How SAP Partners can Strengthen their Customer Relationships by Offering Cloud Hosting

As the business landscape undergoes rapid digital transformation, SAP Business One partners face growing competition and rising customer expectations. This means that it is important for partners to continuously evolve their offerings to stay ahead of the competition and continue to offer the best services to their customers. One of the most significant advancements that partners can offer to help their customers modernise their operations is cloud hosting for SAP Business One. By hosting SAP Business One in the cloud, customers are able to take advantage of the increased security, scalability and reduced latency that the cloud offers, enabling them to grow their businesses and future-proof their operations.

This article explores how offering SAP Business One in the cloud can help SAP partners grow and differentiate their services against competitors, while supporting their customers to scale their businesses and outperform their competitors.

We’ll also show statistics that highlight the undeniable value of cloud hosting in the modern business ecosystem.

The Cloud Opportunity: Seizing a Growing Market

‘Cloud’ is no longer a fashionable buzzword; it is an essential business strategy that supports businesses to modernise and compete effectively in the digital landscape. Globally, companies are increasingly moving their operations to the cloud to increase agility. The stats don’t lie: 82% of businesses report cost savings as a result of moving to the cloud, according to Deloitte, and the global cloud computing market is projected to reach $1,240.9 billion by 2027, growing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9% from 2020 to 2027, according to Allied Market Research. IDC research shows that by 2025, 80% of all enterprise workloads will move to the cloud.

This presents a massive opportunity for SAP Business One partners to position themselves as modern forward-thinking partners who can meet their customers’ needs. Cloud4Partners can support SAP partners with cloud hosting, offering several different options to meet their customers’ specific needs.

Expanding the Portfolio: Full-Service Offering

In today’s competitive environment, customers are looking for end-to-end solutions that address all their business needs. Offering cloud hosting for SAP Business One enables partners to present themselves as a one-stop solution, adding more value to their services and contributing to longer-term customer retention.

Here’s how cloud hosting strengthens an SAP Business One partner’s portfolio:

End-to-End Solutions: Partners who provide cloud hosting for SAP B1 can offer a fully integrated solution that covers not only ERP implementation but also infrastructure management, support, and security. This positions the partner as a trusted advisor capable of managing the entire digital landscape of a customer’s business.

Recurring Revenue: Cloud hosting brings in predictable, recurring revenue through subscription licencing, giving partners a steady and reliable income source. Cloud4Partners doesn’t set an RRP for its cloud hosting services, which means that partners can set their own retail price to their customers and generate their own predictable recurring revenue margin.

Improved Client Retention: Offering cloud hosting locks in longer-term customer relationships. Clients are less likely to switch partners when both their SAP Business One system and cloud infrastructure are managed by a single provider. Research shows that 96% of businesses expect their cloud ERP provider to also manage their cloud environment, cementing customer loyalty.

Outpacing the Competition: Staying Ahead with Modern Cloud Solutions

SAP Business One partners are operating in an increasingly competitive space. With over 800 SAP Business One partners operating throughout the world, the ability to differentiate through innovative cloud services can set one partner apart from another. Offering cloud hosting for SAP Business One through Cloud4Partners gives partners a crucial edge over competitors relying on traditional, on-premise solutions or less specialised hosting environments.

Here's how hosting SAP Business One in the cloud with Cloud4Partners can modernise your offering against competitors:

Access to Advanced Technologies: Cloud4Partners has over eleven years’ experience of hosting SAP Business One in the cloud, and our platform was purpose built for hosting SAP Business One. Many years of innovation and experience have put us at the forefront of cloud technology and we embrace advanced technologies, such as AI and machine learning to provide the most advanced platform for SAP Business One. Our partners can leverage our experience and these technologies to provide the ideal cloud platform for their customers without needing their own in-house cloud expertise. This saves the financial investment of employing in-house technical experts or building their own cloud platform, while allowing them to set their own margins and generate additional recurring revenue.

Enhanced Mobility: In an increasingly mobile-first world, employees expect access to their ERP systems from any device, at any time, and from anywhere. 63% of SMBs say mobility is a critical factor when selecting a new ERP system. Cloud hosting enables full remote access to SAP Business One, making it easier for businesses to embrace hybrid work environments. This increases demand from customers to be able to access SAP Business One in the cloud, which means it is becoming an increasingly important differentiator for SAP partners to be able to offer this.

