ERP Comparison Guide for your Business Lifecycle
THE KEY FACTORS IN CHOOSING ERP AND
A CLOSE LOOK AT CLOUD (NETSUITE)
AND ON-PREMISE (SAGE 100 ERP) OFFERINGS
2ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Who Should Use this Guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
What You Will Learn in this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
What is the Cloud? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
The Key Factors to Evaluate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Technology and Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
The True Costs of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
CONTENTS
3ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Who Should uSe thiS Guide?This guide’s purpose is to help you in the often-complicated process of making decisions about the business technology
that will be used for your company’s future . You may be in the early stages of evaluating a new system that will help
you meet your goals, or doing preliminary research on what the market offers today .
This guide is for you if you:
• Manage a new enterprise or new division of an existing company with an immediate need for gaining
control of operations and financials
• Must upgrade an out-dated accounting, ERP, or eCommerce package
• Have outgrown your current application capabilities
• Have many spreadsheets and manual tasks managing your business
• Are planning a joint venture, a new product launch, or are spinning off a new location or division
• Have global divisions that require capabilities that you don’t have in your existing system
This guide is meant to serve as one of the first steps in your research – to let you know what questions to ask, and
get you started with some answers .
To help you make an informed choice, we feature NetSuite and Sage 100 ERP as our sample products in these
comparisons .
NetSuite is a cloud-based accounting, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) solution . The company was founded in 1998, is headquartered in Silicon Valley, and has over 12,000
companies as customers . For more information about NetSuite, please visit our website .
Sage 100 ERP is one of several accounting/ERP solutions from Sage North America, a division of The Sage Group PLC
based in the United Kingdom . Sage North America has over 3 .2 million customers across the US and Canada . For more
information about Sage 100 ERP, please visit our website .
What You Will learn in thiS Guide
The goal of this and other guides in this series is to provide unbiased
information comparing various types and brands of business
management (such as ERP and CRM systems) on the market today .
You will learn to identify the key considerations and advantages
in several categories, and learn more about how to find a solution
that best fits your unique situation .
4ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Informed buyers should consider the following factors when evaluating systems:
When it comes to ERP systems, the conversation today starts with the delivery or deployment method . On-premise
solutions like Sage 100 promise robust feature sets, customization capabilities, and centralized control of systems
and data . Cloud systems like NetSuite offer agility, scalability, and lower short-term costs .
What iS the Cloud?With so much focus on the cloud today, what are the pros and cons of cloud, Hybrid, On-Premise, and other delivery
models? What do those buzzwords mean? What types of solutions are offered for each?
The major types of delivery models for IT as a whole are detailed below, along with their positive and negative
characteristics .
The Rate of Cloud Adoption
• Deployment
• Technology
• Security
• Demographics
• Capabilities
• Support
• The True Costs of Technology
• Pricing
In a survey of 572 global
business and technology
leaders conducted by IBM,
almost three-fourths of
respondents had implemented
cloud in their organizations
as of 2011 – 90% expect to
implement the cloud by 2014 .
+33%
+215%
21%
28%
41%
38%
21%
13%
72%
90%
Today Three Years
Piloting
Adopting
Substantially implemented
What is your Organization’s level of cloud adoption?Percent of respondents
Source: 2011 IBM Institute for Business Value/Economist Intelligence Unit Cloud-Enabled Business Model Survey .
5ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Deployment Type Characteristics Payment Method Pros Cons Example
Infrastructure as a service, IaaS (or Hardware as a Service, HaaS)
Organizations outsource equipment, including servers, networking components, and hardware to a service provider who owns and maintains it . Can be on client’s premise, or hosted for clients .
Subscription Cost savings in initial start- up, scalability, outsourced responsibility for IT support and maintenance, often quicker to get up and running .
Security considerations, ongoing software management is often still a factor, requires reliable internet connection .
Dell, data centers
Platform as a service, PaaS
PaaS providers offer a platform including operating systems, databases, and web servers for users of purchased or internally developed applications .
Subscription Cost savings on infrastructure, operating systems, and systems support; scalability, ease of maintenance, fast to get up and running .
Potential security and downtime considerations, requires reliable data centers, flexibility may not meet the needs of users whose requirements evolve rapidly .
