Configuring a new SAP Business ONE company Lemonade Stand Inc.
In this section, you will see the technical requirements for the basic SAP Business ONE installation. In addition, you will briefly see the available options if you want to configure a system quickly.
Prerequisites for the case study
The prerequisites are pretty straightforward without any unusual surprises, as long as you have a common Windows system. Certainly, you need to check the current requirements to comply with the requirements related to specific Windows and SQL Server versions.
For the case study in this book, you will use a Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition operating system with a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition. Here is the complete list of requirements:
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition
- Microsoft IIS configuration as part of Windows 2003 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Office 2003 to show SAP XL Reporter Integration
- SAP Business ONE installation CD with server and client components
- SAP Business Objects Crystal Reports CD for SAP Business ONE
Options to configure a system quickly
There are different approaches when it comes to implementing a system. You can install the system and configure the software based only on the essential steps that you will see here. You may also opt to use the implementation of the new system to introduce changes to the way you operate your company. In this case, you may first perform a thorough analysis before you translate those settings into the actual SAP Business ONE configuration parameters. The latter approach will help you streamline your operations and improve the way you collect data for reporting.
The options you have are as follows:
- Configure the system ad hoc
- Use a template database
- Perform a thorough analysis
This approach can be used if your company has very basic requirements and your processes match the available features. When combined with prototyping, this approach can actually result in efficient solutions because you configure the system as you walk through the processes. This usually means the actual forms are opened in SAP Business ONE and data is entered. This is done while the Admin Section is open in another window to allow the settings that drive the front-end forms. For example, we will see how the sales opportunities work in SAP. The usage of this module requires the definition of sales stages. Therefore, we will implement the sales stages in the Admin Section and then immediately use them.
This approach must be supported by a thorough analysis if the relevant processes are very detailed and a visual walk-through will not cover it sufficiently.
Many companies have similar requirements. Therefore, specific settings and adjustments in the SAP forms and reports can be saved as a template. In our Lemonade Stand case study, we can save the configuration of the actual system and use it later as a starting point for new locations that run independently.
With SAP Business ONE, you can add industry-specific features for certain industries. For example, there are specific solutions for medical device industries. These solutions are compliant with the industry-specific requirements. Therefore, you don't need to reinvent the wheel, and you can benefit from the experience of other successful projects.
A thorough process analysis is always advised in case your processes reach a level of complexity which require a more detailed approach. For example, even if there is an industry-specific solution, it is likely that your business has specific processes in place that are unique. This uniqueness may establish a competitive advantage and you want to make sure that the system will map those features correctly.
Problems with this simple example
In the following walk-through, we will utilize the ad hoc prototyping method. You will see that even though the Lemonade Stand enterprise is the simplest example, it already incorporates a significant level of detail. An analysis would surely help to make this a better implementation, and this will be done in the next section.