Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure vs SAP S4HANA on AWS comparison

Alibaba and Microsoft are both solutions in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category. Alibaba is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.4, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Alibaba holds a 11.9% mindshare in ISI, compared to Microsoft’s 15.5% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Alibaba users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Alibaba Cloud

Read 19 Alibaba Cloud reviews

5,897 Views
5,897 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure

Read 321 Microsoft Azure reviews

19,910 Views
10,552 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

SAP S4HANA on AWS

Read 41 SAP S4HANA on AWS reviews

1,990 Views
1,970 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Alibaba Cloud

Microsoft Azure

SAP S4HANA on AWS

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Alibaba Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and SAP S4HANA on AWS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Akamai and others in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS).

To learn more, read our detailed Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

August 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category, the mindshare of Alibaba Cloud is 11.9%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 15.5%, down from 18.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP S4HANA on AWS is 3.2%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure	15.5%
SAP S4HANA on AWS	3.2%
Alibaba Cloud	11.9%
Other	69.4%

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

Featured Reviews

Min HtetOo

Chief Marketing Officer at Soft Intelligence

The solution is useful for application development, but the user interface and user experience must be improved

The product must be made easier to use. The design is a bit tricky. When we log in to the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and browse products, they look very small. The user experience must be improved. Alibaba Cloud must increase its partner network and brand awareness in our country. It will give our customers more opportunities to scale and save in the long run.

Read full review

Syed Abid

Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra

Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience

For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.

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AtifNajam

Group CIO at Ghulam Faruque Group

Strong integration in manufacturing and enhances flexibility with useful workflow management

Installation is very straightforward, however, implementation takes years or months based on the project's size. In manufacturing, the requirement might go from ten to 12 people. If I'm a sales-oriented company, such as an FMCG or something else, then I might need around seven or eight people at the very minimum. It is not an easy task to migrate. If I'm moving from a different ERP to S/4HANA, I need a proper project that probably spans several months, with significant engagement from both the business side and the technical side. I need an opportunity partner on it. Processing to SCE S/4HANA takes a bit of effort.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase was easy for me since I had a background in cloud products."

"Alibaba Cloud has lower costs and good support."

"The installation is easy."

"What's good about Alibaba Cloud is its database service. It's also good in the virtual machine area."

"The most valuable feature of Alibaba Cloud is the communication it allows between two servers."

"ECS is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"It is a scalable product. So, scaling up or scaling down is possible."

"Flexibility and costs were probably the most important thing for us. The cost was one of the big factors for choosing Alibaba Cloud relative to other cloud solutions, especially in Asia"

More Alibaba Cloud pros

"The solution is easy to use and flexible."

"The tool's most valuable aspect is the account management side. This involves tasks such as assigning credentials to different individuals, managing user accounts, and implementing Privileged Access Management."

"Provisioning a server is fast, taking only one or two minutes before it is ready."

"The time to market is fast compared back to the traditional on-premise hosting. That is one of the better things I can say because there is no need to worry. The Pack services will enable it to start immediately."

"We use Azure DevOps' full hierarchy to manage our data workloads. From product management to development and QA stages, Azure DevOps provides tools. Additionally, we're implementing automation testing and integrating it with our CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps. This platform helps us manage all our processes."

"One feature I like in Microsoft Azure is its ability to host and run applications on virtual machines. It is a basic yet crucial capability for our team."

"The product provides a host of security tools."

"The best feature in Microsoft Azure is that I don't have to change computers. I don't have to upgrade or if something breaks or a hard drive crashes. The lack of a physical aspect is the major feature for me."

More Microsoft Azure pros

"After the implementation phase of the product, it becomes a very stable tool."

"SAP S4HANA on AWS has high performance. All the data is in one place and it's real-time. When you make an entry you don't have to wait a couple of minutes, hours, or overnight as something the batch process takes time. It is instantaneous and is available to everybody."

"The product’s high availability is its best feature."

"Provides good performance and regular release of new features."

"The product efficiently manages the data center without manual intervention."

"Reporting transparency and user-friendliness are the key benefit of deploying SAP S4HANA on AWS. Furthermore, the solution offers a plethora of modules that have proven to be valuable, and there are regular updates available."

