SAP Scales ERP Tech For The Mid-Market

Enterprise software firm SAP is enhancing its SAP Business ByDesign solution to support growing middle-market companies.

Reports in Codestone said Business ByDesign, which is updated every quarter, has enhanced its functionality with boosted data security and streamlined processes. The solution is designed to provide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to middle-market firms that are too small for a full-scale ERP system.

The publication said the latest update enhances existing analytics, CRM, supply chain management, vendor relationship management, financial management and project management tools. Specifically, SAP has improved the integration between Business ByDesign and SAP Analytics Cloud, part of SAP’s efforts of “unlocking the intelligence enterprise for SMBs.”

Other improvements include automatic product count scheduling, elevated supply planning automation and the addition of new data sources for its Inventory Balance Report function. Companies can also edit in-flight purchase orders, maintain price lists in multiple languages, and confirm external payments by uploading Clearing House and bank statements to the platform.

Previous reports have pointed to Business ByDesign as a trouble spot for SAP. The solution was launched in 2007, but according to Financial Review reports this week, emerged as a core product that “proved expensive but unpopular and added to a sense that the company was struggling to find a sense of direction in the new cloud era.”

In July, analysis from Onapsis and Digital Shadows warned that organizations with unpatched SAP and Oracle software are exposed to heightened cyber risks. Their report pointed to two government agencies, as well as energy, financial and media firms, all of which have fallen victim to cyberattacks because they failed to take security measures to secure their SAP or Oracle platforms.

“These attackers are ready to exploit years-old risks that give them full access to SAP and Oracle systems without being detected,” said Onapsis Chief Executive Mariano Nunez in an interview with Reuters at the time.