Epicor Prophet 21 vs. SAP Business ByDesign

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Epicor Prophet 21
Score 5.9 out of 10
N/A
Prophet 21 from Epicor is a distribution ERP providing SCM capabilities (warehouse, inventory) as well as the ability to streamline quote-to-cash cycle, improve margins, and fulfill orders.N/A
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
SAP Business ByDesign is SAP's cloud ERP suite offering, launched in 2007, designed for the SMB market. The product includes a broad range of capabilities including financials, human resources, sales, procurement, customer service, and supply chain. Business ByDesign is a new platform, delivered entirely through a SaaS model, with functionality that overlaps somewhat with BusinessOne, which is also an SMB product, although not a true SaaS product.N/A
Pricing
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsSAP Business ByDesign is available for a monthly software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription, based on a base package, user types, and number of users.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
6.6
4 Ratings
9% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.4
2 Ratings
15% above category average
Pay calculation8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.72 Ratings4.51 Ratings
Direct deposit files5.93 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
9.0
15 Ratings
22% above category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.2
5 Ratings
24% above category average
API for custom integration9.015 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Plug-ins9.014 Ratings9.25 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
8.6
24 Ratings
6% above category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.3
5 Ratings
13% above category average
Single sign-on capability9.321 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.023 Ratings9.65 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
6.4
27 Ratings
8% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.2
5 Ratings
28% above category average
Dashboards6.021 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Standard reports6.027 Ratings9.25 Ratings
Custom reports7.022 Ratings9.65 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
6.0
23 Ratings
24% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.7
5 Ratings
13% above category average
Accounts payable5.823 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Accounts receivable5.823 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Global Financial Support3.010 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers1.212 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations9.013 Ratings8.82 Ratings
Configurable Accounting5.811 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Standardized Processes5.813 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.7
25 Ratings
129% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.1
4 Ratings
15% above category average
Inventory tracking2.225 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Automatic reordering2.218 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Location management1.321 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
8.0
25 Ratings
3% above category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.5
4 Ratings
9% above category average
Pricing8.024 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Order entry8.025 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Credit card processing7.019 Ratings4.51 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.024 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Order Orchestration8.013 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
4.2
16 Ratings
55% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.2
3 Ratings
22% above category average
Billing Management5.813 Ratings8.83 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management5.814 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management4.59 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting1.28 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Period Close1.315 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
9.0
8 Ratings
17% above category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.2
2 Ratings
19% above category average
Budgeting and Forecasting9.06 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Project Costing9.04 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Cost Capture9.04 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Capital Project Management9.03 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance9.08 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition9.03 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.0
3 Ratings
149% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.3
3 Ratings
19% above category average
Project Planning and Scheduling1.03 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers1.03 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality1.03 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
4.9
3 Ratings
43% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
10.0
1 Ratings
28% above category average
Award Lifecycle Management4.02 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.8
8 Ratings
118% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.0
1 Ratings
14% above category average
Bids Analyzed and Compared1.26 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Contract Authoring9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract Repository1.25 Ratings00 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated1.25 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Supplier Management1.26 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.2
3 Ratings
138% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
-
Ratings
Risk Repository1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Management1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue Detection1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Remediation and Certification1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.1
10 Ratings
145% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.2
3 Ratings
29% above category average
Transportation Planning and Optimization1.27 Ratings00 Ratings
Transportation Execution Management1.25 Ratings00 Ratings
Trade and Customs Management1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Fulfillment Management1.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Warehouse Workforce Management1.27 Ratings9.22 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.0
3 Ratings
153% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
9.0
3 Ratings
18% above category average
Production Process Design1.02 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Production Management1.02 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Configuration Management1.02 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Work Execution1.03 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs1.02 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
3.0
13 Ratings
83% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
8.6
3 Ratings
17% above category average
Forecasting1.211 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Inventory Planning8.512 Ratings9.23 Ratings
Performance Monitoring1.211 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
Epicor Prophet 21
1.1
4 Ratings
147% below category average
SAP Business ByDesign
-
Ratings
Proposal Management1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Master Data Management1.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Small Businesses
Acumatica
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Score 8.7 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Infor VISUAL
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Score 7.4 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Likelihood to Recommend
5.8
(28 ratings)
9.6
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
5.8
(3 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.5
(4 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.4
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Epicor Prophet 21SAP Business ByDesign
Likelihood to Recommend
Epicor Software
Good for distribution organizations with warehousing. Can also support both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, although a more thorough Accounting package is recommended. Is strong when it comes to integrating bar codes and scanners, particularly for warehouse maintenance. Prophet 21 does include a basic CRM offering. However, it is very basic, and for any real Customer Resource management, a third-party tool is best (even recommended by Epicor.)