"The tool's installation is easy. I rate it an eight out of ten."

"I would rate this solution as a nine out of ten because it covers all the fields, has a big maturity, and has something other solutions are missing, which is speed."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS pros

Cons

"The flexibility of the solution could be improved."

"Alibaba Cloud needs to increase availability in Thailand."

"From a performance point of view, Huawei and Azure are faster. Alibaba isn't as good."

"The user experience must be improved."

"A big area for improvement in Alibaba Cloud is its support. Another area for improvement in Alibaba Cloud is SDK-based service because sometimes, the SDKs don't work correctly. Support for API-based services also needs improvement in Alibaba Cloud because, at the moment, it's not that stable."

"The solution should have more integration."

"I think that sometimes the customer service for Alibaba Cloud is inefficient.... Sometimes it's hard to reach out to them."

"Alibaba Cloud's initial setup is somewhat complex."

More Alibaba Cloud cons

"Microsoft Azure could improve by having more virtual machine operating systems available."

"The interface is not easy to use. I'd like to see them develop a better interface, more graphical information about the resource and the consumer."

"I would like it if Microsoft communicated better about upcoming changes before they roll them out. Sometimes when Microsoft implements changes, they don't notify the users promptly enough. I would like to know about new features, especially Office 365."

"We have faced some issues on the pricing side, but it has improved lately. We are trying to adjust to the new pricing methods that they are using now. It should be better from now on."

"The security of the solution could always be much better."

"Compared with other cloud solution providers, Microsoft is not good at local support."

"Microsoft Azure could improve by being more secure."

"The initial setup could be simplified."

More Microsoft Azure cons

"The tool should undergo an overall improvement, including support. Data sharing should also be faster."

"CPU architecture is an area where the solution currently has some issues. Improvement in CPU architecture could improve the performance side and the adherence to the parameters set by SAP."

"More availability zones will help customers choose AWS. I would like to see features that provide easier onboarding for ERP solutions like SAP. SAP has already partnered with S/4HANA on AWS for hosting its public cloud as well. More educational videos for customers to choose this cloud path would be great to have. That is, providing more documentation and marketing material would be better."

"The initial setup could be easier. It's complex."

"The product could use more capabilities in the areas of robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, but these improvements are already on the way."

"There are incidents where there are certain glitches, however, they are specifically because of the configuration that people have made and based on the decision I made during the implementation project."

"This solution is very resource-intensive, including high memory and CPU utilization."

"The GUI is age-old, the pricing is too high for hardware and older customizations are not working consistently."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Alibaba Cloud is good. If I was to use Microsoft Azure I would have to pay 30 percent more."

"The solution's pricing is the same as AWS'."

"I don't know the exact cost. It is cheaper than AWS."

"Pricing for Alibaba Cloud is a little bit cheaper. It has reasonable pricing."

"The cost is better than similar solutions."

"The product is not that expensive."

"I'm not sure about the exact pricing, but let's just say if it cost a dollar for Amazon AWS, it was closer to 70 to 80 cents for Alibaba Cloud."

"The cost of Alibaba Cloud is lower than that of AWS, but I feel that its price is on the higher end of the spectrum. Alibaba Cloud charges its users a price in dollars"

More Alibaba Cloud pricing and cost advice

"Price is good and many free features available"

"The cost could definitely be lower."

"It is similar to AWS, where it is on-demand and is billed monthly."

"I pay a yearly subscription fee for the solution."

"The pricing for us is higher because we are using IaaS."

"We have an annual license subscription to use the solution."

"It has the pay-as-you-go model. Its pricing should be better."

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

More Microsoft Azure pricing and cost advice

"I rate the price of SAP S4HANA on AWS an eight out of ten."

"SAP S4HANA's pricing model should be more flexible and transparent - there's a lot of negotiation and internal factors, and some customers get better value and services for the same product."

"The price of SAP S4HANA on AWS is reasonable, given how much it costs to maintain a scratch-built system. To upgrade the support there is a fee."

"Licensing fees are on an annual basis."

