API for Multi Cloud World

The future of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software we know is that it will likely be completely cloud based. SAP Business One is a sophisticated ERP and which can run completely on private or public cloud for customers. This means that the infrastructure of running the ERP software is on another network such as AWS or Azure, and the customer ends up having less and less IT infrastructure at their office and warehouse locations. The figures suggest that Cloud application projects have been found to deliver 2.1x times the relative ROI of on-premises projects. The benefits of Cloud only continue to increase.

However, customers still need integrations with specialist external applications such as Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS), E-Commerce, CRM, BI Tools, Document Management and many more. Almost every business which implements an ERP solution is also needing to use another application for their business. This is where the ERP such as SAP Business One, needs to have a strong API for integration.

At The RIC Group we are a global Software Solution supplier for Warehouse Management Solutions for SAP Business One. Our implementations typically involve multiple mobile PDA units being used for scanning barcodes and capturing accurate information and sending the information back from the warehouse over WIFI back to the ERP system. This also can involve customers using the PDA units from multiple locations such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and even multiple countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Asia and USA. The RIC Group’s WMS is an application running on the PDA units running a client environment of Android or Windows Mobile, and for this to be successful it is imperative that the ERP system such as SAP Business One must have a very strong API.

Previously SAP Business One has offered DI API which is a Com based API/SDK, however now SAP Business One HANA also offers a Service Layer, which is a REST based interface.  Now that SAP Business One have rolled out a REST based Service Layer API, The RIC Group is taking complete advantage of this and our WMS is now certified with SAP Business One HANA. The Rest API operates with business logic objects not bound to the screen and exposes SAP Business One’s models and transaction business layer.

Using the Service Layer for SAP Business One HANA means we can truly leverage the power of the Internet with The RIC Group’s cloud WMS to access SAP Business One HANA anywhere, on premise, on private or public cloud without needing to worry about cohabiting on the same server.

To truly take advantage of the Cloud, customers now understand that is a Multi-Cloud World to create a single heterogeneous architecture. Therefore customers must make the right choice in every application they will implement for their business which has the ability to integrate to a Multi-Cloud World. Therefore, over the last while The RIC Group has not only developed its own web services, but have developed our own API. This architecture also allows us to develop security layers in our software when transmitting data from mobile PDA devices to the customer's ERP, as we understand how important it is to keep data secure.

SAP Business One not only provides a fantastic ERP solution for customers, but now offers a world class REST based API interface for third party applications to take full advantage.
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