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SAP
Do you plan on going public at some point? If so, this may not be the best solution for you
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Pros
Epicor Software
  • The system allows us to pretty much design it to work the way want it to work. It is a very flexible system for the most part.
  • The system doesn't let you make too many shortcuts with getting something processed. It forces you to go through the proper steps.
  • The system keeps track of everything and can be easily retrieved through history searches. Detailed reports, graphs, ....
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SAP
  • I like the ease of use and the implementation methodology.
  • With SAP Business ByDesign you can integrate other systems with Web Services, and data technology to get information easy and fast.
  • SAP Business ByDesign includes an Analytics Module to create new reports in regards to your needs.
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Cons
Epicor Software
  • Prophet 21 could use better management tools for its own data. The database has a tendency to bloat and over time can grow exceedingly large without administrative intervention.
  • The UI can be cluttered at times and the windows tend to jump into focus or drop from focus when it isn't expected causing user confusion and data entry errors.
  • Branding on forms and the UI is almost nonexistent. Customizations of screen aesthetics and form layout options should be easier and not require custom programming.
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SAP
  • Time off request could be better. Right now, there is no option for sick time
  • It crashes often
  • Customization could be better
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Likelihood to Renew
Epicor Software
I've used Epicor Prophet 21 for about 12 years (in various iterations). It started out as CommerceCenter by Prophet 21 then became Prophet 21 by Activant and then Prophet 21 by Epicor. So frequently, when a software company is acquired, it stops being great. That has not been the case with Epicor Prophet 21. Over the years they've been under Epicor, the product has just gotten better and better, with major extensibility enhancements and new mobile components coming online.
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SAP
SAP BYD work centers are consistent and easy to navigate once you understand one work center. The document flow tab that is in each window allows one to see all related transactions. Document flow is important because one is able to see the flow of transactions and can therefore reverse transactions by following the document flow in reverse. It is possible to group items in each overview screen to see what items are open. The system is working as hoped.
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Usability
Epicor Software
Overall, I love using Prophet 21. With a few rare exceptions, functions within the application have been streamlined so they can be used with as few clicks and key presses as possible. That's not to say they've given up any functionality. The platform is incredibly powerful; just easy to use.
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SAP
Because SAP Business ByDesign allows us to improve our work, reduce the operational steps, implement audit controls, allows us found standard reports or it allows us to create new ones if you need more than the exists are enough for your work or your needs. Overall, SAP Business ByDesign allows us to standardize our operations, enhance our work, improve our skills, work over a web environment or mobile interface.
