SAP Business One Integration Programming in Chicago Suburbs Illinois

This application has also reasonably priced add-ons turning it into POS terminal as well as barcoding or RFID based Warehouse Management System.  We would also like to mention its availability internationally so it is often in demand when you are midmarket multinational corporation and expanding to China, Russia, Brazil or Europe or when you are European or Australian company opening office in the United States.  In our opinion the application is on the edge of ERP modern ideas in its flexibility and openness to various customizations, integration and reporting.  It doesn’t have Payroll module in core functionality but it is available on ISV market and anyway payroll processing is often outsourced to ADP or BOA or the competition.  From the technology side it is important to mention that it is hosted in Microsoft SQL Server and SAP owns Crystal Reports meaning that it is recommended for Business One.  Programming is recommended in Microsoft Visual Studio C# or VB projects with referencing to Software Development Kit where you have objects description as well as code samples in these two programing languages.  Let’s take a look at integration options:

1. Data Transfer Workbench.  This tool comes free with license acquisition and we would like to revisit it even if your SAP B1 consultant told you that it is only for initial data migration via Excel CSV templates.  How to deploy it for ongoing integration in quasi real time?  Take a look at ODBC connection option.  Here programming is done outside of the DTW in custom SQL View.  The view itself could be cross-platform nature joining tables in SQL Server with such construction as OpenRowSet.  You can join tables from MySQL, Oracle or text files to open the list of possibilities.  In certain situations programmers prefer to export text files and mark records exported in Linux PHP based systems and then Workbench could be scheduled for execution every twenty minutes or desired time interval to provide quasi real time integration.  The Workbench is working through application server and business logic is validated meaning bullet proof reliability and neutrality to such issues as data inconsistency and software bugs

2. Software Development Kit programming.  This option is unlimited in its possible business logic extension power.  As we already mentioned above coding work is typically done in MS Visual Studio and recommended languages are VB and C# with code snippets available.  However you can program in your favorite .Net compliant languages including Delphi.  Also if you goal is to feed in custom ecommerce shopping cart from Linux based web portal or maybe non-Microsoft source of EDI streams then consider envelop your integration code in the SOP XML Web Service skin and make it available for being called from Linux in real time

3. Well the news about possible customization is great but what should we do if our original reseller screwed up our custom integration project?  We believe that you should keep good relations and thank these people for implementation phase.  They are probably not geared toward technology challenging projects such as programming in SDK

4. Where SB1 prospects are moving here in Chicago area of Northern Illinois?  We see the trend where assembly on order or distribution businesses are relocating from outskirts of Chicago and O’Hare airport area toward Schaumburg and Naperville/Aurora area along highways 290, 88, 80 and 355.  The popularity of business parks in Bolingbrook and Joliet is also on the rise

5. What are popular ERP switch routes?  We see the cases when customers are moving away from QuickBooks, Peach Tree or old versions of Great Plains such as its DOS version 9.5 and even Platinum.  In some cases companies are trying to downsize and switch to Business One from Oracle, Epicor or Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV or SL.  In certain situations they are forced by external factors for example Microsoft Business Solutions terminated Small Business Financial line and recommended migration to Dynamics GP which could be too expensive for small business operations

6. Could you tell us about competition?  If you are considering new ERP software acquisition then we recommend you to take a look at Microsoft Dynamics GP which is a bit higher in software licenses and consulting hours to be implemented.  Then from the lower end take a look at Peach Tree Enterprise.  There is also popular buzz about Cloud computing and accounting packages available through web browser.  Here we recommend you to see presentation from somebody who is concentrating on NetSuite consulting

7. Question about international business coming to the Chicago metro area or multinational company expanding overseas.  Business One is localized in major world regions including China and South East Asia, Brazil and Spanish speaking Americas, Russia, Europe and others.  It is at this point not available in Arabic languages due to known historical conditions.  Here in the USA we have huge number of installations comparable with the number of Dynamics GP installed sites.  So we would recommend this application for somebody who is under international ERP challenges

8. Integration Programming Communication Model.  Of course here in Chicagoland we are local and could be available onsite for initial handshaking and establishing relations with your decision makers and key employees.  Good idea is test server with production company data to be available for our developers as you probably don’t want production company DB to be used as the polygon for untested integration.  We also like way to connect via VPN (here popular is SonicWall), Citrix technologies such as GotomyPC or Gotomeeting (this one requires user control from your side).  By the way if the job is done via web session the location of your server is not a problem an job could be done remotely without quality compromise

9. Could you give us some comments on risks involved?  The term ‘ERP implementation’ is associated with the procedure to implant something into the body of your corporate business processes.  It could be compared on the personal level with medical surgery where success is predictable but it is not guaranteed to be hundred percent.  There are ways to decrease the risk of implementation failure by assigning internal project manager and involve company management team in the implementation process.  If you are avoiding managerial involvement and asking consulting team ‘to do whatever it is required and try to provide turn-key solution’ then chances are high that project is at high risk to go into limbo or even fail

10. Please call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904, help@efaru.com.  We have local presence in Chicagoland, Southern California, South West Michigan, Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA and Canada nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed)