SAP Business All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX Competitive Guide

Page 1 | Microsoft Confidential SAP All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX | November 2011

SAP positions SAP Business All-in-One as a set of industry solutions for the mid-market that can be deployed rapidly with

predictable cost.

Note: This document is intended for use only by Microsoft employees and Microsoft Dynamics ERP partners. You may not use, copy, modify, or distribute this guide; create derivative

works of; or otherwise attempt to modify this information, in whole or in part, in any manner or form, for purposes of building a similar or competitive product or service.

Executive Summary

Business All-in-One is a preconfigured version of

SAP’s Enterprise Business Suite, with a templated

implementation program designed to make it

faster and easier to deploy in mid-sized

businesses. It primarily targets businesses with

1,000 – 2,500 employees. SAP All-in-One is

delivered through a channel of about 1,400

partners who collectively offer over 800 industry-

specific configurations of the solution.1

To effectively compete against SAP All-in-One,

avoid comparing features and functions. Such

comparisons divert attention from the key

differentiators of Microsoft Dynamics AX: ease of

use, ease of interoperability, and low cost of

ownership for the application and platform. In

addition to these differentiators, share how

interoperability with Microsoft Office can

accelerate user adoption and provide business

intelligence and collaboration at a low cost.

You should provide research evidence early in

the sales cycle. Several analysts have repeatedly

positioned Microsoft Dynamics AX favorably:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/d

efault.mspx. Also use customer evidence of

solution fit, cost savings and ease of use.

1 SAP Business All-in-One solution brief,

http://www.sap.com/sme/solutions/businessmanagement/businessallinone/index.epx

SAP Business All-in-One

This section provides more detailed information

about the SAP All-in-One offering.

Competitor Product Summary

Current version: SAP Business All-in-One has

the same code base as SAP’s flagship product,

SAP ERP 6.0 2 The current release is built on

SAP’s technology stack, NetWeaver 7.0.

The product is available in 50 countries and per

SAP, supports “all major international languages

and currencies.” SAP provides pre-configured

templates and ‘Best Practices’ for 24 industries

ranging from consumer goods to public sector.

License types: SAP offers several types of user

licenses, including Developer, Professional,

Limited Professional, Employee and Employee

Self Service (ESS). Volume discounts may be

offered.

Deployment options: On-premise or hosted

through partners. For details see:

http://www.sap.com/about/newsroom/press-

releases/press.epx?pressid=12479

2 SAP Business All-in-One Press Fact Sheet:

http://www.sap.com/about/pdf/Fact_Sheet_SAP_Busin

ess_All-in-One.pdf

Competitor Value Proposition

SAP Business All-in-One is positioned as “a

single configurable solution to help you manage

everything from financials, human resources,

procurement, inventory, manufacturing, logistics,

product development, and corporate services, to

customer service, sales, and marketing.1

SAP may also claim the following benefits:

Strong Horizontal and Industry-Specific

Functionality including financials, sales, service,

procurement, logistics execution, product

development, manufacturing, human capital

management and business analytics

functionality, along with 800 industry-specific

configurations provided via its partners.

Rapid Implementation based on industry best

practices. SAP’s Fast Start Program offers

preconfigured, preinstalled software and

hardware solutions designed to save customers

time, effort and money. SAP will promote the

program as being based on best practices

learned from thousands of industry-specific

implementations.

Increased visibility from integrated analytics

that help uncover business risks and

opportunities.

Scalable solutions in terms of both functional

depth and performance to grow and scale along

with the business.

Page 2 | Microsoft Confidential SAP All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX | November 2011

Microsoft Key Proof Points

Simple: The intuitive user interface of Microsoft

Dynamics AX can enhance usability and reduce

learning curves and training costs. Microsoft’s

RoleTailored design enables people to access

just the information they need, where and when

they need it.

See Business Productivity Whitepaper for

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009:

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marke

ting/marketingcollateral/whitepapers/mdaxbusin

essproductivitywhitepaper.htm and

Designed to Enhance Productivity:

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marke

ting/marketingcollateral/whitepapers/msdx_ax20

09businessproductivity.htm

Furthermore, Microsoft’s Self-service Business

Intelligence (BI) provides self-service access to

information and analytical tools to improve

productivity and reduce demand on valuable IT

resources. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 BI and

Reporting includes more than 800 Microsoft SQL

Server® Reporting Services reports, 11 SQL

Server Analytics Server data cubes, and

enhancements to the framework. Some self-

service BI exists within SAP but customers often

need to deploy SAP Business Warehouse which

requires its own server, database, and security

scheme.

See Empower Your People with Self-Service BI:

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marke

ting/marketingcollateral/whitepapers/msdax_20

09empowerpeopleselfservicebusintel.htm

Powerful: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 offers

proven scalability, robust functionality out of the

box and rich, prebuilt, industry-operational

functionality for manufacturing (process,

discrete, and lean), distribution, retail, public

sector and service industries.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has benchmarked

performance of 5,200 users and one million lines

per hour across 10+ workloads.

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deploy

ment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_benc

hmarkpapers.