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Reliability and Availability
Epicor Software
When hosted locally, you don't have to worry about outages unless the power goes out and the battery backups fail. It can also be hosted in the cloud which is as reliable as your internet connection. There's really no concern for outages in the software by itself. Outages are controlled by external factors.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Performance
Epicor Software
I do feel like there are some screens and reports that could be streamlined. Prophet 21 likes to load features all at once when going into a program but a quicker load time into order entry, for example, is worth having a little latency while a non-essential tab that doesn't get used very often is opened.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Epicor Software
The support is some of the worst I've seen across all the 122 software vendors we work with. Everything is offshore and it is always vague answers, links to wiki's that don't apply, and when we pay for project support they charge $200 an hour for someone who works remote from Mexico to call you on a poor quality VoIP connection that isn't all that well trained and often doesn't have basic IT skills
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SAP
The Business ByDesign support is stablished since you contract the service with SAP. SAP resolves according to the service level agreement. Currently, we continue with the service and we are using the support channels available. We are receiving the support. The SAP support gets an incident and after that, they contact us to resolve the incident, if necessary, they set the meeting to understand it or we explain the incident
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In-Person Training
Epicor Software
The on-site training was great. I give it a 9 because the trainer was a chain smoker who had to excuse herself a lot to smoke. Kind of unprofessional. She was a very good trainer though.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Epicor Software
I had a great time with the online training. Most of the online trainings were live which meant you had opportunity to interact with instructors. I liked trying to derail them by posting funny comments to the chat window. The only complaint I had about these is they weren't recorded for later use. Well, another complaint is that they were sometimes too short.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Epicor Software
The overall implementation is smooth. Prophet 21 sends someone on-site for as many days as you need them to step through the initial implementation. Data conversion is the biggest trick. Make sure you get help with that portion of implementation. Also, be sure to offer plenty of training incentives to keep people coming back for more training. A little money spent up front will save you tons of headaches later.
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SAP
I recommend implementing all workshops during the ERP selection that you need to know very well about the ERP software. It allows us to gather information to accurate the plan of the project implementation. Additionally, we must reach the high-level commitment to achieve the main goals, to define the RACI matrix and communicate to all project stakeholders.
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Alternatives Considered
Epicor Software
I have not looked at them in detail, but have received a lot of positive comments through out the industry, we're on the fence in regards to viability of cloud based solutions, but from the information we have received it seems like NetSuite has developed a good solution for the industry.
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SAP
ByDesign stacks up well against the competition. Companies that do multiple things are usually the best fit (manufacturing, distribution, and service). The more 'modules' used, the fewer competitors will be able to meet the company's needs. It is not inexpensive, but if the needs of the company have the complexity from either a global perspective and need localizations and foreign currency, or a volume perspective and need resources greater than what can be easily housed on-premise, ByDesign should be a top consideration.
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Scalability
Epicor Software
Prophet 21 is very reliable. The database is robust and well designed. The application is also hard to break. If there's one feature I don't like, it's that they haven't accounted for the dreaded single quote. That's kind of the bane of Microsoft SQL's existence. They need to escape that character in every field that will accept it in the system. Otherwise, the system throws all kinds of errors and many times will crash.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Epicor Software
  • P21 has been very good with how we handle cash collections and had a positive impact for us.
  • P21 user interface saves time and thus makes people more efficient by allowing customizations.
  • With ordering, inventory, customer information, and CRM all in one location it makes the need for other programs like goldmine become obsolete.
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SAP
  • Positive - Access to the real-time reporting allowing for faster decision making especially when fixed price projects are heading into an over budget position.
  • Positive - Complex KPI can now be tracked and as a consequence intensive plans can be made to capitalise on this level of reporting. Staff also have clear visibility over their own performance.
  • Negative - We are a bit on the small side at 30 employees for a ByD solution so it was relatively expensive for us. It would be a much better value preposition above 50 employees.
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ScreenShots

SAP Business ByDesign Screenshots

Screenshot of With the embedded analytics of SAP Business ByDesign this is easily possible for key users or end users to define dashboards that contain tailored reports and KPIs for their roleScreenshot of Screenshot of SAP Business ByDesign comes with many reports pre-delivered by SAP. Customers can easily create additional reports or KPIsScreenshot of For each business document in ByDesign you can open the document flow, which shows you in a graphical the predecessor and successor business docuemnts as well as any associated accounting documents. This shows at what point you are in the entire business process.Screenshot of SAP Business ByDesign includes a Project Management module that is integrated with CRM to sell and bill projects, with HR to staff projects, and with SCM and SRM for procurement.Screenshot of The Financial Closing business scenario helps you to perform financial period-end closing activities to ensure correct financial statements, such as Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement. The Closing Cockpit helps to minimize the risk of missing important steps or incorrect timing.