For small manufacturers, the new MRP capabilities in Business One gives them an alternative to using complex spreadsheet models that are less efficient and accurate, Kraus said.
SAP, in general, has focused on providing better business intelligence for its customers. At its TechEd conference in San Diego last week, the company demonstrated a prototype of new BI technology. In Business One, the company "will continue to expand the ability for people to get at information in better ways," Kraus said.
Other enhancements to the product include integrated calendaring to the CRM component to schedule sales and service activities, reducing the need for third-party groupware, SAP said. In addition, the calendar component can be integrated with Outlook, Microsoft Corp.'s popular personal information manager, so users can synchronize scheduling, contacts and tasks; and can access customer and partner communications.
The upgrade supports more databases than previous versions. In addition to Microsoft SQL Server, the latest version supports Sybase Inc.'s Adaptive Server Enterprise and IBM's DB2 Universal Database Express edition, which targets SMBs.
Within the SMB market, SAP's chief rival is Microsoft, which offers its own line of business applications. SAP's major enterprise competitors, Oracle Corp. and PeopleSoft Inc., however, have also started to move into smaller markets.
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