Windows Azure, Google App Engine, Amazon Web Services
Software as a service, SaaS
SaaS providers install and manage their software applications and associated infrastructure for their clients . Users access applications from a browser on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smart phone .
Subscription Lower start-up costs, infrastructure hardware cost savings, scalability, low maintenance, fast to deploy, more capabilities available than many single businesses could afford to purchase on their own .
Security and downtime considerations, requires reliable internet connection .
NetSuite, SugarCRM, Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn
Hybrid Users have some applications running on in-house servers and use some applications in the cloud .
Subscription, one-time payment, services costs, annual maintenance fees .
Allows the best of both worlds: on-premise for more security- sensitive applications, and cloud for applications that require a lot of database updating and maintenance, i .e . sales tax jurisdiction tables .
Security considerations, software management is still a factor, requires reliable internet connection . Multiple databases can create issues, when trying to maintain version compatibilities between different systems .
Sage 100 ERP with online sales tax management automated shipping, credit card payment processing solutions, EDI processing services, mobility access applications in the cloud .
Vendor-hosted Software is installed in a data center, accessed over the internet from a remote location and managed by a vendor .
Upfront license purchase may be required; subscription fees for the hosting service .
User owns the software and data; fast to deploy; low maintenance .
User does not control the environment .
Sage 100 hosted via ASPs .
Private cloud Companies establish data centers within their own firewalls, and use virtualization on the client end for access .
One-time payment, services costs, annual maintenance fees .
Greater data and security control .
Significant upfront investment . Requires in-house IT staff to maintain .
Sage 100 on Applianz servers .
On-Premise All IT infrastructure, hardware, network, and associated infrastructure software, along with application software are on-site at the user’s facility .
One-time hardware, software payment up-front, implementation services costs, annual phone support and maintenance fees .
Greater data and security control .
Significant upfront investment . Requires in-house or outsourced IT services support to maintain .
Sage 100 ERP traditional workstation or Client-Server platform installations
DEL
IVER
Y M
OD
ELS
6ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
the KeY FaCtorS to evaluate
DeploymentWith changing customer expectations, the consumerization of IT, and improved reliability, the cloud has become part
of the system evaluation process for ERP .
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Delivery Cloud ONLY On premise, hosted, or hybrid options are available
Upgrades Latest versions automatically updated, no option
Customer controls upgrade schedule, may rely on outside resources to support the upgrade effort .
Hardware requirements Infrastructure costs related to workstations with browser software, network printers, third-party applications, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, etc . required .
Infrastructure management, servers, other hardware, and IT support required, as well as network printers, third-party applications which may be required .
Mobility Mobile natively available Mobile access support available through Sage and third-party application providers, such as Blytheco’s bly:Mobile .
Speed of deployment No procurement or setup time needed for hardware . Speed of software deployment depends on implementation flexibility .
Installation time includes time to procure and set up hardware . Speed of software deployment depends on implementation flexibility .
Scalability Adding users does not require install, but does require additional setup; database automatically scales .
Setup includes unlocking additional users . Should transaction or user volumes exceed the product’s acceptable performance limits, migrations to next level ERP products are available and expandable to three additional product levels .
Customer infrastructure Enables constrained IT resources to address other compelling business priorities
Enables users to leverage existing hardware and IT staff
Single tenant vs. multi-tenant
NetSuite’s SuiteCloud platform is multi-tenant, meaning it can house data for multiple companies on one database, with strict security and separation between the tenants . All tenants run the same copy of the application, so everyone is always on the latest version .
On-premise installation of Sage 100 ERP software can be set up to run multiple companies on a single server or instance, with no additional charge for running multiple companies other than setup and services support . Users typically maintain their own copy of the application for customization and upgrade and may elect not to install every software update .
DEP
LOYM
ENT
7ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
The Cloud at the Tipping Point?
There is evidence that cloud business solutions are now reaching the “tipping point,” or “Chasm” – shown
above – where technology moves from its vetting process and use by early adopters to adoption by the
“early majority” who will bring the product into the mainstream of use and influence a larger community
of future users .
Technology and Architecture
Customization, integration, and scalability are serious concerns for many companies . Where do system strengths and
weaknesses lie?
Technology is the complete picture of the database, integration and customization capability, and the environment
that supports the software . These elements are critical in creating a stable platform for the system, optimizing usability
and flexibility, and maximizing value in a changing business environment .