"It is a significant investment, around six hundred thousand dollars, and it involves both a one-time on-premises installation on servers and a cloud subscription with different flavors for SAP S4HANA."

"SAP S4HANA on AWS has reasonable pricing."

"I would rate the pricing as a two and a half out of five."

"We pay a monthly fee for the use of SAP S4HANA on AWS for approximately five years. That's the time of the contract."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Aug 14, 2013

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

University

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

University

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Educational Organization

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	139
Midsize Enterprise	53
Large Enterprise	148

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alibaba Cloud?

ECS is the most valuable feature of the solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alibaba Cloud?

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Alibaba Cloud?

Alibaba Cloud needs to improve emails. Its pricing can also be lower. Regarding security issues, Alibaba Cloud is mor...

See all answers

Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?

IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to ...

See all answers

Which is better - SAP Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure?

One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world....

See all answers

How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?

I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. ...

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP S4HANA on AWS?

With extensive data and a sizable client base, this ensures seamless operations, responsiveness, and overall reliabil...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S4HANA on AWS?

The initial setup required a higher investment, but the return on investment has justified the cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA on AWS?

Currently, we have some integration areas like Concur and Ariba that could be improved. Having these integrations as ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 24% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 19% of the time

Tencent Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 14% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Network Cloud Service vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 0% of the time

More Alibaba Cloud Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 10% of the time

Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 9% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

SAP Cloud Platform vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Google Firebase vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Competitors

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 11% of the time

Amazon AWS vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 9% of the time

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 7% of the time

Google Cloud vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 6% of the time

More SAP S4HANA on AWS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud

September 2025

Download Alibaba Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure

August 2025

Download Microsoft Azure product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP S4HANA on AWS

August 2025

Download SAP S4HANA on AWS product report

Also Known As

No data available

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure

SAP S/4HANA on AWS

Overview

Alibaba Cloud offers a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to support growing enterprises worldwide, including data storage, relational databases, big-data processing, and content delivery networks.

Alibaba

Microsoft Azure integrates services and offers flexibility, ensuring compatibility with diverse environments. Its scalability, security, and cost-efficient features enhance deployment and management, making it ideal for infrastructure services and application hosting.

Azure provides a comprehensive suite of tools for application deployment, virtual machine management, and data analytics. It allows seamless integration with Power BI and offers a user-friendly interface supported by detailed documentation and technical support. Though users appreciate its capabilities, they sometimes face challenges with costs, setup, and interface complexity, alongside integration and performance issues. Frequent updates and a learning curve are also noted, though Azure's cloud-based security and scalability remain critical for disaster recovery and business continuity.

What are Azure's key features?

Integrated Services: Ensures compatibility with Microsoft and non-Microsoft environments.
Scalability: Supports growing business demands with flexible computing power.
Security: Offers robust cloud-based security features for data protection.
Cost Efficiency: Provides options that optimize costs for diverse requirements.
Application Deployment: Facilitates quick rollout of apps and services.

What benefits should users expect from Azure?

Operational Optimization: Allows companies to streamline processes effectively.
Innovative Efficiency: Empowers businesses to innovate with powerful tools.
Reliable Support: Backed by strong technical support and comprehensive documentation.
Flexible Cloud Solutions: Offers a range of options for cloud migrations and infrastructure management.

Microsoft Azure is widely implemented in industries like financial services, healthcare, and logistics for hosting enterprise applications and vital services. Companies utilize its capabilities for IoT applications, DevOps, and Kubernetes clusters, benefiting from its cloud migrations, data analytics, and active directory support.

Microsoft

SAP customers of all sizes can fully realize all the benefits of the SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition on the AWS Cloud. With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition on the AWS Cloud you can:

Achieve faster time to value with the AWS on-demand infrastructure
Rapidly provision infrastructure for SAP S/4HANA with no upfront cost or long-term commitment
Pay for only what you need Don't spend upfront costs purchasing hardware for what you can't forecast
Test and evaluate SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition with a free trial offering from SAP on AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

Schneider Electric, BorderX Lab, Royal Philips, Catchpoint, Conversant, Blogmint

BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.

Brigade Group, DoHome, Royal FloraHolland

Buyer's Guide

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

August 2025

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