Why SAP and not MS Axapta?

4 Reasons to choose SAP over Microsoft Dynamics

When facing the difficult business decision to implement a new integrated software solution, one needs as much information and knowledge as possible to make the right conclusion. Depending on your business needs these are 4 reasons why you should choose SAP above any other software solution such as MS Dynamics:

1. SAP Business Suite is built for growth: SAP provides you with a single state-of-the-art platform on which all native SAP software (ERP, CRM, SRM...) is seamlessly integrated with each other. Being database and OS independent it provides the necessary flexibility to fit in any existing IT landscape (e.g. Linux). Whether you have one or multiple legal entities, SAP provides integrated intercompany processes and consolidation tools to support existing and growing businesses in one system. SAP Business All-in-One provides pre-configured business process based on industry best practices gained over the last 40 years and as Gartner states SAP is still the most complete software solution on the market and will remain so. SAP’s only business is to provide scalable business application software to small, medium sized and large enterprises.
2. One user interface does not fit all: SAP has recognized that there are different types of business users within a company. To enhance employee productivity SAP has launched a wide range of different ways to connect to the backbone applications. To name a few: the web-based Enterprise Portal, mobile applications, Adobe PDF interactive forms, NetWeaver Business Client, Duet for MS Office and SAP, Business Objects, ... and by doing so one can integrate SAP and non-SAP applications into one single interface where single-sign-on provides easy access to all applications for each employee. Furthermore SAP provides a platform and tools to develop your own web-based business applications without any programming (e.g. visual composer, floorplan manager).
3. Turning a predictable total cost of ownership into value: SAP can you provide you with numerous business transformation studies to provide the proof of a significant lower and predictable (what you see is what you get) TCO when implementing SAP software without any hidden costs. Where TCO provides you with the cost of implementation it does not give you any insight on the benefits or business value you will gain. SAP and its partners are able to pinpoint the most important value drivers and KPI’s for your sector through value engineering with tools like ‘Enterprise Health Check’ and ‘Value Lifecycle Manager’. Based on real life business experience SAP knows what is driving each industry sector and has made benchmarks to measure your performance against competition.
4. SAP channel partner and customer eco-system: In order to become a channel partner implementing Business All-in-One software, a stringent qualification process is in place to ensure local and global top quality. Instead of developing (local, partner specific) add-on software components, all vertical solutions are based on standard SAP software. Partners cooperate with SAP to define new solutions and processes which are certified by SAP for global roll-out. Partners work together to offer the best possible solution to you as a customer. The eco-system allows sharing information on events like the SAPience.be user days and commission meetings that allow customers to share knowledge and experiences across all domains, or to talk to SAP experts on specific topics.

Ask yourself the following:

• How does the other software vendor or implementation partner tackle intercompany and business consolidation?
• Why do they sometimes offer OutlookSoft as their business consolidation and budgeting tool knowing that this is a SAP product?
• Why is MS CRM not seamlessly integrated with other MS Dynamics applications such as Navision and Axapta? Why did MS Dynamics AX develop its own CRM functionalities next to the standalone MS CRM?
• What if you do not want to install on Microsoft SQL but want to work with open source applications like Linux?
• Are they able to calculate the real business value (in €) you will gain from an implementation?
• What is the real TCO at an MS AXAPTA reference case and how much does it differ from the initial proposed total cost of ownership? Why is it much higher? Did they have to do much developments?
• Why do MS AXAPTA customers almost never upgrade once the implementation is finished? Did you know that when you want to upgrade, all the other MS software needs to be upgraded as well?
• Is the vendor providing you with local add-on vertical solutions and are these add-ons provided worldwide? What will happen if this vendor disappears or an upgrade is in order?
• Do they support all country specifics (legal and other requirements) and languages? What if you are rolling out your solution in other countries?
• What about the layered offering (Core layer, localization layer,partner solution layer and customer customization layer)? Does that strike you as a clear and manageable IT solution?
• As SAP partners provide reference visits to any SAP customer you want, can MS partners do the same and how much of that solution was standard and programmed?
• Does MS Dynamics provide you with pre-configured and pre-documented business processes in all common languages?
• They offer functionality bundled in Essentials, Advanced and Enterprise? Why not offer all functionality and deploy as you grow without additional licensing costs?
• What about the user pricing and why do you need to pay for all the other MS software components to run your MS AXAPTA solution? Did they include all the pricing components in the offering?
• Why do people still talk about Axapta whereas the real name is MS Dynamics AX? Is this really a full Microsoft product?
• Is MS Dynamics AX really so much cheaper than SAP and does it offer the same seamlessly integrated platform and rich functionality? Is it a predictable, affortable and risk free investment?