When people talked about ERP software 20 years ago, midmarket ERP wasn't a thing, people thought about large, ...
When people talked about ERP software 20 years ago, midmarket ERP wasn't a thing, people thought about large, monolithic and complex ERP systems such as SAP R/3, JD Edwards or Oracle. These ERP systems ran the multinational operations of the biggest businesses in the world and these vendors did battle for the business of these large companies.
In some cases, their large customers had to do battle to give them their money. On the other hand, Midmarket companies didn't have the ability, appetite or funds to implement and adopt ERP systems as they do today.
An old friend and ex-salesman of one of those vendors (I won't say which) once told me how a customer paid the company £5,000 in the 1990s just to get an ERP product demonstration.
£5,000 might barely just cover your lunch in 2022, but it was the price of a small car in those days and a sign of an ERP market that was for many years, controlled by the few and for the few.
Fast forward to 2022 and things have changed in the midmarket ERP space and in the B2B enterprise software space as a whole. According to RepVue, only 3 of the top 25 best tech sales teams are in the Enterprise space. Midmarket sales teams from ERP to CRM and beyond are selling more SaaS than their enterprise peers as the midmarket heats up.
Furthermore, large systems integrators, consulting firms and accountancy firms continue to acquire midmarket focussed ERP partners. From Accenture acquiring UK firm Edenhouse solutions to Baker Tillly acquiring Sage Intacct partner AcctTwo.
Clearly, the small business or midmarket software and ERP space is now the fastest growing segment for the old guard of ERP vendors, including SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. It is also home to dozens of new entrants into the market, many of which we'll look at in the next sections.
But what does all of this mean for midmarket companies who are looking to implement ERP systems?
Well it's good news.
With more ERP vendors competing in the midmarket space, the standards of midmarket ERP software increase with every update pushed into these mostly Cloud ERP solutions, skills and diversity grow, as does industry specialization.
Across the board, new players are raising the bar and providing small and midmarket businesses the opportunity to use enterprise grade, no scratch that, consumer-grade ERP software which can be implemented faster than ever before and realize unparalleled benefits, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to cut out administration.
Increasingly, midmarket companies can leverage out of the box ERP solutions for even the most complex industries including pharmaceuticals, medical devices and discrete or process manufacturing.
So which ERP software vendors and solutions can midmarket companies take advantage of? Let's review just some of the top choices.
Oracle Netsuite could well be credited with helping to really kick off the midmarket ERP movement after it pretty much pioneered the concept of Cloud ERP when it started selling it to small and medium-sized companies in 1998.
Netsuite quickly acquired a whole host of companies to complete it's Cloud accounting core, including OpenAir for professional services automation, as well as Venda, Bronto & TribeHR. Finally, Netsuite was acquired by Oracle in 2016.
With these acquisitions, Oracle Netsuite is able to provide an end to end Cloud ERP platform covering core financials, professional services automation, CRM, inventory and supply chain and much more to midmarket businesses.
Download the complete Netsuite Solution Guide
SAP Business One does in fact pre-date Netsuite in the midmarket and small business ERP space, however didn't achieve quite the same fame. B1 started life as TopManage in 1996 and has since built out impresssive functionality which can cover industries from professional services to manufacturing and beyond.
Like Netsuite, Business One was acquired by enterprise ERP company SAP and has since acquired in excess of 10,000 new customers.
Download the complete SAP Business One Solution Guide
Microsoft provides ERP solutions to midmarket companies and small businesses via its two core ERP products: Business Central and Dynamics. The Microsoft ERP product set provides unparalleled integration with the rest of the Microsoft applications suite from Office 365 to PowerBI, Teams and other Dynamics solutions for sales, service and more.
Download the complete Microsoft Dynamics Solution Guide
Infor CloudSuite Industrial, previously known as Syteline is commonly used by midmarket companies the manufacturing and distribution space, from wholesalers to pharmaceutical companies and beyond.
FinancialForce is a midmarket financial management and Cloud ERP solution which is built on the Force.com platform. This makes it a great solution for businesses already using Salesforce products, as they can benefit from tight integration with their front office.
Download the complete FinancialForce Guide
Workday has proven to be popular competition in the enterprise ERP space for vendors like SAP and Oracle, both for HCM and for finance. Although not strictly an ERP solution, Workday is also providing hot competition to these vendors in the midmarket space. Workday provides financial management, purchasing and planning capabilities via a beautiful user interface.
Sage has always been a powerhouse in the small business and midmarket accounting and ERP space with its products from Sage Line 50 to Sage X3 and beyond. Sage's latest product, Intacct which they acquired is a Cloud core financials system that also provides ERP-like capabilities to midmarket businesses including project management and professional services automation, as well as billing and more.
SAP Business ByDesign is a SAP's answer to Oracle Netsuite. It is a Cloud ERP system designed for midmarket companies, particularly suited to professional services and manufacturing companies. The system is positioned as a 'business suite in a box' and provides everything from accounting to service, project management, supply chain management, supplier management and expenses management in one solution.
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