IBM Public Cloud vs SAP Cloud Platform comparison

IBM and SAP are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 6.3, while SAP is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1. IBM holds a 3.3% mindshare in PSP, compared to SAP’s 8.0% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of SAP users who would recommend it.

IBM Public Cloud

Read 17 IBM Public Cloud reviews

3,902 Views
2,933 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

SAP Cloud Platform

Read 46 SAP Cloud Platform reviews

6,958 Views
5,498 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

IBM Public Cloud

SAP Cloud Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

IBM Public Cloud and SAP Cloud Platform are competing products in the cloud space. IBM Public Cloud seems to have the upper hand with pricing and support, whereas SAP Cloud Platform stands out for its features justifying the investment.

Features: IBM Public Cloud is praised for its robust infrastructure, AI capabilities, and flexibility in creating serverless functions. SAP Cloud Platform is known for its strong integration capabilities, scalability, and comprehensive suite of enterprise-grade applications.

Room for Improvement: IBM Public Cloud can improve in offering a more streamlined deployment process, enhance integration with non-IBM systems, and reduce complexity in pricing models. SAP Cloud Platform could enhance its maturity to match competitors, improve usability for non-SAP products, and address initial setup costs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP Cloud Platform offers a streamlined deployment process with good integration into business environments, supported by agile customer service. IBM Public Cloud provides technical deployment with strong support and broad compatibility, catering well to technical customization.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Public Cloud provides competitive initial setup costs, focusing on broad resource offerings at general value. SAP Cloud Platform may have a higher initial investment, but it delivers long-term ROI through business efficiency gains and process optimization. The choice between them often depends on the company’s financial flexibility and strategic goals.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Public Cloud vs. SAP Cloud Platform Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Public Cloud vs. SAP Cloud Platform

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

IBM Public Cloud

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IoT Platforms (6th)

SAP Cloud Platform

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of IBM Public Cloud is 3.3%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Cloud Platform is 8.0%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Shivakumar Kuppannan

Founder & CEO at Star Systems India Private Limited

No hidden charges, 100% stable, and allows us to have bare metal servers for dedicated workload

It pretty much has all the features. There are many applications and features, and because of that, we need to walk through or study all the material and do hands-on. We need clear documentation or support for using IBM Public Cloud. The UI is fine, and everything else in terms of usability and configuring the cloud is also fine. The only thing is that when we're stuck or get an error, we need some technical support. Normally, for any cloud, we get a lot of information on the web, but that is missing in the case of IBM Public Cloud. We need some technical support documents. That is the only thing missing in IBM Public Cloud.

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PinakiGhosh

COO at Data Core Systems

The implementation cycle has been reduced significantly but has room for integration enhancements

Our existing customers who are on ECC are on-premises. They are migrating to SAP Cloud Platform, specifically on S4HANA. One of our clients was on SAP ECC on-premises, and they are moving to the cloud on S4HANA on the public cloud system. We are supporting about 15 customers, mostly small to…

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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

"There is no installation for this product because it is a cloud product."

"The beauty of cloud service providers, especially public cloud service providers, is that they are scalable every time when you need them because their payment model is pay-as-you-go."

"It is easy to deploy what you need for the initial setup"

"The availability is second to none. Customer support is very good."

"It's straightforward, has a good environment and is cost-effective."

"The price of IBM Cloud is most valuable for us. The service is personable and gives us a good rapport. I can't say it's the best, but it was enough for our needs."

"What I like most in IBM Public Cloud is how easy it is to create serverless functions. They are called IBM functions, but in AWS, they are called Lambda functions. Those are pretty standard, and another thing I like the most is that you have fewer restrictions on the amount of data you can transfer across those functions. IBM Public Cloud is way more flexible than AWS. I also like that IBM Public Cloud is pretty straightforward to integrate. As long as you have all the tools IBM provides you, getting everything up and running is straightforward."

"The initial setup was very easy. It's quite straightforward. Deployment took about fifteen minutes. Everything is well organized."

More IBM Public Cloud pros

"The integration flows are the most valuable feature of this solution."

"The most valuable features of SAP Cloud Platform are security integration and scalability."

"Cloud Platform's stability is great."

"The product's initial setup phase is pretty straightforward."

