EXPERT RESPONSE
Since you own the entire business suite license, my first instinct would be to ask you to jump into the CRM – online solution. This obviously gives you access to some various powerful, CRM B2B functionality such as product catalog management, partner management, marketing analytics, click-streaming (for profiling your shoppers buying patterns). But since simplicity is key, I would ask you to evaluate the R/3 edition as well.
Some key elements for evaluation of a B2B solution are:
| Provided by R/3 | Provided by CRM |
|---|
| Product Catalog | Yes | Yes |
| Punch out | Yes – but customization needed | Yes |
| Partner Management | Not easily implemented | Yes |
| Business intelligence on shopping | Customization required | Yes |
| Payment Gateway | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing, workflow | Customization needed | Yes |
| Product Configuration | No, but IPC can be connected with some effort | Yes, using IPC |
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