With Microsoft Dynamics AX, users can quickly

configure and activate out-of-the-box workflow

templates without the need for IT/developer

assistance. The Graphical Workflow Editor

enables drag-and-drop functionality for

workflow creation. Work Item Queues help users

control what they work on and load balance

across the team when necessary. Encourage the

prospect to have SAP demo their workflow

capabilities and compare the ease with which

workflows can be defined.

Agile: Microsoft Dynamics AX offers a unique

model-driven, layered architecture that

accelerates software development, requiring less

coding than building from scratch and easing

maintenance and upgrades. Unified, natural

models make modeling simple businesses fast

and easy and yet still provide the richness and

flexibility to represent the most complex

organizations.

Highlight the pre-built interoperability with the

Microsoft Application Platform, including

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio

2010, and other Microsoft technologies such as

Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint

2010. This allows developers to spend less time

on technical interoperability and compatibility,

and increases the breadth of developer

resources available to ISVs.

Where appropriate, discuss Microsoft’s cloud-

based services that are cost-effective, easy to

deploy and use, and interoperate fully with your

existing on-premises or hosted Microsoft

Dynamics AX implementation.

Promote Microsoft Dynamics AX as a cost

effective two tier solution in divisions and

subsidiaries of large corporations using SAP at

the headquarters. See

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/erp-

two-tier.aspx for more information.

Use analyst reports such as Gartner’s Magic

Quadrant for ERP for Product-Centric Midmarket

Companies,http://www.gartner.com/technology/

media-

products/reprints/microsoft/vol10/article22/artic

le22.html) or The Forrester Wave: Order

Management Hubs, Q3 2010

(http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/d

efault.mspx) to establish credibility and

demonstrate industry support for Microsoft.

Point out the cost-of-ownership advantages of

Microsoft Dynamics. Use analyst and customer

evidence as well as tools such as

http://www.microsoft.com/global/en-

us/dynamics/RichMedia/ErpBenefitsCalc/indexA

X.html and

http://nucleusresearch.com/microsoft-roi-

support-center/ to show the rapid return on

investment (ROI) that Microsoft Dynamics AX

can provide to customers.

Page 3 | Microsoft Confidential SAP All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX | November 2011

How Microsoft Wins

Meeting Core Business Requirements

Companies invest in ERP to gain a competitive

edge. As a result, meeting customers’ functional

requirements is extremely important.

While you should highlight product fit, avoid

comparing features and functions. Instead, focus

on the ability to solve business problems

through the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics

AX, Microsoft Office and Microsoft SharePoint®.

Strong core and industry-specific functionality, a

broad portfolio of specialized vertical solutions,

and interoperability with Microsoft collaboration

technologies can help customers realize a faster

time to value through faster implementation

times and broad user adoption.

Enhancing Industry Solutions

Lead the discussion with the Microsoft strategy

of providing customers with the right solution

for their specific industries. Be sure to highlight

your partner firm’s experience in the target

industry. Then highlight how Microsoft

implements this strategy:

Offer a strong product base with broad

horizontal functionality and industry-

specific extensions to provide out-of-the-

box functionality for large vertical

segments.

Encourage and certify applications

developed by the Microsoft ISV community,

which has deep industry knowledge to

complement the features and functions of

Microsoft product pillars.

The ability to combine capabilities from multiple

industries for one customer is increasingly

important—manufacturers often manage their

own distribution and sometimes operate their

own direct retail operation, and large numbers

of customers in all industries have segments of

their business that operate with the project

structure of service industries. Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 industry capabilities make the

power of this functionality available to all

customers.

Improving BI and Decision Making

SAP has a strong BI offering through its

acquisition of Business Objects. Knowing that

SAP will be highlighting its BI assets as part of

the sales cycle, you should proactively discuss BI

as well. Microsoft Dynamics AX delivers self-

service reporting and BI capabilities that can

help companies quickly access data and reduce

requests to the IT department for reports and

information.

Business intelligence must be an embedded part

of the application, not a separate tool that

requires users to take extra steps and switch

contexts. Rich, embedded BI is at the core of

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with:

More than 30 Role Centers shipped out of

the box

11 SQL Analytics Server Cubes behind

those Role Centers

Key performance indicators tailored to each

process and role based on those cubes

Over 800 out-of-the-box reports, all

delivered through SQL® Server Reporting

Services

Rich interoperability with Microsoft Excel to

surface report output and enable analysis

Standards-based data interoperability with

PowerPivot for ad hoc slicing and dicing

InfoParts providing in-context BI fully

embedded throughout the Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 user experience

Focusing on Innovation

Microsoft invests stongly in research and

development for Microsoft Dynamics AX,

including a well-defined road map that focuses

on innovation, collaboration, and productivity—

all so that customers can implement the solution

quickly and see a fast return on investment. For

more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics

AX Statement of Direction:

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marke

ting/statementofdirection/statementofdirection

Position Business All-in-One as not

appropriate for mid-sized companies.

SAP offers a SaaS ERP product, Business

ByDesign, which targets companies with 100 to

1000 employees. SAP positions All-in-One for

companies up to 2,500 employees. So, in effect

these two products overlap with companies

below 1000 employees. Raise the question

whether All-in-One is appropriate for companies

below 1000 employees.

