| Gary is the President of a small distribution company | | | | "Customer Relationship Management", Gary new that |
| in North Carolina, and like most small business owners | | | | many of his clients would buy more of his products if |
| has felt the economic crunch, forcing Gary to curb | | | | he had a way to track purchase history and trends |
| spending on many of the business improvement | | | | within each client account, he also felt it would give |
| projects he had on the table for 2009. Even though | | | | his sales staff a great tool to improve their client |
| Gary has slowed the spending of his hard earned | | | | relationships, thus increasing sales. |
| dollars, he is taking a risk that he hopes will pay off | | | | Another important factor in Gary's decision was the |
| sooner than later. The risk is purchasing a new | | | | reputation and references of SAP, more than 34000 |
| business management / ERP system from SAP called | | | | small businesses run SAP Business One while each |
| "Business One". | | | | acquiring great benefit. This convinced Gary even |
| Gary hopes that the implementation of Business One | | | | more that SAP was the best choice for his company. |
| will improve many of the business processes that his | | | | Will this be Gary's strategic advantage, the game |
| company currently performs while reducing cost and | | | | changer, or just another business expense? With the |
| increasing productivity. When we ask Gary what | | | | system not being implemented yet we will have to |
| specific areas he was hoping Business One would | | | | revisit with him to see how it turned out, till then it's |
| improve he told us jokingly "everything". | | | | a gambit that nobody knows the answer to. There is |
| Of course there is no system in the world that will | | | | one thing for sure SAP has a very successful track |
| improve or fix everything, but when we got back on | | | | record proving that it a leader in the small and |
| a serious note with Gary he told us that inventory | | | | medium sized business ERP space. |
| control, and customer relationship management were | | | | SAP Business One is a fully integrated single entry |
| two primary reasons he selected SAP Business One | | | | business management solution created for small and |
| as the best solution for his business. | | | | midsized businesses, it has standard features like a |
| Gary further explained that the inventory control | | | | General Ledger, Financial Analysis, Inventory, CRM, |
| within his company was so poor that sometimes he | | | | MRP, and a long list of other beneficial features. SAP |
| had no idea what the value of his current inventory | | | | is a publicly traded software company with over 35 |
| was, or if he even had critical items in stock. The | | | | years experience in the ERP and accounting software |
| other factor for Gary to make his selection was | | | | industry. |