Integration with common email or calendaring applications like Gmail/Google calendar and Microsoft Outlook is
important to many buyers, as are ease of customization and availability of third-party applications that extend the
use of the standard system .
Relative % of customers
Innovators, technology enthusiasts
Earlyadopters,
visionaries Early
majoritypragmatists
Late majorityconservatives
Laggards,skeptics
Time
Customers want technology and
performance
Customers want solutions and convenience
Thechasm
8ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Environment Java development environment, Oracle database .
Sage-owned ProvideX-based development environment . SQL and on-line versions are also available .
Enterprise-wide focus Service-based application with single data source for CRM, ERP and eCommerce .
Server-based application with available integration between CRM, ERP and eCommerce .
Architecture Standards-based open architecture . Object-oriented business framework available for most modules; SQL server version available .
Customization/configurability
Point-and-click, standards-based application customization, rapid configuration of processes, interfaces, roles, and reports . Customizations are automatically maintained with version upgrades .
Customization available through software development resources; user interface configuration available through system tools . User may need to manually port any customizations to new software versions, or may elect not to install new versions .
Complementary installs Users are moving to and comfortable with cloud applications such as Google Docs and unplugging Microsoft Exchange; they are running other cloud systems .
Usually running Microsoft Office suite . May have business-specific applications that need to remain in place .
Third-party applications SuiteApps are applications that extend NetSuite for unique industry and business needs . Most SuiteApps run on the NetSuite Oracle database, completely inside NetSuite .
Thousands of integration third-party enhancements and integrated applications are available .
Evaluating the existing environment in your company can give you important information about what types of
solutions are a good fit for your team . If your preference is an internal IT focus and internal IT systems control and
you also prefer to rely on server-based networked tools like Microsoft Office for productivity, then you may be more
comfortable with the control offered by an on-premise ERP system . If you use tools in the cloud – Google Apps,
Basecamp or other online project management, online marketing automation (for example, Hubspot or Mailchimp),
virtual phone or conferencing platforms, or other cloud tools, you will likely feel comfortable with Cloud ERP like
NetSuite .
TECH
NO
LOG
Y A
ND
ARC
HIT
ECTU
RE
9ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Security
Data and system security are of utmost concern to almost every business . These concerns often trump performance
and data recovery in level of importance to buyers .
Early perceptions of the cloud were that security and privacy were questionable . Many users believed that it was a
risk to have sensitive company data outside of company firewalls . Fears included the inability of providers to prevent
users from accessing data . High-profile breaches of Google, Salesforce .com, and others have reinforced the idea that
the cloud is a security risk .
However, technology has matured and
perceptions are changing . In fact, in
certain situations, the cloud may be
more secure than on-premise systems .
Large-scale cloud providers focus on
security as a core component of their
solution . In fact, their entire brand
hinges on their ability to ensure optimal
system uptime and keep data properly
safeguarded . They retain dedicated
security expertise at a level not
affordable to most small and midsized
businesses . Their CTO, IT architects
and network administrators strategize
and monitor the security of their
solution . They are chartered to ensure
robust redundancy, back-ups, and data
controls, while also addressing newly
arising security challenges .
On the other hand, many small to
medium-sized businesses struggle to
implement and maintain best practices
for security and redundancy . Their IT staff is often tasked with supporting broader businesses needs and struggles to
monitor and mitigate emerging threats . Further, investments in full redundancy and offsite regular back-ups can be
difficult to fund and support . An environment such as this can be at a greater risk of security breaches and outages
than a cloud system .
Who Drives Tech Adoption and Why?According to Gartner, the shift of technology spending from IT to the business units is driven by:
• Consumerization – Users expect business
systems and applications to look and feel like
consumer products (phones, iPods, TVs, etc .)
versus traditional solutions implemented
today .
• BYOD – Users buying their own phones,
tablets, laptops, and other devices with the
expectation that business tech will work
with them seamlessly .
• Cloud computing – Businesses are
increasingly choosing technology as a
service .
10ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Availability Committed to minimum uptime of 99 .5% . Individual performance may vary based on internet connection and workstation reliability .
Varies based on customer’s IT resources, environment and hardware .
