In March 2002 SAP purchased TopManage Financial Systems, an Israel-based developer of business applications and branded their system as SAP Business One. TopManage was founded by Shai Agassi who was formally president of the Product and Technology Group at SAP and his father Reovan – behind portal company TopTier, which SAP bought in March 2001.
The acquisition allowed SAP to reach out to the midmarket through its partners and also to gain additional business from the smaller subsidiaries of its enterprise customers.
In December 2004, SAP acquired the technology and assets of iLytix Systems AS, a privately held software company based in
In July 2006 SAP acquired Praxis Software Solutions and plans to integrate the company's Web-based CRM and e-commerce capabilities into SAP Business One. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Minneapolis-based Praxis, a private software company, had previously been a SAP Business One partner.
In 2009 SAP sold the Web-based CRM and eCommerce components that comprised the former Praxis Software Solutions. Currently SAP does not offer an eCommerce solution for SAP Business ONE.
The company also began reporting revenues from the SME space separately from revenues for the larger customers, as a way of showing dedication to the SME market.
Integration
Integration can be achieved using the SDK component called DI API, DI API Server and UIAPI. The DI API provides COM based interface to the business objects & business logic of SAP Business One. The DI API Server is similar to DI API except it provides SOAP based protocol.UIAPI ,which based on COM too, focus on SAP Business One User Interface.
As those are APIs, using them requires software development skills. A simpler way to achieve integration is by using the SAP Business One integration platform (a.k.a. B1i). The integration platform enables simple (XML based) definition of integration scenarios. the B1i platform is being used for integration with SAP's large enterprise systems R/3.
Integration needs are present even for small business users. For example, SAP Business One offers a client/server and Microsoft Windows GUI only. It is also limited to a single chart of accounts. Obviously, many of the potential users of SAP Business One need integration of their existing websites, consolidation of multiple ERP systems and other integration solutions. The Business One SDK provides some other components that allow development of addons to the Business One Application. Developers that use the SDK can share their knowledge and experience on the SAP Development Network (SDN). By October 2008, the product reached more than 20,000 customers worldwide.
Resellers & Partners
In order to become a SAP Business One reseller, a company must be part of SAP's PartnerEdge Program. Partnership starts at the Certified level, and as higher standards of knowledge and support can be shown, it can progress through Associate, Silver and Gold.
Competitors
SAP Business One competes with Microsoft Dynamics globally, and with a variety of national packages such as those sold by Sage in many countries around the world.
Recently new competitors with online offerings have emerged in the marketplace. Companies such as NetSuite (CRM & ERP) and Salesforce.com (CRM only) offer similar functionality in web based applications.