"The most valuable features of the SAP Cloud Platform are the extensions and integrations. Additionally, there are a lot of AI-based microservices."

"The pre-delivered content from the SAP cloud platform is definitely a strength."

"It’s great that we have the entire suite of SAP at our fingertips."

"The solution can scale."

More SAP Cloud Platform pros

Cons

"It will be challenging to implement if you do not have any experience."

"The product should offer more computing, similar to Amazon."

"Normally, for any cloud, we get a lot of information on the web, but that is missing in the case of IBM Public Cloud. We need some technical support documents. That is the only thing missing in IBM Public Cloud."

"It could be more secure."

"Support could be improved."

"The deployment can be a bit of a pain. There are a lot of packages and a lot of options and it can require complex configuration to get it right."

"Recently, we just faced some issues with the operating system due to the end of life of CentOS 6...So, then the client wanted to try it out under AWS instead of IBM. In short, it has some complexities."

"An area for improvement in IBM Public Cloud is getting up-to-date information on how to set up everything. It's hard to find new documentation."

More IBM Public Cloud cons

"When I started looking at the client's IT architecture, I started by doing a study of their services, DVM, data volume, and management services. According to the results, they could be a lot better at this."

"There is a lot of room for improvement in customer service and support. The availability of knowledgeable support to the implementation partners and the customers could be better."

"They are still developing this product. It does not really have 100% of the necessary features available to properly service business clients"

"Speaking about the public cloud, it's a very rigid system. So, there is not a lot of customization possible in a public cloud environment."

"The price of the solution could improve."

"From what I understand, the SAP Cloud Platform is for implementation on AWS or Azure, and it's not meant to be a full-fledged cloud solution, so while using the platform, an area for improvement is that it has fewer offerings and is less flexible when compared to AWS. AWS has a lot more flexibility than the SAP Cloud Platform. I've also used Azure in college and AWS in between, and I prefer AWS over the SAP Cloud Platform. The only reason I would ever stick with the SAP Cloud Platform is to create applications integrated with SAP or with other companies within SAP, such as SuccessFactors. When you go into the SAP Cloud Platform web page, it's a bit bland and has relatively limited offerings. For example, there doesn't seem to be in-house MongoDB support, but I realize there's in-house support for the PostgreSQL database, so there are fewer offerings in the SAP Cloud Platform. Yes, you can always go for a database on the actual MongoDB server rather than depending on the offerings of the SAP Cloud Platform. However, it's still better to support MongoDB from the platform, so payment is consolidated, rather than going to a different location to make a payment. Another room for improvement in the SAP Cloud Platform is the need to create an SAP subaccount if you need to use the platform unless you have an SSO login by Google or if you're using a different identity provider such as Microsoft or Google. Instead of requiring dependency on SAP, it would be good if users could use the SAP Cloud Platform even without a subaccount on SAP. For example, when hosting an application on AWS or Azure, you don't have to create an account in Amazon or Microsoft. You can still do it using Google. You can use almost anything, so I'd like SAP to improve by removing the dependency, particularly the requirement to create an SAP account to use the SAP Cloud Platform."

"The product needs improvement for serverless native integrations. They should opt for serverless features as all the customers worldwide choose cloud-based products."

"SAP Cloud Platform should improve on integrating third-party applications with S/4HANA."

More SAP Cloud Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of IBM Cloud is very cheap compared to competitors AWS and Azure."

"IBM Public Cloud is pretty cheap. They have an ongoing free tier that basically won't expire, so as long as your solution is small enough, you can have a test set that you can use for demos, which will cost you almost nothing."

"IBM has a lesser price compared to other cloud service providers like Azure and AWS."

"Pricing is not as fair as Amazon or Azure."

"In order to be competitive, you have to commit to a contract for at least one year, but you pay a fixed monthly fee."

"The licensing fees are straightforward and predictable."

"It pretty much has a standard price. There is no hidden price with IBM Public Cloud."

"We are using the trial version of this solution, so we have not paid anything."

More IBM Public Cloud pricing and cost advice

"The cost when it comes to monitoring can be difficult."

"Cost-wise, I'm unsure of how expensive the SAP Cloud Platform is."

"The pricing can be negotiated."

