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Apache Spark vs SAP HANA 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
7.3
Apache Spark reduces operational costs by up to 50%, offering high ROI and efficient performance despite infrastructure expenses.
Sentiment score
6.6
SAP HANA offers strong value and customization, but integration challenges and basic features can limit its overall effectiveness.
We do not feel we're getting value for the investment due to the additional resources needed for integration and maintenance.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Apache Spark support ranges from vibrant community help to paid vendor plans, with experiences varying based on user needs.
Sentiment score
6.2
SAP HANA support experiences vary, with mixed satisfaction; improvements in response time and support quality are frequently needed.
The community support is better than the official SAP support.
While issues are resolved eventually, the first level of support is not as good as we would like.
The support is lacking and not worth the premium price.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Apache Spark is scalable, efficiently manages large workloads, and is praised for stability, adaptability, and expansive capabilities.
Sentiment score
7.8
SAP HANA is scalable and flexible, efficiently supporting enterprise growth, despite some challenges with scaling without speed impact.
Our operations have grown from a hundred data operations a day to as many in a couple of seconds.
The scalability rating is based on the ability to expand.
There is enough scalability offered by SAP to meet our deployment needs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Apache Spark is stable and reliable, with improved versions addressing issues, widely used by major tech companies.
Sentiment score
7.9
SAP HANA is praised for its reliability and stability, receiving high user ratings and minimal bug or crash reports.
We have not had any problems in the last seven to eight years.
Regarding stability, they are using legacy systems and have implemented SAP HANA.
 

Room For Improvement

SAP HANA requires improvements in cost, integration, usability, scalability, licensing, support, customization, deployment flexibility, and connectivity.
Licensing costs with SAP HANA are very high.
The setup process and deployment process for SAP HANA is complex.
The main issue is the ecosystem, which lacks the widespread support that SQL enjoys.
 

Setup Cost

SAP HANA pricing is high, with variable costs, but appreciated for performance despite being expensive compared to alternatives.
It's a recurring subscription model, which is expensive compared to legacy systems with just a maintenance fee.
SAP is not a cheap company, and its licenses are expensive.
 

Valuable Features

SAP HANA excels with real-time processing, integration, and analytics, optimizing storage and security for large databases.
The concept enhances speed, allowing the database to serve and move data quickly.
This architecture allows for faster data processing and real-time analytics that were not possible with traditional databases.
One of our dashboards using Excelsius was previously developed on normal BW on Oracle data, which took 10 minutes to open. After developing the same calculation views using those tables and replacing them with calculation views in Excelsius, the dashboard opened in seconds.
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Spark
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Hadoop (1st), Compute Service (4th), Java Frameworks (2nd)
SAP HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (2nd), Embedded Database (4th), Relational Databases Tools (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

Dunstan Matekenya - PeerSpot reviewer
Open-source solution for data processing with portability
Apache Spark is known for its ease of use. Compared to other available data processing frameworks, it is user-friendly. While many choices now exist, Spark remains easy to use, particularly with Python. You can utilize familiar programming styles similar to Pandas in Python, including object-oriented programming. Another advantage is its portability. I can prototype and perform some initial tasks on my laptop using Spark without needing to be on Databricks or any cloud platform. I can transfer it to Databricks or other platforms, such as AWS. This flexibility allows me to improve processing even on my laptop. For instance, if I'm processing large amounts of data and find my laptop becoming slow, I can quickly switch to Spark. It handles small and large datasets efficiently, making it a versatile tool for various data processing needs.
Hisham Ismail - PeerSpot reviewer
An integrated and reliable solution that offers in-memory database
The tool is an in-memory database that stores and retrieves data very quickly. This speed makes it faster to use and maintain data, as no additional processes move data between memory and disk. With SAP HANA's in-memory technology, accessing your data is exceptionally fast. You don't need to retrieve it from disks or other media. Everything you need is already in memory, making data retrieval and report generation quick. In certain instances, decisions must be made within 90 minutes. For instance, ideas that require data to support them are proposed during support meetings. This analysis involves comparing various data sets and dashboards to inform decisions. Integrating our infrastructure with the tool allows for connectivity between different functions, such as material management, manufacturing, human resources, and finance.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark?
We use Spark to process data from different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is open-source, so it doesn't incur any charges.
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
There is complexity when it comes to understanding the whole ecosystem, especially for beginners. I find it quite complex to understand how a Spark job is initiated, the roles of driver nodes, work...
What are the biggest benefits of using SAP HANA?
Based on my work with SAP HANA, the biggest benefit that it can bring to your business is total data management. This product is by SAP - a company that serves almost all needs a client may have co...
Is SAP HANA’s customer and technical support reliable?
We have been using SAP HANA for a fairly short period of time and have only taken advantage of their customer support. So far, we have not had issues that required specialized help from technical s...
Is SAP HANA difficult to set up and start using?
SAP HANA is fairly easy to set up, however, I do not think a complete beginner can do it. You certainly need some preparation - either you need to have experience with similar solutions, or with ot...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance, HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
Unilever, NHS 24, adidas Group, CHIO Aachen, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark vs. SAP HANA and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.