to analytics tools, data modeling, database management, and overall performance. HANA’s in-memory relational database management system is arguably the best you can get.
Furthermore, Business One has improved its dashboard in recent years, transitioning to a more seamless and customizable Fiori interface that allows you to keep important features visible and less important ones hidden.
Oracle NetSuite’s Financial Report Builder tool builds the financial statements reporting. Including grouping financial data differently or including additional data in the report such as budget details.
COMPARE ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: INDUSTRY USE-CASES
Select a SystemThat Knows Your Industry Needs
One of the most important considerations when selecting an alternative to NetSuite is figuring out which matches your business needs. As far as industry-specific use cases go, there’s a lot of overlap when comparing Oracle NetSuite and Business One. The major distinction between the two offerings aside from deployment modes has to do with product maturity and depth within the manufacturing and distribution verticals.
SAP Business One generally provides more robust capabilities in the manufacturing space, natively or referred to as “out of the box”. SAP Business One has developed specific industry solutions on top of SAP Business One to provide that last mile of functionality necessary for specific industries.
Oracle NetSuite product suite requires customization and 3rd party add-ons to compete with Business One. In recent years Oracle NetSuite has encouraged its partners to develop additional products/solutions to support niche industries, and are still continuing development of a fortified product.
COMPARE ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: COSTS
The Price is Right with SAP Business One
SAP Business One Cloud with Amazon Web Services is an affordable ERP solution that scales as your business grows, allowing you to run more innovative and drive profit. From financials and sales to inventory and production, SAP Business One Cloud gives you real-time business information from all areas of your company, allowing you to make smarter decisions – anywhere, any time.
With Softengine as your global SAP Business One Cloud implementation partner, you can lean on our team to maximize your investment and take advantage of available features.
NetSuite’s Introduction Software Comes with Applications – for a cost
Your chosen cloud ERP may not be as robust as you think. One way vendors can offer low initial costs is by removing basic out-of-the-box features and selling them as add-ons. The NetSuite starter edition, for example, is a significantly scaled-down cloud ERP that offers financial features but not much else. The features you expect, like CRM, are available only as add-ons; getting them requires purchasing more software to fill the gaps, which increases the price.
A barebones cloud ERP solution may look cost-effective, but the costs of change requests and new features add up quickly. SAP Business One Cloud offers a robust system from the get-go, including many of the essential business features you’ll need today and tomorrow. You can turn on the modules and business functions when you need them without change requests, additional software vendors, or substantial modification to the initial system configuration.
Need an e-commerce integration? You’ll need to pay BIG for that.
Another hidden cost of cloud-based ERP implementation is software integration. It’s crucial to consider the underlying ERP solution for your cloud-based ERP implementation, as not all solutions are equal. NetSuite charges customers on a connection basis and can’t connect to apps that aren’t native to the core NetSuite ERP solution (e.g., e-commerce sites and electronic data interchange) without third-party partners and expensive middleware platforms. The result? Mounting prices.
Suppose you choose SAP Business One Cloud offered by Softengine. In that case, you get the benefits of working with a single ERP partner for the entirety of your ERP implementation, which reduces the number of vendors and decreases the cost of the implementation. Softengine enables integration between existing applications and SAP Business One with solutions like FoodONE, RetailONE, & SoftengineWEB. You can launch custom web applications and easily enable integrated connectors to ensure all company data resides in a secure, centralized location: SAP Business One.
ORACLE NETSUITE OR SAP BUSINESS ONE: CONCLUSION
For companies that have outgrown QuickBooks or a legacy ERP solution comparing SAP Business One and Oracle NetSuite will provide a modern and proven cloud-based ERP solution that can help your business scale. SAP Business One will likely be the ideal choice as a NetSuite Alternative for companies that are looking for flexibility in their deployment options and businesses that are inventory and asset-intensive. If you wish to know more about ERPs or Food ERP, have a chat with us.