SAP Business ByDesign goes live

Finally, SAP has officially launched its SaaS ERP system, SAP Business ByDesign, which will compete with NetSuite, Workday and other cloud ERP solutions. As you know, it's not a fresh product. It was released 3 years ago, but due to the scalability problems, its sales were stopped, and still the system was used by fewer than 100 companies worldwide. SAP Business ByDesign is designed for SMB (50-500 employees) and primarily for manufacturing and professional services industries. It's a single multitenant service to automate all business areas, including manufacturing, financials and sales. The updated version SAP Business ByDesign 2.5 provides support for mobile devices, integration with MS Excel, custom forms and user interface based on Silverlight. But its pricing will hardly cause a revolution in SaaS sphere.

Currently, SAP Business ByDesign is sold in one of three fixed starter packages - CRM, ERP and PSP (Professional Service Provider). Each package can be provided for at least 10 users and includes the implementation services for a fixed price:

- CRM Starter Package - provides SFA functionality. Can be implemented in 3 weeks for $13,500. Then company pays $89 per user per month.

- ERP Starter Package - provides integrated financials, accounting and analytics capabilities. Can be implemented in 6 weeks for $37,500. Then company pays $149 per user per month.

- PSP Starter Package- automates business processes in service companies. Can be implemented in 8 weeks for $45,000. Then company pays $149 per user per month.

The implementation services will be provided by SAP channel partners. Meanwhile SAP Business ByDesign is available in US, UK, China, France, Germany and India. In other countries it will become available in 2011.

See also: Top 10 Online ERP software