Redundancy Two geographically separated data centers with earthquake and fire protection, heating, cooling, and backup power .
Usually maintained through Uninterruptible power systems (UPS) provisioned by users .
Recovery Data is replicated and synchronized across two data centers to facilitate recovery in the event of failure .
Users establish backup procedures and schedules individually .
Data security Data is encrypted according to industry standards . SAS 70 Type II Audit provided by Big Four audit firm per Sarbanes-Oxley requirements .
Role-based user security specific to company, module and tasks .
Continuity Provides business continuity in the event of natural disaster .
Users must establish continuity plan for natural disaster .
SECU
RITY
11ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Demographics
The cloud at inception was perceived as “cutting edge” technology, welcomed only by those companies who were
familiar with modern technology and working online . The cloud is quickly becoming a “must-consider” on most
companies’ short lists of ERP solutions, with cloud benefits AND drawbacks becoming more well known .
Interestingly, drivers for considering the cloud as a business tool are increasingly the managers of business units .
Solution decisions are becoming more collaborative, with IT playing a consulting role providing guidance to business
leaders and managers .
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Company Size 5-1000 employees>1000 employees: can use two-tier ERP model, using NetSuite for subsidiaries and rolling up results to Oracle Financials and SAP .
5-1000 employees .
System user count Up to 4,000 to date . Up to 200 for Sage 100 ERP .
Customer Growth Status In acquisition or expansion mode; focused on business agility
Users establish backup procedures and schedules individually .
Locations Supports multi-company, multi-location, multi-national legislation, multi-currency, multi-language, multi-entity .
Supports multi-companies, multi-location, multi-entity, multi-currency .
Top Verticals Distribution/wholesale Computer software publishersProfessional servicesRetail/eCommerce
Distribution/wholesale ManufacturingFood and BeverageTechnologyProfessional services
Customers include Eloqua (marketing automation solution), Magellan (GPS manufacturer)Groupon, VMware .
Hansen’s Natural (beverage manufacturer/distributor), Best Bath Systems (bathing systems manufacturer) .
Drivers for adoption Business unit managers or Board of Directors; agile responsiveness to internal and customer needs .
Owner, CEO, President, CFO, IT Staff; focus on made-to-order functionality .
Business and Workplace Culture
Users are social/mobile and use cloud applications (Gmail, Dropbox, etc .); collaborative environment; focus on data as value driver; fast decision cycles .
Hierarchical and centralized environment; heavy compliance and regulatory requirements; highly sensitive data .
DEM
OG
RAPH
ICS
12ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Capabilities
The capabilities of the system have traditionally been where “the rubber meets the road” when it came to choosing
the system . In prior eras, companies were willing to do whatever it took to get features that closely matched existing
business models . Further, they were willing to customize or develop their own systems to meet those very specific
needs, despite the long-term costs in maintenance, support, and loss of business flexibility .
Today, companies are less willing to sacrifice agility and cost-effectiveness for exacting feature specifications . A fast-
paced and competitive global business environment demands the ability to meet customer needs quickly and at the
right price, which means constant business process adaptation and less adherence to the status quo .
Still, some capabilities remain must-haves . Automation of processes as workflow, global capabilities, multi-company,
and reporting will always be part of a buyer’s checklist as the market evolves .
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Workflows Built-in sophisticated workflow and multi-level approval processes .
Workflow and Alerts provided as third-party product .
Global currencies Supports full multi-currency functionality . NetSuite supports 17 languages and 190 currencies .
Multi-currency provided as third-party product .
Multi-entity consolidation
Consolidation of financials and real-time roll-up .
Consolidation of divisions, companies and databases .
Financial Analytics Real-time financial dashboards, KPIs, personalized and role-based, shareable in multiple formats .
Excel-based financial reporting with pre-formatted and customizable reports, real-time and automated with drill-downs .
Business Intelligence Personalized dashboards and self-service reporting via real-time SuiteAnalytics as a standard feature, including mobile and browser support .
Suite of Intelligence modules as a standard feature including customized and pre-formatted real-time, drill-down enabled dashboards .
Feature Maturity Relatively newer product, so less feature-rich than Sage 100 .
Much more mature product, so more depth and breadth of features .
