Alibaba Cloud vs SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud comparison

Alibaba and SAP are both solutions in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category. Alibaba is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.5, while SAP is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.1. Alibaba holds a 12.6% mindshare in ISI, compared to SAP’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Alibaba users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SAP users who would recommend it.

Alibaba Cloud

Read 19 Alibaba Cloud reviews

6,754 Views
5,356 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Read 22 SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud reviews

1,789 Views
1,295 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Alibaba Cloud

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 16, 2024

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud and Alibaba Cloud are competing platforms in the enterprise cloud services category, each offering distinct advantages. Based on the comparison, Alibaba Cloud seems to have the upper hand with its superior features which many consider worth the cost.

Features: SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud offers robust in-memory database technology, seamless integration with SAP applications, and efficient performance specifically in SAP environments. Alibaba Cloud stands out with extensive global network coverage, AI-driven analytics capabilities, and a flexible infrastructure optimized for scalability and innovation.

Room for Improvement: SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud could enhance its infrastructure scalability and expand beyond SAP-specific integration capabilities. It may also benefit from innovative AI analytics features. Alibaba Cloud could improve customer support channels for more direct assistance, enhance its structured deployment framework, and streamline the user interface for easier navigation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud provides a structured deployment model and comprehensive customer service to ensure smooth implementation. It offers direct support through its structured channels. In contrast, Alibaba Cloud provides flexible deployment options, potentially requiring more technical guidance but focusing on scalability and innovation.

Pricing and ROI: SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud sees a higher setup cost but delivers strong ROI due to efficient performance in SAP environments. Alibaba Cloud, with lower upfront costs, also provides substantial ROI thanks to its scalable infrastructure, deemed cost-effective for long-term financial benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

April 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:

Categories and Ranking

Alibaba Cloud

Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

8th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category, the mindshare of Alibaba Cloud is 12.6%, up from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is 1.7%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

Featured Reviews

Aderonke Adeyegbe

CEO at Comercio Limited

Good storage, great for smaller companies, and has impressive support

We're all aware that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation, and we believe that Alibaba, due to its pedigree, has what it takes to take small businesses to the cloud. It's a game-changer, for sure. The storage is very useful. It is easy to set up. Technical support is good. It is quite stable.

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Suresh Tanneeru

Vice President at Dataflix

High stability, reasonably priced, and important for digital transformations

Customers need to be better educated about using the solution's cloud for digital transformation. SAP as a legacy system is missing that flavor. The solution is not a traditional ERP software so should be used as a digital transformation tool. That is the story to project to customers, partners, and sales teams. This will help the solution grow faster than GCP, AWS, or Azure. In fact, Google Cloud Platform is now collaborating with SAP for digital transformation. The solution should offer affordable modules that are customized to startups with 50 to 500 employees. Most people think of SAP as being only for big enterprises but it could be very useful for smaller companies. There are 40,000 to 50,000 startups in APAC each year and that is a large volume. Many of the solution's modules could be used by those startups. Google is targeting this market with chat boards and automation tools at a reasonable price or with six months of free usage. SAP should come up with this kind of module and include sandbox so providers can play with a few of the POCs.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use the solution to run VMs."

"Feature-wise, it provides many features. ECS, VM, SP, bucket object storage, and databases are the most valuable."

"It's easy to use, cheaper than other solutions, and more secure."

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

"We use the product for storage and as a VPN."

"Alibaba support is responsive. When we create tickets in the Alibaba portal, they usually respond online or call me in five minutes."

"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's initial setup process is straightforward."

"We have a wide range of use cases for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. These include production planning, materials management, sales management, treasury, finance, appliance maintenance, real estate, and warehouse management."

"I am impressed with how the solution integrates with the ME system and ALE IDocs."

"It has significantly streamlined our operations."

"There's a minimum amount of downtime when using the solution. This platform is very effective."

"It is a scalable solution if you have a good cloud infrastructure."

"Fiori is the most valuable feature, as well as the the integration between S/4 and another solution as an extension."

"It is a stable and scalable product."

More SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud pros

Cons

"It is not robust."

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

"The majority of the tools and processes, in general, have a lot of room for improvement."

"The user experience must be improved."

"Alibaba Cloud has some problems related to latency and connection issues. If you go for a cloud solution provider, you will need to access the Internet, which may result in latency and bandwidth issues, leading to slowness in operations."

"The solution name is not favorable in some markets and could cause us some problems gaining customers."

"The solution needs to improve its graphical user interface."

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

More Alibaba Cloud cons

"SAP support isn't on par with products like Microsoft Azure or AWS. It's nowhere close to the competitors."

"The solution is scalable from an infrastructure point of view. However, it becomes more complex over time because technology is changing so fast."

"The stability of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The product must provide more details of the errors."

"The stability needs to be improved to be able to handle large amounts of data."

"The customer has a lot of dependencies on SAP which means they don't have much flexibility to go and update the system when or if they need to. They will need to wait for the quarterly updates. It's possible to maybe raise a special request with SAP if it is absolutely necessary."

"Customers need to be better educated about using the solution's cloud for digital transformation."

"It needs improvement in terms of stability and performance."

More SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"I noticed on the pricing that it's quite expensive. It is the price you pay for making a practical choice for enterprise-level companies since it has so many features and it fits an enterprise-level company just like our company right now."

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

"Alibaba Cloud is cheaper."

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

"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

"The price is high compared to other databases, which is why HANA is still not widely used. Some enterprises prefer Sybase, Oracle, or other traditional databases because HANA is a little pricey. Cost is one factor SAP needs to work on to make it more competitive with other databases. Otherwise, they'll never be able to develop a mass customer base."

"SAP may not be the most cost-effective option, but it does offer a comprehensive set of tools and features. When you have the right information, structure, and dashboard in place, it can provide excellent value. Additionally, competition with Oracle might be a factor to consider."

"It's very, very expensive."

"If you choose the minimum, it will probably cost around $1,000 USD per month if you take a contract for a year or two."

"The solution could be less expensive."

"The solution's cost is reasonable."

"Our pricing is based on a yearly contract."

"The price is on little bit higher. For SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, we see roughly five crores per annum."

More SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 more complex and better suited for developers and R&D teams. On the other hand,...

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud?

It has significantly streamlined our operations.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud?

SAP HANA Cloud can be quite costly compared to other solutions. The high licensing costs make it an expensive option, particularly for smaller customers. However, they offer solutions for mid-sized...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud?

SAP should adopt more rapid changes in market processes and customer needs to deliver solutions that meet new industry requirements swiftly. SAP finance needs to be more advanced to keep up with cu...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 30% of the time

Tencent Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

More Alibaba Cloud Competitors

Microsoft Azure vs SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Compared 48% of the time

Amazon AWS vs SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Compared 29% of the time

SAP S4HANA on AWS vs SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

More SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud

April 2025

Download Alibaba Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

April 2025

Download SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud product report

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

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is a fully scalable and secure private managed cloud solution. It empowers organizations to unlock the full value of SAP HANA in the cloud - accelerating growth and innovation, driving IT and business transformation, quickly delivering business outcomes, and reducing risk.

SAP

Sample Customers

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

FC Bayern Munich, Reuters News Agency, MEMEBOX

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

April 2025

Free Report: Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud

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