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Anaplan vs SAP ERP vs Unit4 Business World comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

Business Performance Management
ERP
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Antonio Flor - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time data integration enhances operational efficiency and flexibility
As a client developer and solutions architect, I use Anaplan for building modules and deploying logic end-to-end. I work closely with the business in an agile manner to ensure the model aligns with business needs Anaplan offers flexibility in building different options within the platform. The…
Srinivasan Kuppuswamy - PeerSpot reviewer
The amazing, robust framework with unlimited scalability earns its #1 status
The solution is not ready for the current e-commerce environment. Its was built for large enterprises who need to predictably optimize their human, material, and financial resources. ERP has evolved and businesses are changing. There are not many large corporations. Most are small enterprises with the capabilities of large enterprises through networking and platform integration. Some companies promote products but get things done with other enterprises as a network. Companies do not want to create new capacity but want to leverage existing capacity with innovative products. They do not want to spend resources on duplicating capacity or facilities. I do not think any ERP product is ready to support this environment so ERPs as a whole might end up being used for back-office functions only. It is not easy to evolve an ERP product because its intent is to integrate functions and processes within an organization. Whereas, in the new business model, processes are not limited to one's own enterprise but cut across different enterprises. There is no enterprise solution as this point in time for the current e-commerce environment so companies must integrate with many solutions.
Mirchaye Mulugeta - PeerSpot reviewer
A flexible solution that is useful in finance, HR, and procurement
We use the tool in finance, HR, and procurement.  Unit4 Business World's most valuable feature is flexibility. Its dashboards are easy.  I would like to see direct communication support to engage with clients. The parent company should have a direct relationship with clients. Also, the tool's…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Anaplan's strongest feature is that its GUI is very modern and user-friendly."
"Anaplan's scalability stands out compared to other platforms, especially for scenario planning and what-if analysis."
"I am impressed with the tool’s real-time calculations and intuitive interface. The tool’s user interface is the best compared to other software that I have worked with. I also find the tool’s management reporting feature valuable."
"It's highly flexible. If you've got a complex environment with complex calculations, you can build that out. So that's a really good positive."
"I believe Anaplan is a new cloud tool, and from time to time, there's a lot of improvement that the Anaplan company deploys with the system. So, with that improvement, we need to really adapt and know the new system trends."
"Anaplan's most valuable features are that it's a no-coding platform, everything can be scaled to your other functions, and it's easy to learn and use (especially because Anaplan provides excellent interactive training)."
"Anaplan offers flexibility in building different options within the platform."
"This product has a very good modeling feature, and its graphical representation of visualizations has also been valuable."
"The most significant elements of this solution are the ability to create a virtual product, a service product, and delivery."
"The most valuable features of SAP ERP are the general operations. It has a good way to manage a business and do financial reporting. Overall we are happy with the robustness of the solution."
"The power of ABAP Development Tools is the main valuable feature in the SAP ECC system. Every couple of years SAP upgrades ABAP technology significantly, which facilitates developers' work."
"The most valuable features are the ease of installation and the MM functionality."
"I like the solution’s features in finance, supply chain, sales, and distribution."
"The best thing that SAP ERP has is the extensive coverage of processes for every field and business unit such as procurement, inventory, financials, asset management, plant maintenance, and production. We can cover up to 99.9% processes of our organization, which is the best thing about this solution. It also has a very good capability to integrate with other applications. The security and authorization level of SAP ERP is very high. No other solution can match this level."
"The most valuable features of SAP ERP are the integration between all departments, such as purchasing, finance, trading, and sales."
"This is a robust solution with a lot of control measures."
"The product's self-service capabilities have benefited our organization."
"Unit4 Business World is a reliable product."
"Unit4 Business World's most valuable feature is flexibility. Its dashboards are easy."
 

