Microsoft Dynamics 365 vs. SAP Business One

Based on user experience, I would like to recommend this software to my friends or colleagues on the AP Handling. I like AP recording the most because it makes my work easy. I have been using this for the past 2 years, and it's one of the best for this task. Easy to use and user-friendly.

Incentivized

SAP Business One would be more useful if it contained tools to acommodate the growing need of online sales. A more complete shipping module which handles tracking numbers with the common couriers would be great. A built in warehouse management system would be great designed to be used with barcode scanners

Incentivized

• Some useful out-of-the-box features, like mass uploads of Leads from trade shows or when qualifying a Lead, CRM automatically creates the Opportunity, Contact, and Account for you, etc.
• Really powerful customizations through the user interface to improve user experience. Things like Business Rules, for example, if Field A = 1, then Field B = 2 and Field C = 2, if Field A = 2, then Field B and Field C don't apply, so automatically hide them.
• Or other functionality that improves user experience, like Business Process Flows. These walk users step by step through our business process, helping them know when certain actions should take place, and at what point other data is now required. We've used this extensively with our Lead to Opportunity to Quote to Order process, helping users understand the business process each step of the way.
• Customizations built on top of the platform now called model-driven PowerApps. You can have connections to "typical" data, like Accounts, Contacts, or Opportunities, for example, but then connect that data to custom entities, records that only apply to your specific business. This is all done through the user interface and allows you to customize and automate specific line-of-business applications for your specific needs.
• Behind the scenes, D365 CE is built on SQL. So the data conforms to industry standards and makes it much easier to interact with. Your developers and IT team will thank you.

Incentivized

• Customized Reports to fit the companies' special configuration and needs.
• Individual interfaces for many aspects of the business; manufacturing, inventory, sales, distribution, service, etc. Each department can have its own space.
• All the modules are connected and can interact with one another.

Incentivized

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 storage & license cost can prohibit some large deployments or even cost-sensitive small projects from using the platform (although I'm certain most deployments would realize a positive ROI if implemented correctly with process automation).
• The cost and licensing document for Dynamics 365 is 61 pages and will take a rocket scientist to understand it. It's better to just have your Microsoft help estimate the cost if they are willing to help you that.
• The documentation on how to first fully understand the Out of the Box default solution and settings is lacking or even non-existing. This has the potential to derail Dynamic 365 launches and implementations from the gitgo. Want to use an out of the box entity?.. well it's probably related to 5 other entities that require configuration and full understanding of it to successful implement. And you ask where is the laymen guide or instructions?... User groups and forums. In Summary, Microsoft can up its game in deployment training and supporting documentation.
• Microsoft needs to incentivize more external platforms to build app connectors for easy integration, such as ZenDesk, Slack, Tableau, etc. Even the current connector apps such as Salesforce, MailChimp, Docusign are useless or don't work at all.
• Several limitations inhibit successful Dynamics 365 deployments such as: limited number of Rollup field calculations (summarizing fields on child/related records), limited number rows that can exported to Excel via advanced find, Dynamics 365 files, log and database storage size limit is extremely small and will always require purchasing additional storage (for Online deployments).
• New user buy-in or acceptance or system platform changes can be difficult if a solid change management plan isn't enacted.
• Don't expect much help from Microsoft on implementation or solutions unless it's a technical flaw with the platform. Microsoft relies on their MVP partner network to consult for implementations at a hefty cost. Hiring a knowledgeable and savvy Dynamics 365 System Administrator can reduce the need for consultant support; of course, this is dependant upon many many variables.

Incentivized

• Following a bench mark process - this seems contradicting to flexibility however we have wished we could follow more of an industry benchmark. Our challenge as a small company has been knowing how to properly use the system. We have discovered that we have set up the system wrong based and are using it improperly which has cause a lot work to correct.
• Better live reporting options - current we are on prem SQL. Yes SAP is moving to HANA however smaller companies like ourselves are not ready for that. We need to be able to maintain our existing SQL DB. We also have a demand for live BI Reporting. It has been difficult to do this with our current set up.
• Error handling - have found it very difficult to troubleshoot. Errors are not always clear and answers are hard to find.

Incentivized

CRM has allowed us to keep all of our data in one place that is easy for all users within the company to view. I came into the company after they had been using CRM for about 4 years. They have all said that since we have used this it has helped us control work processes better, it has allowed us to be able to track things so much better, and has been something that has helped unite many processes that used to be all over the place. We are currently using CRM 4.0 and are planning on upgrading in the next 18 months to the 2011 version. Support for 4.0 is almost all but dried up. Understandably so. Some of the customization we have done, and a plugins we use, are now contained within the 2011 version so we are looking forward to that upgrade. We use an email marketing company as well, and they primarily support the 2011 version, but their product connects and is integrated within CRM. This is a great benefit as well so that all of our marketing information can be contained in one location.