Faster Updates and Innovation: With cloud hosting, SAP Business One partners can ensure that clients are always running the latest versions of their ERP system without the need for complex, disruptive upgrades. 75% of businesses say they prefer cloud-hosted ERP systems because of the ease of staying up to date with the latest features (Forbes). Cloud hosting SAP Business One makes upgrades smoother and helps customers stay ahead of their competition with access to the latest features and functionality, giving them a significant advantage in markets where agility and innovation are paramount.

Data Security and Compliance: A Key Differentiator

Data security is a top concern for businesses adopting cloud technologies. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024, the average cost of a data breach now exceeds $4.88 million. Ensuring robust security protocols is non-negotiable for companies moving their critical ERP systems to the cloud.

With our cloud platform built on the world-leading Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloud4Partners offers several key security benefits. In fact, platform security was our fundamental concern when we chose AWS as our cloud-hosting partner. By using AWS, our SAP partners benefit from enterprise-grade security features, including continuous monitoring, encryption, multi-factor authentication and advanced antivirus protection based on AI with predictive threat detection and machine learning. This offers our partners’ customers the highest level of reassurance that we take the security and protection of their data and essential business systems extremely seriously. These features provide a level of protection that many SMBs cannot achieve with on-premise infrastructure.

Compliance: For industries with strict regulatory requirements, such as healthcare, finance, and government, Cloud4Partners offers data sovereignty controls and ensures that businesses comply with local and international regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA). 60% of SMBs report that compliance management is a top priority when selecting a cloud ERP provider (IDC).

Business Continuity: Cloud hosting also offers superior disaster recovery and business continuity solutions, ensuring minimal downtime in the event of a cyberattack or system failure. 94% of businesses with cloud-based disaster recovery plans report that they can recover from disruptions in under four hours, compared to only 30% of companies relying on on-premise solutions (Gartner). Cloud4Partners offers a Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) option, which guarantees to restore data to a defined recovery point objective (RPO) in the event of disaster, giving an additional level of security and reassurance to customers that their essential data is protected. This is a service that SAP partners can offer to their customers through Cloud4Partners, which sets their service offering apart from competitors, adding value and supporting long-term customer relationships.

Customer Satisfaction: Improved Client Retention and Satisfaction

A happy client is a long-term client, and cloud hosting helps partners achieve greater customer satisfaction. Cloud ERP systems are associated with 50% higher user satisfaction rates than traditional on-premise ERP systems (Forbes). Why? Because they provide businesses with the agility, flexibility, and security needed to thrive in a digital-first world.

By offering SAP Business One hosted in the cloud through Cloud4Partners, partners can provide the following benefits to clients:

• Reduced downtime: With AWS’ guarantee of 99.9995% uptime, businesses minimise costly operational interruptions and ensure critical business functions remain available.
• Real-time insights: cloud-based systems provide real-time data access, allowing businesses to make faster, more informed decisions. 73% of businesses say real-time data is a key advantage of cloud ERP solutions (Deloitte).
• Simplified IT management: Cloud hosting offloads IT management tasks such as hardware maintenance, patching, and updates, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations. 68% of companies say this simplification of IT operations is a significant reason for moving to the cloud (Gartner).

Satisfied customers lead to higher retention rates, more referrals, and better business outcomes, making the ability to offer cloud hosting a smart move for any SAP Business One partner.

Future-Proofing Your Business with Cloud4Partners

For SAP Business One partners, offering cloud hosting through Cloud4Partners is a strategic way to enhance service portfolios, modernise business operations, and stay ahead of competitors. Cloud hosting is no longer a luxury but a necessity in a market where clients demand flexibility, scalability, and security.

By embracing cloud hosting, SAP Business One partners can strengthen customer loyalty, create new revenue streams, and position themselves as future-ready providers. As more businesses move to the cloud, the partners who can offer a seamless, secure, and scalable solution will be the ones to thrive in the long term. Contact Cloud4Partners’ friendly team now to find out how we can help you offer cloud-hosted SAP Business One to your customers.

Benefits of Moving to a Cloud ERP