Cons

"The dashboard could be better. Because within a dashboard or report, you have to do a lot of scrolling. You need to scroll down because the table doesn't fit in a single view. That's why even the users aren't happy with that kind of user experience. They need to scroll to see all the data, and it could be better if it fits in just one page. That way, you can see everything. In the next release, I want automation that's connected to Anaplan. For example, to load master data from SAP to Anaplan. I don't know if this already exists, but a log where you can see the progress and see if there's an error will also help. It would be better to give you the error message, for example, if there is an error within the automated process importing to Anaplan."
"Space and integration are a problem."
"The tool needs to work on its integration with MS Excel and MS Word. The tool does not allow data analysis in spreadsheets which is possible on other platforms. I want the solution to be more collaborative to facilitate decision-making in organizations."
"The visualization tools in the product are limited in comparison to other reporting tools."
"Anaplan could be improved with a stronger consolidation module."
"The price of the solution can improve."
"The solution can improve by providing an easier form of integration to different platforms, such as receiving data from different Salesforce. There is a process to do it through the use of some APIs but it could be made much easier. This would be a large help to us."
"One key area of improvement is pricing."
"The user interface can be more intuitive and user-friendly by having it be more menu-driven, this would be a large benefit."
"It needs to incorporate the new features from the SAP S/4HANA release, such as, utilizing data processes, which is quite nice."
"They need to improve a few processes, including transformation, intelligence, governance, modeling, etc."
"The initial setup of SAP ERP is complex and it took a lot of time."
"There are a lot of manual tasks that are used by a lot of people, so it is a very good candidate for RPA."
"Pricing could be improved for preferred customers."
"The initial setup was challenging initially. People did not understand much about what SAP could do."
"Reporting is why most companies need to acquire business intelligence add-on solutions, and when it comes to SAP ERP, they could improve the reporting graphical representation of the data."
"I would like to see more flexibility in the customization for us to be able to customize it based on the client's requirements."
"Reporting and analytics features must be improved."
"I would like to see direct communication support to engage with clients. The parent company should have a direct relationship with clients. Also, the tool's licensing, upgrade, and maintenance costs should be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are currently using a free workspace license for 90 days. We are satisfied with the price of the solution. There are additional costs if you want more storage, the default limit is 250 GB."
"The license is a yearly subscription. There are three licensing tiers: the model builder, planner, and the reporting."
"The tool’s pricing is reasonable and competitive with other solutions."
"The cost of Anaplan is a challenge for clients, especially if they don't have an ongoing long-term use case for it. It's a $50,000 licensing fee just to get started. Clients need a strong business case to switch from Excel to Anaplan. But if clients have used something similar in the past, such as Hyperion or other solutions, that's not a factor because they know what to expect."
"Anaplan is a bit pricier compared to its competitors - the license costs about $4,000 per user annually."
"The entry-level is anywhere from about $30,000 to $50,000 a year, however, it does go up significantly after that depending on the complexity and how much space you're using."
"A value-for-money product and a very reasonable price compared to competitors like SAP or IBM."
"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced then it would attract more customers."
"I am not sure. However, extensions cost approximately $100,000 or$200,000."
"SAP ECC is not cheap but I consider it the best system for managing an organization's data and processes."
"Some components are available at an additional cost, depending on the type of contract that you have."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"SAP ERP is an expensive tool."
"When you have a solution that is stable, reliable, and has a high performance as this solution, the price is going to be expensive. However, when you evaluate the service you are paying for the cost is quite reasonable for this solution."
"The solution can cost approximately $1 million a year for maintenance for a small-size company and can grow from there. Approximately $1 million is needed for a good-size company."
"There is an annual subscription for the use of SAP ERP."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
7%
University
6%
University
27%
Government
13%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What are your main use cases for Anaplan?
Anaplan is an industry-leading cloud-based corporate performance management (CPM) platform that combines business pla...
Is Board better than Anaplan as a Business Intelligence (BI) solution?
We've had several FP&A departments include Anaplan in their analytics discussions, and while BI information IS ge...
Is Anaplan better than SAP ERP?
There are different aspects of both Anaplan and SAP ERP that I like and dislike. Anaplan improves forecast accuracy a...
What do you like most about SAP ERP?
The solution has made the most significant impact on our human resources function, specifically in HR operations and ...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
SAP ERP could improve by integrating additional components such as digital signatures and barcoding. Having such feat...
What is your primary use case for SAP ERP?
The primary use case for SAP ERP is interlinking many functions within the organization such as purchasing, sales, fi...
What do you like most about Unit4 Business World?
The product's self-service capabilities have benefited our organization.
What needs improvement with Unit4 Business World?
I would like to see direct communication support to engage with clients. The parent company should have a direct rela...
What is your primary use case for Unit4 Business World?
We use the tool in finance, HR, and procurement.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
Agresso ERP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HP, ForeScout, DocuSign, EAT, Pandora, Aviva, Intel Security, Zalora
B&G Manufacturing, Unilever, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town, Bhopal Municipal, Corporation (BMC), adidas Group, Butcher & Packer Supply Company, Franklin Valve L.P., Evoshield, Prime Meats, a Norsan Group company, EMC Corporation, Varian Medical Systems Inc., FC Bayern Mªnchen AG, AkzoNobel Chemicals B.V., T¾V Rheinland, Pacific Drilling S.A., Fire & Rescue New South Wales, University of Amsterdam, Pa_alon S.A.
Media Prima Berhad, IKEA, Cranfield University, The Salvation Army, Avis Europe plc, Nando's
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, Anaplan, IBM and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: August 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.