SAP® Business One, Version for SAP HANA®: High Performance for SmallBusinesses

With a foundation of more than 40 years of innovation with best-in-class business applications SAP has introduced a new element of innovation by providing the ability to run SAP Business One on the next-generation in-memory platform SAP HANA. This is the new paradigm of computing for the future, enabling companies to drive their entire business in real time for unprecedented value. Priced specifically for smaller businesses, SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA brings together transactions and analytics into a single in-memory platform for smarter business innovations, faster business processes, and simpler business interactions.

Please note: SAP remains committed to support its customer's choice of database technologies and vendors. SAP Business One will continue to be offered on the Microsoft SQL database.

What is SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA?

SAP developed the game-changing SAP HANA platform – leveraging the power of inmemory technology to address concerns about growing data volume that impact businesses of all sizes. It provides a modern platform for real-time applications and realtime analytics without complicating your IT landscape.

SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA, combines content and tools including:

• All the functionality of SAP Business One – from financials and accounting to inventory and customer relationship management – only with faster response times
• Powerful new functionality that includes enhanced logic behind cash flow and support for availability-to-promise processes
• Embedded analytics that appear in the transaction screens of SAP Business One
• Predefined calculation-intensive reports, such as inventory analysis and monthly customer status
• Predefined dashboards including those delivered with SAP Crystal solutions today, plus three new ones (sales opportunity, stock analysis, and CEO key performance indicators)
• Freestyle enterprise search that enables people to search all the data in SAP Business One
• Predefined semantic layer for interacting with data using familiar business terminology or business intelligence tools like SAP Crystal solutions without needing to understand business rules or know where the data resides
• Lifecycle management including an initialization and duplication mechanism, backup and recovery, monitoring, and an administration console
• Additional functionality for the SAP Business One mobile app – including integrated enterprise search, available-to-promise (ATP) check when creating orders, cash flow dashboards, and more – for customers using the SAP HANA platform

How does this offering differ from the SAP Business One application that uses the Microsoft SQL database?

The offerings differ in their underlying technology. The traditional SAP Business One application employs a Microsoft SQL database, while the version that runs on SAP HANA employs the SAP HANA database.

Both applications support key business processes, but have a few differences:

• In-memory calculations and optimization for multicore, 64-bit processors of the SAP HANA platform result in faster processing for both transactional and analytical information.
• Prepackaged business logic that comes with the SAP HANA platform enables faster software development and deployment.
• Analytics powered by SAP HANA can be licensed separately for the SQL version of SAP Business One. These analytics are included in the version for SAP HANA.
• The version for SAP HANA runs on a certified SUSE Linux server.
• Customers using the version for SAP HANA and the SAP Business One mobile app will benefit from enhancements in enterprise search, advanced ATP, cash flow forecasting, delivery rescheduling for existing sales order items, and embedded analytics.

Will SAP continue to offer the SAP Business One application that uses the Microsoft SQL database?

Yes, SAP plans to offer two database options for SAP Business One for the foreseeable future: the Microsoft SQL database and the SAP HANA database. While SAP strongly believes in the value and competitive advantage of SAP HANA, we understand the importance of Microsoft SQL in the small business segment and in the install base for SAP Business One.

How does this offering differ from the traditional SAP Business One application that has analytics powered by SAP HANA?

With analytics powered by SAP HANA, the traditional version of SAP Business One runs exclusively on Microsoft SQL. The analytics functionality is licensed separately. The new version of SAP Business One that runs on SAP HANA includes all the functionality of analytics powered by SAP HANA. The analytics functionality does not have to be licensed separately.

What type of company can benefit from using SAP Business One when it's powered by SAP HANA?

Any small business can benefit by using this solution, especially those that operate in industries that process large volumes of transactions or need insight into their companywide data in real time. The solution makes innovation, previously accessible to only large enterprises, available to smaller businesses and within a small business budget.

It may be of interest to net new customers, as well as existing customers of SAP Business One.

What are the customer benefits of SAP Business One when it's powered by SAP HANA?

With this solution, SAP is making the power of in-memory technology available to small businesses at a reasonable price point. Customers choosing to deploy this new offering can expect:

• Better, faster decision making due to fast reporting, enterprise search, and access to more data
• Empowered employees who can generate real-time standard and ad hoc reports without IT assistance
• Fast transaction processing that allows people to find the information they need, when they need it
• Higher ROI by leveraging transactional and operational data to make the right decisions
• The security of a long-term investment with a complete solution from a single vendor

If a customer invested in analytics for SAP Business One, is that investment protected?

Yes, a customer's investment in analytics for SAP Business One is protected in the event that it decides to move to the version of SAP Business One that runs on SAP HANA.