Are SAP Business One Days Numbered?
At this year’s Sapphire, on 12 May 2026, SAP SE made an unequivocal public announcement: “SAP’s only strategic ERP code line is S/4HANA Cloud ERP.” It is not Cloud ERP Private, let alone On-Premise, none of those – Cloud ERP, f.k.a. “Public Edition” or “Essentials Edition” is their future ERP. Given this bold statement and the fact that on its website SAP advertises S/4HANA Cloud ERP as for “companies of all sizes” and at the same time pitches Business One (B1) as suitable for “small and medium-sized businesses” – what are the odds of SAP discontinuing B1 in the near future, like they discontinued Business ByDesign this April (2026)? This whitepaper is an attempt at a strategic analysis on this topic and endeavors to go beyond listing circumstantial evidence.
It is also an opinion provided completely independent of the software vendor.
Are SAP Business One Days Numbered? - Licensing Cost and Revenue
This whitepaper will address licensing costs for B1 (from a customer perspective) and an estimate of the revenue (on the flipside, determining what the so ware vendor will do in the long run) - aimed at assisting decision makers (CIO, CFO et al) by looking at “hard numbers” for cost of B1 versus SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP. Benefit comparisons must also flow into the so ware selection process, and each individual business case is different. In the third publication, we will circle back on strategy and draw conclusions.
This whitepaper is an opinion provided completely independent of the so ware vendor.
Are SAP Business One Days Numbered? - Strategic Vulnerability, AI Differentiation Tightrope, Conclusion
This whitepaper is the continuation of an earlier analysis, starting with “Strategic Context and Timeline Scenario” and Part II on B1 licensing. Here, in Part III, I will circle back on strategy by providing an assessment in the context of – yes, you guessed it right! – AI and an outlook.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the core of SAP’s “Autonomous Enterprise” narrative.
This whitepaper is an opinion provided completely independent of the software vendor.
The whitepaper is planned for release by 31 May 2026. Until then, the button will serve to download a synopsis of Part III (1 page)