Building an adaptable, integrated technology ecosystem: How Versago supports true connected SMBs

Companies today have relationships with customers and vendors with their own preferences, systems, and behaviors. To work with them effectively, you need to ensure that you have the right technology ecosystem—one that allows you to rapidly develop and establish new processes for all your different customer and vendor relationship needs and to connect them together and with your operations to support business transactions. Learn how Versago can help make that happen.

Your customers and vendors have their own preferences, systems, and behaviors—and that means they need to be approached in custom-fit ways.

To do that, you need the right tools. In addition, you need to ensure that you have the right technology ecosystem—one that allows you to rapidly develop and establish new processes for all your different employee, customer, and vendor relationship needs and to connect them together to support business processes and transactions.

We built Versago as part of an effort to make the process of creating and establishing a technology ecosystem that supports business processes easier and more impactful while constantly adapting to the ever-changing needs of SMBs. Built with the leading ERP software SAP Business One in mind, and complemented by our Bizweaver real-time process automation and data integration product, Versago allows our clients to scale human interaction while in perfect sync with the information in SAP Business One supporting highly adaptable, effective business processes at scale. Versago together with Bizweaver supports infinite process scenarios connecting internal and external players and SAP Business One across sales quotes, orders, quote-to-cash, purchase-to-pay, production, service, delivery, returns processing, warehouse activities, and more.

Ecosystems are so central to successful business relationships today that it can be easy to forget that they’re a relative newcomer to small and mid-sized businesses. To get there, we worked together with our existing customers to understand the daily challenges they face to run their businesses effectively and realize their full digital potential without the distraction of new technologies. Versago is purpose-built to help small and medium-sized businesses take full advantage of digital and software tools realizing the potential of SAP Business One for a connected enterprise.

“While there might be room for some new technologies, most companies aren’t ready for these or can’t afford them.”

Source: The State of the SAP Business One User Community, pg.5

Now it’s truly possible to tie together your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with your existing processes and technologies in an effective way to support employee, client, and vendor interactions.

For SMBs, the better you understand what’s possible now, the easier it is to ensure that you’re creating and maintaining a best-in-class technology ecosystem that can support your business relationships in unique ways.

The Rise of Ecosystems

As a concept, integration and digital transformation has been advertised for quite some time in the shape of software suites, and cloud-based software offerings. But the majority of cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) offerings are still basically suites that are owned by a single company from bundling a collection of business software into a cohesive whole. Without extensive customization it is difficult—if not impossible— to effectively share data and coordinate cross-department, vendor and client needs and other actions with a single solution.

The rise of technologies like APIs that allow for greater data agility and processing makes continuous data management possible.

People had been talking about technology ecosystems forever, but this was the first time that diverse technology ecosystems for employee and customer management really started popping up, instead of just cloud-based suites that positioned themselves as an all-in-one ecosystem. Still, the varied nature of the needs of SMBs that differ from those of larger enterprises, make it very difficult for SMBs to find the right solution.

Even though we’re now seeing a greater acceptance of the idea that built-for-purpose tech ecosystems are the way forward, and a key part of digital transformation, SMBs are left behind.

“… 80% of US small businesses aren’t taking full advantage of digital tools.”

Source: Connecting Small Business in the US, pg.51 by Deloitte

The days of developers and consultants building one of a kind custom software solutions on top of stand-alone technology are on the way out.

“We need to help small and mid-sized businesses put together a technology ecosystem that fits their needs connecting their workforce and enabling transactions with third parties, vendors, and clients.”

Source: Mike Foster, Director of Product at Third Wave

Now, instead of focusing on how to make single-purpose apps that proliferate around a business we are shifting to a platform-based ecosystem that empowers small and medium-sized businesses to focus on what’s important to them. Versago is a systemic shift in digital transformation for SMBs to leverage SAP Business One ERP.

Today’s Ecosystem: An Adaptable Operations Management Solution leveraging core systems of record for a Connected Business

The business relationship we know from ten years ago is a thing of the past. The evolution of employee, client, and vendor relationships driven by technology puts their needs at the center.

To deliver on that expectation, it’s essential for businesses to choose the right technologies and to ensure that these solutions can work together as part of a cohesive ecosystem to support business communications and transactions.

Making this happen is a process, and requires a strategic approach and long-term vision. Plenty of businesses set out to build an ecosystem for themselves and end up with a technology stack of disparate systems that lacks security and scalability, with nothing working quite as well as it should. To succeed you need to make sure you’re working towards these key goals:

– Your technology ecosystem supports true data agility
– Your technology ecosystem is integrated with your ERP or accounting system of record
– Your technology ecosystem should enable adaptive cross-platform and cross-channel experience (communications & transactions)

The only way to reach these goals is to ensure that you have an ecosystem that can support information processing and employee, customer, and vendor engagement across platforms, devices, and channels. It takes the right collection of solutions, but it’s achievable today and worth the investment.

Versago: The Building Blocks of a Connected Business

We’ve architected Versago together with Bizweaver to integrate with other systems and technologies in a secure way. The easy to use web interface of Versago and data processing power of Bizweaver are central to successful business processes and relationships. Businesses that use the leading SAP Business One ERP leverage Versago to create a timely seamless feedback loop between people and the ERP system of record.

As the number of related technologies linked to business transactions has increased, we evolved the Versago Platform to cover infinite use cases created by SAP Business One experts.

Today, Versago enables small and mid-sized business to build a technology ecosystem that’s perfect for their business and unique needs—and capable of supporting the connected experiences that today’s employees, clients, and vendors want—connected to each other and to the system of record in a secure way.

Versago supports small and mid-sized businesses digital transformation strategy across these categories:

1. Data & Infrastructure Agility (Data Integration & Processing)
2. Real-time Reporting and Insights
3. Business Process Optimization
3. Channel Growth
4. Integrated with SAP Business One ERP
5. Service, but not quite SaaS

Conclusion

No one tech ecosystem will be right for every business or every industry, and keeping up with the ever-changing pace of marketing, technological, industrial and client/vendor-centered demands plus the shifting customer expectations will often mean adjusting the solutions your employees leverage to fit your current needs. The Versago platform enables a tech ecosystem that can grow and change with your customers, vendors, and business.

To learn more and start the journey towards a true, connected business request a custom demo.

About Versago Platform

Versago is a web and mobile platform integrated with SAP Business One enabling the broader population of people and processes across a business’ ecosystem to leverage the power of SAP for every function supporting growth and operating efficiency.

Versago is easily configured to support multiple use-cases to grow your business. With its extensive library of pre-built functionality and workflows already integrated with SAP Business One, your business can be up and running in less than a day with no software development required.

Benefits of Versago & SAP Business One:
– People and Processes Always In-Sync with SAP Business One
– Simple User Experience, Low/ No Training
– One Configurable Platform vs. Multiple Apps
– Streamlined Processes with no SAP Manual Data-Entry Bottlenecks
– Paperless Processes
– Faster Customer <> Supplier Interactions
– Branded to Reflect Your Business
– Increased Customer Satisfaction with Digital Solutions