Australia has joined the global rollout of SAP’s SaaS business software, with prices starting at $A11 a month for a platform that can extend to embrace financials, customer relationship management, human resources, supply chain, and project management.

SAP Business ByDesign can be accessed  via a web-browser with all data hosted in a German data centre. It is being pitched at small to medium enterprise from 20-500 employees, a market SAP estimates is worth $27B globally.

The solution incorporates a level of integrated document management, as invoices and contracts, etc. can be uploaded or scanned direct to a watch folder for processing. Pricing depends on configuration and ranges up  to $A197 per user/month for full access to the complete, integrated on-demand suite.

“SAP Business ByDesign brings the sophistication of an SAP-built solution to Australian businesses interested in cloud and software-as-a-service to help take their business to the next step in growth,” said Tim Wilkes, ANZ Partner Manager, SAP Business ByDesign.

“The ByDesign solution offers an unprecedented level of usability with more efficient operations, better service, streamlined accounting and compliance in an offering that is fast to deploy. The CRM module can be in place and functional in a single day while an integrated end-to-end solution in as little as 12 weeks.

“Customers can decide which module they need to start with, and be confident that as their business requirements grow, additional modules can be brought online quickly, with little to no integration requirements at all,” Mr Wilkes said.

“Organisations that are keen to explore this solution have already done some SaaS, whether its salesforce automation or  payroll outsourcing. They might be using Google Apps or Microsoft 365 for Backoffice, which is enough for what many people want from document management.

“You can make documentary attachments anywhere you like in ByDesign, whether its a photograph, contract or purchasing invoice, or you can point to where it sits somewhere else whether that’s Google Docs or DropBox.”

A workflow to scan supplier invoices is included in Business ByDesign, delivering them to folder and initiating a work list for processing. The platform does not include OCR or automated workflow.

Local subsidiaries of multinational organisations running SAP Business Suite software are a target market for the new hosted offering., which supports automated procurement processes between subsidiaries and headquarters. As customer orders come into a subsidiary, purchase orders can be sent electronically from the subsidiary system to SAP Business Suite software at the headquarters.

More information is available at a dedicated Business ByDesign Australian website.