See

http://www.cio.com/article/593969/SAP_Co_CEO

_Business_ByDesign_is_Not_a_Fantasy_ and

http://www.sap.com/usa/sme/solutions/business

management/comparebm/index.epx

Page 4 | Microsoft Confidential SAP All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX | November 2011

Top Questions for SAP

Customers should ask SAP the following

questions about difficult or expensive issues that

customers considering SAP might face:

1. How many organizations like mine have

used Fast Start? Is the methodology really a

template with predefined processes and

configurations? How will the implementation

be affected (in terms of time and cost) if I

deviate from your best practices?

2. Does All-in-One and SAP’s enterprise

product, ERP 6.0, share the same application

code set? If so, what truly differentiates the

two solutions?

3. During the demo, customers should verify

what is being demonstrated. Is it out of the

box SAP All-in-One, or are additional SAP

components like SAP Business Warehouse,

SAP Enterprise Portal or SAP CRM playing a

role in the demo? Also, ask what added

functionality is provided by the partner via

customization.

4. How many full-time equivalents (FTEs) do

these products require to maintain and

support on-going changes?

5. What level of integration with Microsoft

Office does All-in-One support out-of-the-

box?

Handling Objections

This section provides common objections that

SAP may give as reasons to choose its solution

instead of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

SAP Claim: Microsoft Dynamics AX is more of a

midmarket solution and is not appropriate for a

large, complex business.

Microsoft Response: (Do not get lured into a

feature/function comparison against SAP. Focus on

the specific needs of the prospect.)

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 supports the unique

requirements for businesses in 36 countries—all

from a single-instance deployment of the

software. Multiple currencies, multiple time zones,

multiple languages, and compliance with multiple

banking and reporting standards and legislative

codes give you the global coverage that you

require.

Furthermore, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has

benchmarked performance of 5,200 users and 1

Million Lines per Hour across 10+ workloads.

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deploy

ment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_bench

markpapers

Case studies of customers with 1,000 – 4,000

employees using Microsoft Dynamics AX are

available at

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Stud

y_Advanced_Search.aspx

SAP Claim: Microsoft requires a number of third

party or ISV solutions to provide a complete

offering.

Microsoft Response: Microsoft Dynamics AX

offers robust core functionality out of the box,

with over 1,000 new features and enhancements

in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Microsoft also

uses ISV solutions to bring deep industry

expertise to customers. Business partners who

specialize in specific industry solutions provide

rich insights and leading-edge business expertise.

SAP Claim: Microsoft Dynamics AX offers too

much flexibility, making compliance a challenge.

Microsoft Response: By actively managing a

balance between compliance requirements and

agile business practices, organizations can

minimize risk, increase operational efficiency, and

successfully build a foundation on which to grow.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Managing Compliance,

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marke

ting/marketingcollateral/whitepapers/MDAXMan

agingComplianceWhitepaper and

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012: What's New -

Compliance and Internal Controls,

https://mbs.microsoft.com/members/elearning/

dynamicstrainingcert.aspx?courseid=249223&th

eme=partnersource

SAP Claim: SAP’s Fast Start Program reduces the

risk, time, and cost of implementing the solution.

Microsoft Response: Microsoft Dynamics

RapidStart and Sure Step offer a scalable,

repeatable methodology for implementing

Microsoft Dynamics, helping partners reduce the

risk, time and cost of implementation.

Page 5 | Microsoft Confidential SAP All-in-One vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX | November 2011

Customer Success Stories

Kapstone Paper and Packaging Corp.

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft

-Dynamics-AX/KapStone-Paper-and-Packaging-

Corporation/Acquisition-Company-Supports-

Growing-Operation-with-ERP-and-SOA-Saves-

Millions/4000009108

Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc., (ISSI)

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft

-Dynamics-AX/Integrated-Silicon-Solution-Inc.-

ISSI/Fabless-Manufacturer-Gains-Visibility-into-

Global-Operations-with-Centralized-ERP-

Solution/4000007433

Ridley

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft

-Dynamics-AX/Ridley/The-Right-Supply-Chain-

Decision-Saves-Animal-Feed-and-Nutrition-

Provider-1-Million/4000004023

Additional Resources

SAP Compete on Partner Source

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/sales/ma

rketing/competitiveinformation/SAPCompete.htm

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 – A New

Generation in ERP (White Paper)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/7/6

/876FA255-57F8-447C-98B9-

FA5D5BC2C3B1/Microsoft_Dynamics_AX_2012-

NewGenerationinERP.pdf

What’s New in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/8

/A98A616C-82A7-493B-9DF0-

5F2DE5223955/Microsoft%20Dynamics%20AX-

2012%20-Preview-small.pdf

Statement of Direction for Microsoft Dynamics

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marketin

g/statementofdirection/StatementofDirection.htm

Microsoft Dynamics RapidStart Services

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deploy

ment/resources/productreleases/MSDY_Rapid_St

art.htm

Analyst Reports on Microsoft.com

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/d

efault.mspx

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