CAPA
BILI
TIES
13ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Support
Few companies have the resources to install, set up, maintain and support ERP systems on their own . The availability
of services and support from professional ERP consultants and the quality of those consultants should weigh into any
purchase decision .
Consider how upgrades are handled, the health and direction of the vendor, and who will be providing your day-to-
day user support when needed . Check customer references, Service-Level Agreements (for cloud systems, including
information about uptime and backup), and redundancy plans to get a feel for reliability .
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Upgrade management Versions rolled out in the cloud automatically; customizations are automatically rolled forward .
New versions published regularly for customers to install; may require additional work to port customizations .
User Training Ongoing user training recommended . Ongoing user training recommended .
Ongoing support Provided by local partner network or NetSuite .
Provided by extensive local partner network or Sage .
Vendor presence Founded in 1998, NetSuite is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, 1,000 employees, traded NYSE (N) .
Sage Group PLC, founded in 1981, is headquartered in Newcastle, UK, traded LSE (SGE) and has over 12,000 employees .
Vendor focus NetSuite as a company has one product . Sage markets over 48 business applications in North America .
Vendor Direction/Roadmap
Going up-market, targeting deeper manufacturing capability, ERP focus .
Growth through acquisition, offering subscription models, on-line SaaS versions, browser-based mobility access for all products in the future .
SUPP
ORT
14ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
One of the most important considerations when
choosing a system is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) . TCO
includes not only the software itself (paid as a one-
time license fee or ongoing subscription), but also any
equipment (hardware or network infrastructure) needed
to run the system, the staff required to procure, set up,
and maintain the systems, plus the services to support
the system . Services may include: installation (for on-
premise software), upgrades to new releases (major
and minor), customization, integration, user training,
implementation (or set up of the system according to
company business rules and processes), and ongoing
technical support for the users .
Conventional wisdom holds that one of the strengths of
the cloud is its cost-effectiveness . While it’s true that
the cloud frees users from having to deploy complex and
expensive hardware and infrastructure, over time and
with increases in user counts, there may be scenarios
in which on-premise solutions are as (or more) cost-
effective over the long term .
In the cloud, systems are maintained by the vendor
and upgraded automatically, so all customers have
immediate access to the latest technology without
incurring additional costs or work . Cloud systems such
as NetSuite will also automatically bring customizations
over with each system upgrade, requiring no additional
work or investment .
Annual maintenance fees for on-premise systems are
typically priced as a percentage of the total software
license cost . Maintenance plans supply software
upgrades and periodic updates which customers must
load themselves, or contract with a provider to install for
them . These upgrades are often accompanied by required
upgrades in hardware, infrastructure, and operating
systems to maintain system compatibility . Maintenance
fees and upgrades are optional, however, and many
companies choose to skip some or all upgrades and
remain on older versions rather than incur these costs
and disruptions to their business – particularly if they
are highly customized . Customizations to the system
must be evaluated and usually refreshed with each new
version . Again, users can use internal resources to do
this if they have advanced skills, though many prefer
to retain the services of an experienced consultant to
upgrade the system .
Like customizations, buyers must consider integration of
functionality and how it will impact costs . Some systems,
including NetSuite, offer all-in-one front- and back-
office capabilities . For others, integration between the
ERP solution and other systems will require additional
software, hardware, or configuration services that come
with additional costs .
Owners of on-premise software systems must consider
year-after-year costs of maintaining IT infrastructure
and IT staff to support the system . However, these costs
tend to decrease over time relative to the first year of
use, and also tend to even out relative to cloud system
costs when user counts increase .
Costs that occur in both systems include: system
implementation (configuration, data imports, etc .), user
training, creation of customizations, and any ongoing
technical support that is needed . These costs are
typically highest in the first year and taper off over time .
The True Costs of Technology
15ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Hardware costs Includes user machines . Includes servers, user machines, networking and backup equipment .
Implementation costs Users work with technology provider to set up and configure the system, and to provide user training .
IT staff or outsource provider is needed to provide support, set up, installation, and training .
Upgrade costs No additional costs, included with annual subscription fee . Training and other staff processing changes may be required .
Installation of upgrades is optional . Users typically rely on their business partner or technology provider to prepare the system, load the upgrade, and train users if needed, which incurs additional costs .
Annual fees System use is billed annually per user and modules as a service .
