Photos: SAP Business ByDesign up close and personal

What does the business software giant's software-as-a-service tech have in store?

SAP recently announced the general availability of its software-as-a-service enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Business ByDesign.

Prior to its full-scale launch last month, Business ByDesign's user base was restricted to 100 customers in China, France, Germany, India, the UK and the US as part of a case study programme.

The technology, aimed at mid-sized companies, is SAP's first significant foray into software as a service and its performance will direct the company's cloud computing strategy in the future.

Pictured above is the homepage for the general-release version of the software, Business ByDesign 2.5, which can be personalised to include the most important data for the user, including graphs, calendars and client contact history.

Screenshot: SAP

Business ByDesign's corporate performance dashboard (above) allows users to view a number of interactive analytics systems on the same screen.

The graphs above show operating profit by sales unit, profit margin, profitability line and operating profit/sales history for a particular geographical region.

The full release version of Business ByDesign includes three starter packages for businesses that want to try out the system for particular functions. There are starter packages focusing on CRM, ERP and business process management.

Screenshot: SAP

The report gallery screen, shown above, is a way of accessing different sets of pre-defined data using an interface much like the Cover Flow system seen on Apple devices.

The gallery allows the user to quickly select the appropriate report with real-time data and ad hoc analysis.

Screenshot: SAP

Business ByDesign also integrates with Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet software so users can access reports built in Business ByDesign and bring the data into Excel.

Screenshot: SAP

Pictured above is a document flow within Business ByDesign.

This particular screen shows a completed order-to-cash process flow which anyone with the correct permissions can access for a full history of a particular sales order.

Screenshot: SAP