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Anaplan vs SAP S/4HANA 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
Anaplan users gain ROI from reduced costs, efficiencies, increased sales, improved decision-making, and enhanced planning accuracy.
Sentiment score
6.6
Organizations see varied ROI timelines with SAP S/4HANA, benefiting from cost efficiencies, long-term value, and competitive advantages.
We have observed a good return on investment, with calculations based on a five-year ROI plan.
There is an ROI, otherwise I would not buy it.
It's not the best, primarily since the significant investments and the timeline it takes to recover those investments, but it's better than many alternatives.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Anaplan's customer service is highly rated for its fast, skilled support and effective resolutions with minimal unresolved issues.
Sentiment score
6.6
SAP S/4HANA support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but needs improvement in response speed and ticket escalation.
The technical support from Anaplan is amazing, with a dedicated team to assist in case of any issues.
A traditional challenge with SAP support is that SAP teams only support the standard functions, which are part of the product.
Establishing the right channels was a challenge, as BTP was new to everyone, including our SAP contacts.
The quality of technical support from SAP can be rated as eight out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Anaplan offers excellent scalability and integration for enterprises, though initial design may impact storage costs despite recent improvements.
Sentiment score
7.8
SAP S/4HANA is ideal for medium to large enterprises, offering scalability and flexibility, especially with cloud-based deployments.
Anaplan had issues before, but the new Polaris engine solves them.
SAP S/4HANA scales exceptionally well.
It is very easy to scale within businesses, especially when a new business falls within the range.
Scalability is a key strength of SAP, especially for HANA, compared to all the other ERPs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Anaplan is praised for its stable, high-performance cloud computing, minimizing manual tasks, and quickly resolving any rare downtimes.
Sentiment score
7.7
SAP S/4HANA is stable and reliable, with issues often due to implementation, not inherent flaws, thanks to continuous updates.
The SAP HANA system is not very easy to unlock, and it's something strange as, compared to other databases, when transaction logs are full, you stop the system, run the transaction log backups, and then restart.
We relied on a private cloud, and accessibility became literally impossible whenever the cloud service provider experienced downtime.
In comparison to ECC, definitely, because of some of the simplification and eliminating some moving parts, it is better.
 

Room For Improvement

Anaplan users seek improvements in model sizing, reporting, visualization, performance, integration, dashboards, and usability for non-technical users.
SAP S/4HANA users seek improved UI, integration, customization, lower pricing, better AI, streamlined implementation, and comprehensive support documentation.
Advanced planning with AI, machine learning, and related plugins would be great to see in the future.
Organizations face challenges like adapting to new technologies rapidly, and whether customers are early or late adopters influences their experience.
I can perform a lot of data manipulation directly on SAP using S-One, without having to resort to Excel, unlike with View ID.
The performance of the SAP interface could be improved.
 

Setup Cost

Anaplan's premium pricing involves high initial costs, scales with usage, and is justified by its leading market position.
SAP S/4HANA is costly with complex licensing, often challenging small businesses compared to Oracle and Microsoft pricing.
The pricing is slightly on the premium side, but I do not have detailed knowledge about the exact licensing structure.
It's higher compared to similar peer solutions.
It's not easy to have a clear understanding of the price and the value, especially if I talk about the business transaction platform.
There is always a push from clients saying that the total cost of ownership is quite high compared to other products.
 

Valuable Features

Anaplan offers intuitive dashboards, real-time updates, user-friendly interface, scalable features, and seamless integration, enhancing business planning efficiency.
SAP S/4HANA features robust finance and integration, user-friendly interface, real-time analytics, scalability, and extensive customization for enhanced ERP capabilities.
Anaplan's connected planning feature is its most valuable aspect, allowing for seamless financial planning, HR planning, and updates.
It enables the posting of transactions and allows us to see the impact across various application scenarios, providing significant benefits for business.
The way SAP has helped our customers is by establishing a discipline where industry-specific operations and SAP's standard processes work hand in hand, improving resource utilization, material movement control, and cost control.
The insights given help us make strategic decisions.
 

Categories and Ranking

Anaplan
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (1st), Production Planning (5th), Predictive Analytics (4th)
SAP S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
ERP (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Anaplan and SAP S/4HANA aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Anaplan is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 13.6%, down 15.3% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 11.9% mindshare, down 16.3% since last year.
Business Performance Management
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…
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Implementation simplifies ERP management with comprehensive data integration and visibility
A lot of people would say the pricing. SAP is seen as quite expensive even now. It doesn't work for smaller or medium optimizations. The licensing and pricing could be looked at. In Brownfield migration, the trade-off between greenfield and brownfield means you either keep it clean or match the business requirements. Sometimes, it's not possible to do both. While ValixAPI provides significant support in making those decisions and the SAP consultant is very useful, we are still dependent on past history and how it was originally set up. I wouldn't call that a real disadvantage, yet more accessible consulting would be beneficial. Incorporating all other cloud products, like APO or IPP, into the S/4 house might also help.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
35%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 planning and analytics in a single solution. It is designed to assist organizations...
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 generated, the focus is generally on compiling input from various sources and simu...
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 and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
Are there any advantages of SAP S4 HANA over SAP Business One (SAP B1) apart from the cost?
SaP Business One is a complete solution for business management. The software applications are broad, ranging from accounting to project management and human resources. It is very versatile and com...
What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA?
There could be a bit more competitiveness in their licensing and pricing.
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
It is a great product to be implemented for different industries for my customers. Can it be used globally?
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HP, ForeScout, DocuSign, EAT, Pandora, Aviva, Intel Security, Zalora
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
Find out what your peers are saying about Anaplan, Oracle, IBM and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.