Maintenance and Support plan fees are optional after the first year .
Support costs Annual subscription fee for direct NetSuite phone support .
Annual subscription fee for direct Sage phone support OR support from Sage business partner
The cloud vs . on-premise conversation is often compared
to a “rent vs . buy” scenario, where the cloud represents a
“rental” of assets whereas on-premise software is clearly
an ownership situation .
But it may not be that simple . The availability of leasing
and financing can easily shift the costs of on-premise
from a one-time large lump sum payment to a monthly
fee that creates more of a “rental” model for your
cash flow and budget . Keep in mind that on-premise
ERP systems like Sage 100 ERP also come with annual
maintenance fees that provide regular product upgrades .
However, these are optional fees – many customers opt
to NOT upgrade after a few years . While this reduces the
cost, it also prevents customers from benefiting from
new functionality and system capabilities .
On-premise vendors are moving towards requiring
software maintenance in order to purchase new user
licenses and/or modules .
Pricing for cloud systems can also vary . They may require
upfront payments based on an assumed level of service .
Further, regular payments are not optional if you want
to continue to have access to your system . At any
rate, cloud systems have lower upfront costs related
to hardware and infrastructure, and can minimize the
salary dollars for staff to maintain a system .
Pricing
THE
TRU
E CO
STS
OF
TECH
NO
LOG
Y
16ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
The Reality of Deployment Costs for Mid-Sized Businesses
In averaging quotes gathered from 2-3 different ERP vendors, this pricing analysis model shows that
mid-sized businesses see a break-even point for Saas versus hosted software occurs around year
two . In year 5, the cost of Saas approaches the cost of on-premise; Saas costs will typically remain
fixed (or increase) over time, whereas infrastructure costs for on-premise systems remains the same .
$400,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$-
SaaSHostedOn-Premise
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
ERP Software & Deployment CostsMid-Sized Business
17ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
Products like NetSuite Products like Sage 100 ERP
Starting price, year one • $12,000 core ERP, CRM and e-Commerce functionality .
ON PREMISE PURCHASE:• $1,495 per user for Core Financial ERP .
• $2,245 per user for Core Financial and Distribution ERP .
HOSTED: • Sage 100 ERP starting at $600 per user .
Sage CRM available as add-on starting at $420 per user per year .
Implementation Support Services
1 to 2 times annual subscription price . .75 to 1 .5 times on premise software purchase price .
How is it packaged? Offered as a business management suite, with a la carte advanced modules .
Offered as user bundle based pricing or a la carte functional modules .
Capital investment Costs are deferred . Significant upfront capital investment required for on-premise; financing may be available .
Tax Implications Typically not subject to sales tax . Please refer to state tax laws .
Usually subject to sales tax; deductions such as Section 179 and depreciation benefits may be available .
Longer-term costs Pricing stays the same or grows over time . Subscription price increases are possible each year .
Costs drop off dramatically over time . Years two and beyond costs include: Annual Phone Support and Software Maintenance (optional) at either 21 % or 25% of purchased software price . Additional services may be required for version upgrades, new and or additional modules or users purchased . Long-term costs include: annual maintenance plan renewals, services, and additional users or functionality .
The #1 Cloud ERP Software Suite
PRIC
ING
18ERP Comparison Guide for Your Business Lifecycle
ConCluSion
800 .425 .9843 x2500 | so lut ions@blytheco .com | www .blytheco .com
We understand that you have a lot to consider when
evaluating a new ERP system for your business, and
much of this research can be independently gathered
by your team . The goal of this guide is to provide you
with a place to start and to supply unbiased information
about the pluses and minuses of some key factors in
your evaluation process . Your business and your goals
are unique – this guide is general and we hope it can
serve to give you food for thought .
When you feel that you are ready for a conversation
about your specific needs, we hope you will work with
Blytheco . As business and solution experts with thirty
years of experience, we are uniquely qualified to guide
you through an evaluation process tailored to your goals .
We work with many different technology solutions,
so we are the objective resource you need to navigate
through the many options .
We lead our customers through a detailed discovery
process to gain clarity about their business priorities .
Our no-charge evaluation assistance is a consultative,
two-way conversation designed to provide you with a
clear roadmap for your success .
Contact us today to get started - We look forward to working with you.
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