I cannot run my business without SAP Business One in place. I only consult on on product and that is SAP Business One. Business volume goes to zero if I don't use SAP Business One. It is the best product on the market - head and shoulders above other ERP packages I have looked at or implemented in the past.

Incentivized

The system has a generally easy to use interface. This is from log in, to switching of environments, to switching of user roles. Even the Business Central reports are relatively easy to use in comparison to other systems. And knowing that the data in Business Central can easily be made available and reports generated via the Microsoft Power BI makes it even a better a system.

I rate SAP Business One's overall usability as excellent (10). The system has a user friendly interface that is easy to navigate. I enjoy how much SAP Business One helps to simplify everyday work tasks. This is a wonderful asset for any organization to use across any and all departments.

Incentivized

The SAP Business One software is up and running every time
you need it as it was planned. In more than 6 years that we have been
using the product, it has never been unavailable and if it ever was, it was because of a planned maintenance window scheduled in the company.

Incentivized

SAP Business One performance depends mostly on the speed of your internal servers, should you have the solution on premise as we do. Sometimes the system tends to be a little slower for some users when others are executing really big reports of performing some batch loads, but generally, the performance is acceptable to all the users.

Incentivized

Our partner, Ledgeview Partners has been FANTASTIC to work with. They are always timely in their response and have taken time to understand our business and our specific needs. We've made a lot of advanced customizations and they have been a great help in making those updates.

Incentivized

We had some complex questions and went in a loop with calls emails etc. They where unable to find the right person to talk with us, and when we found 1 he was unable to reach... We ended up working with a local profession for the implementation, and that went smoothly. I would suggest SAP to start with that if there are complex projects...

Incentivized

The training I get was a consultant level training, so it's basically a 6 weeks training covering every aspect and every module of the system. It covered most common use cases and exercise training so you can get along with the software, as well as examples so there culd be a better understanding.

Incentivized

Over the past two years SAP has added a great deal of new SAP Business One on-line training for version 9.0 and 9.1. Most of the training is very strong, but some is difficult to understand and follow. Additionally, SAP still has a few holes in their on-line training around Production, Bill-of-Materials, MRP and Service.

Incentivized

We used a data warehouse to house our data, and our IT team and implementation vendor worked diligently ahead of time to construct idea implementation plans. Out of millions of records- we had less than a dozen errors, which is remarkable. My major insight is simply having a group of completely devoted individuals working towards your goal who fully understand the desired outcome. Focused resources for implementation season are critical to success.

These implementations are not easy. Even a standard implementation can be difficult. With a never-been-done-before implementation, the implementation team and the user team need to be thorough with planning, make a decision on key points, and stick to them before any design happens. Our biggest challenge was not from StellarOne, rather it was from the mid-implementation decisions from our internal team. StellarOne did a great job warning us, implementing our decision, and then helping us adjust our SAP to handle the new direction we took.

Incentivized

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is much more robust, with more customizable features, such as user-specific settings and customer customization options. The system is easy to us,e and all modules can be customized to the exact need of the user. The standard version includes everything you need for a small business that is starting out. Additional features can be added as needed.

Incentivized

SAP Business One is a good fit for an organization that wants to transform its business operation with a reasonable cost for migration from the legacy system. SAP Business One can match and support the organization needs because it has most of the best business practices deployed in its core modules so the organization can adapt to the standardized business process by choosing SAP Business One solution. Single source of data and information visibility is the huge benefit of using SAP Business One.

Incentivized

For most small businesses, the only way you outgrow SAP Business One is if the nature of your business changes radically. Going from 1 to 50 users is quite easy with SAP B1. Going beyond 50 may require moving to the Hana SAP B1 platform to maintain or improve performance, but the path is there.
Add-ons to SAP B1 can also be added as specific needs are encountered that are not closely met by the standard product. These may be required early in the product life because of the nature of your business, or as you expand the use of SAP B1.

Incentivized

• If you know your stuff, this product does just fine. They are always adapting (aren't they all, always?), so expect it to grow and for you to grow with it.
• Don't expect new employees, or places with high turnover, to ease into this product quickly, or even on a moderate time table.

Incentivized

• SAP Business One is intentionally designed keeping flexibility in mind
• This software can be deployed on-premise or on cloud and you can change the on-premise hosting to cloud anytime in the future
• It is designed from the ground up. SAP Business One is an affordable product that is quick to install, easy to use, and simple to maintain.

Incentivized