SunSystems products handle all financial and accountancy aspects of an organisation, including ledgers, purchase orders, payments, asset management, financial reporting (accessible in real-time on the Internet), in any currency and numerous different languages.

Jonathan Teller, director of the Management Information Systems Group at Levy Gee, a founder firm of new business services group Numerica, said: “The performance, functionality and integration capabilities means that SunSystems 5 has tremendous potential for Numerica going forward. Implementation is rapid and the scalability means as Numerica rapidly grows through integration, the software will keep pace.”

The group chose Levy Gee, to be the cornerstone practice because of its powerful IT infrastructure and innovative and proactive approach. The two other founding firms are Jayson Newman and NMGW. Numerica, currently a top 20 ranked firm, aims to be the leading business solution provider to entrepreneurs and is following an integration programme that will share best practice across the group and ensure economies of scale which will be passed onto clients.

SunSystems 5’s multi-currency capability includes full euro compatibility, and it is one of the small number of products with BASDA EMU Accreditation Level 2 from the Business Application Software Developers Association and Ernst & Young. Its multi-lingual facility includes Chinese (simplified and traditional), English (British and American), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish with further additions later in 2002.

The company has also seen the benefits of its newest products. SunSystems 5.1.3 was installed at the global headquarters within two weeks of its release on 17 December 2001. This month, SunSystems PSA was successfully implemented in its own Professional Services department, enabling the company to give its service division a much better service.

Paul Coleman, chief executive officer of Systems Union Group plc, author of SunSystems, said: “SunSystems 5 has generated over £16m of revenue so far for this company and for our channel partners. When we launched it in March 2001, the response from customers and partners indicated we had a winner.”

Systems Union, which also owns Pegasus Software, author of Opera II and Capital Gold, was one of the top five performing IT stocks in the UK in 2001 (according to Money Observer, January 2002).

SunSystems is one of the world’s best-selling and most functional software solutions, offering platform independence, a flexible structure, superior integration backed by global support and local understanding. Its suitability for rapid implementation, with low total-cost-of-ownership at low risk makes SunSystems the chosen solution for many of the world’s leading organisations.

SunSystems is the core product range of the Systems Union Group plc, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The company is one of the largest business software houses in the world, with 20 offices worldwide and some 200 Channel Partners in 76 countries.

Products within the SunSystems range are available in 27 languages with over 18,000 customer sites, and 250,000 customer seats in some 194 countries. The software solutions are used extensively by multinationals, whose offices worldwide require an international product with global support infrastructure.

Customers include 15 of the world’s 16 largest corporations, 60 of the FTSE100, one quarter of the Fortune 500, and names such as Melbourne Cricket Club, Hilton International, BP Amoco, and Save the Children Fund. The company is the largest supplier of financial software to the British public sector, and is the largest supplier of business software into Hong Kong and Japan.

SAP gains visibility among small businesses

By Robert Westervelt, News Editor
28 Jun 2006 | SearchSAP.com

Microsoft launched Dynamics AX with much fanfare at its TechEd user conference this month, shining a light on its entire Dynamics portfolio and its strong channel presence in the ERP market for small and midsized businesses.

But SAP is gaining visibility among small businesses. Microsoft resellers report seeing SAP at the negotiating table as small business owners mull a decision on an ERP partner.

"Potential customers don't need all the bells and whistles that SAP offers, but we're seeing SAP more and more," said Joseph Gulino, the ERP practice director at Watertown, Mass.-based Green Beacon Solutions.

But at least one senior analyst sees the battle for a share of small businesses -- companies with fewer than 250 employees -- between software-as-a-service vendor NetSuite Inc. and SAP. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) trailing the two vendors.

"Navision comes close, but I think SAP Business One has broader functionality," said Sanjeev Aggarwal, a senior analyst with Boston-based Yankee Group. "Business One is much more integrated with a single database that covers accounting, ERP and data warehousing."

SAP's Business One targets the discrete manufacturing, distribution and retail markets while NetSuite software focuses on the retail, distribution and services industries, Aggarwal said. Like Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Sage Software's BusinessVision trails Business One and NetSuite but has industry specific features, he said.

Choosing SAP Business One wasn't about getting any extra bells and whistles, according to Nikola Stojsin, director of IT at New Brunswick, N.J.-based Research Diets Inc. Stojsin's firm selected Business One over Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) after an extensive review of the two products. The decision was largely based on choosing a stable software suite that would be supported for years to come, Stojsin said.

"Selling Navision did not appear to be Microsoft's core competence," he said. "We didn't know where Microsoft was going to take it."

Microsoft acquired Navision in 2002 for $1.45 billion in cash and stock. The software vendor is in the process of retooling its acquisitions of Navision, Great Plains, Axapta and Solomon into software suites with a Microsoft Office look and feel, aimed at specific industries. The planned completion of the software overhaul is targeted for 2008.

SAP demonstrated a strong connection to Microsoft Outlook, a compelling feature for Stojsin, whose firm conducts 90% of its sales and communications via email. Stojsin is also pleased with Third Wave Business Systems, a reseller of both Microsoft Dynamics and SAP Business One. Stojsin said Elmwood Park, New Jersey-based Third Wave helped modify Business One to his company's specific business needs.

"The modifications are handled in a different layer so when you do an upgrade they're maintained," he said. Still, SAP has some improvements to make with Business One that would make it a more robust product, according to Stojsin. The production module within the software is not geared for the production process, which includes quality control and batch support, he said.

"I get the feeling that the production module was an afterthought," he said.
Also, the software lacks support of standard engineering documents, Stojsin said. Currently the process is being handled by Third Wave, he said.

To gain traction with customers like Stojsin, SAP has moved away from its traditional sales model with user-based pricing and a direct sales approach to a hybrid model, based on sales volume and new pricing. Territory sales representatives oversee a mixture of direct and indirect sales, and reconfigured compensation plans foster new rules of engagement for partners.
"SAP is putting a lot more focus on channel and more resellers are selling Business One now," Aggarwal said.

Dynamics reseller sells Business One

Executives at Advanced Systems Integration, a reseller of Microsoft Dynamics AX software, recently started up a Business One sales operation called 5th Gear Solutions. Based in Lake Forest, Calif., 5th Gear Solutions will cater to manufacturers with revenue below $50 million, said Jeff Onesto, a business development executive.

"This product is entry level and has a rapid implementation," Onesto said.
Onesto said that the majority of his firm's customers are using Dynamics GP (Great Plains), but a number are asking for information about Business One.

"What's unique about manufacturers under $50 million in revenue is that they're not yet taking advantage of the planning through technology," he said. "In this very agile, changing environment a strong ERP product helps eliminate bottlenecks that are prevalent."

For now, NetSuite is the only online business application with integrated front-office, back-office and e-commerce features, Aggarwal said. SAP's strength is in Asia and the fact that it has extensive support for languages and legal and tax laws of dozens of countries.

"SAP is putting a lot of focus on small business now that they have the right products competing," Aggarwal said. "Small businesses like an integrated suite but they're also looking for more hosted applications."