(Page 2 of 3) "We needed a complete, fully integrated ERP solution that could grow along with us and be adapted to our specific needs." Michael Franklin, Chief Operating Officer, BigByte Corporation.
BigByte chose the SAP Business One application and Softengine for several reasons.
"The software offered an attractive combination of quality, functionality, and pricing for a small but growing enterprise," Franklin says.
Through SAP, BigByte found Softengine Inc., a qualified implementation partner for SAP Business One. Softengine's new Global Cloud Service Center by Virtustream offers SAP Business One users a complete hosting solution that includes cloud-managed services, high availability backup  and recovery , hosting infrastructure , and ERP support.
"We were attracted to a cloud-hosted solution because it would provide a high level of technical competency, require fewer resources from our side, and reduce our maintenance costs," Franklin says. "Given the solid reputations of SAP and Softengine, I knew I wouldn't need to worry about security or disaster recovery and could focus instead on strategic activities."
The fixed-cost implementation, which involved one site and 21 users, took less than a year. It included development of special return merchandise authorization functionality within the customer service component of SAP Business One.
"We went live on the first shot with very few problems," Franklin says. "Key users trained for two days at Softengine and then trained other users back at our offices."
"The cost of SAP Business One was more reasonable compared to alternatives from Oracle we considered, and our contacts at SAP and Softengine seemed to understand our needs more clearly."
Going Mobile While Enhancing Service and Reporting
BigByte can now view all the inventory, costs, and fees for a repair transaction from start to finish within a single system and provide quality control for corrective actions. It can track all customer calls and feedback, identify the manufacturer warranty status of equipment it repairs and services, and generate and track the internal warranties it provides to customers.
Managers can approve purchase orders on their cell phones or iPads and access a wide range of customer data and other information. This reduces processing delays while managers are on the road, Franklin says. The ability to attach procedures and drawings to part numbers, and to attach customer purchase orders to sales orders, has provided BigByte a solution to its ISO certification requirements.
Invoicing can now be done efficiently by the finance department. The receiving and shipping departments handle their own documents, and customer service has been streamlined. Sales orders can be completed in four hours, versus one to two days with manual processing. Customer quotations, invoices, and packing slips are now in a
consistent format and look more professional.
Management reporting tools in SAP Business One help BigByte create reports, queries, and dashboards that analyze productivity, efficiency, and other key performance indicators. Tools that foster internal control, data accuracy, and process efficiency help the company ensure data integrity.
"With cloud computing, wherever we have Internet access, we have access to SAP Business One," Michael Franklin says.
Improved Efficiency, Reduced Cost, and Greater Scalability
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