"SAP's pricing is usually high compared to the competition. But this is also justified because they hold their products and services to quite high standards."

"SAP Cloud Platform is generally more expensive than the other options."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price, I rate the pricing a six or seven."

"SAP Cloud Platform Integration is an expensive product. I rate its pricing an eight out of ten."

"SAP Cloud Platform is an expensive solution."

More SAP Cloud Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Energy/Utilities Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity ...

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What needs improvement with IBM Cloud?

The front end is not pervasive, so it is very difficult get the status of your current services or account from a mobile device.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Public Cloud?

The most valuable feature of IBM Public Cloud is the AI integrations.

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. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with bo...

See all answers

How is SAP Cloud Platform different than Amazon AWS?

How is SAP Cloud Platform different than Amazon AWS? Amazon AWS offers options both in terms of upgrading and expanding capabilities as well as acquiring greater storage space. These upgrades can ...

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What do you like most about SAP Cloud Platform?

The product improved our company's business operations since we got value out of it.

See all answers

Comparisons

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs IBM Public Cloud

Compared 35% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs IBM Public Cloud

Compared 33% of the time

Amazon AWS vs IBM Public Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Dell ECS vs IBM Public Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

Google Cloud vs IBM Public Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Public Cloud Competitors

Amazon AWS vs SAP Cloud Platform

Compared 29% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs SAP Cloud Platform

Compared 28% of the time

Google Cloud vs SAP Cloud Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs SAP Cloud Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Integration Cloud Service vs SAP Cloud Platform

Compared 5% of the time

More SAP Cloud Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Public Cloud

April 2025

Download IBM Public Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP Cloud Platform

April 2025

Download SAP Cloud Platform product report

Also Known As

IBM Bluemix

SAP HANA Cloud Platform

Overview

IBM Cloud is a full-stack cloud platform that spans public, private and hybrid environments. Build with a robust suite of advanced data and AI tools, and draw on deep industry expertise to help you on your journey to the cloud.

IBM

SAP Cloud Platform is an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and PaaS cloud tool. It powers applications that deliver real-time insights to contribute to more effective and timely decision-making. Customers all over the world from different-sized companies use SAP Cloud Platform to build application extensions, integrate landscapes, or extend existing enterprise applications in the cloud.

The platform incorporates innovative technologies, including big data, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). SAP Cloud Platform supports native services and products by SAP, as well as partners with popular platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, and Alibaba Cloud.

Users of the product can extend, integrate, and develop applications on premises and in the cloud. The product offers flexibility, agility, and scalability, as it enables easy integration and connection of different applications within the platform. The solution is based on open standards and provides a wide range of development tools.

SAP has announced that they are removing SAP Cloud Platform as a brand name and moving its capabilities within SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). The features of SAP Cloud Platform will be integrated into SAP BTP to assist with data management and analytics, alongside other components of the platform. Existing customers of SAP Cloud Platform will continue to benefit from its products under SAP Integration Suite and SAP Extension Suite.

SAP Cloud Platform Capabilities

The solution offers a wide variety of tools, application capabilities, services, and application programming interface (API). These can be categorized in the following ways:

Enterprise extensions: The features of SAP Cloud Platform in this category include SAP Localization Hub, Tax Service, Data Enrichment for SAP S/4HANA, SAP Data Quality Management, SAP Business Application Studio, ABAP environment, and SAP Web IDE.
Intelligent BPM: This set of features includes SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Process Visibility, Business Rules, and Workflow.
Integration Suite: The features of SAP Cloud Platform in this category include Open Connectors, OData Provisioning, API Management, Cloud Integration, and Smart Data Integration.
Digital experience: Features in this category include SAP Conversational AI, Mobile Services, Document Service, Portal, SAP Build, SAPUI5, and SAP Fiori Cloud.
Data-driven insights: This category of capabilities includes SAP Leonardo Internet of Things, SAP Data Intelligence, SAP Edge Services, IoT, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Web Analytics, SAP Streaming Analytics, SAP ASE Service, and SAP Analytics Cloud.
Platform foundation: Alert Notification, Application Logging, Data Retention Manager, Job Scheduler, Java Server, and Transport Management are included in this group of capabilities.

SAP Cloud Platform Benefits

The platform has many benefits which improve their client’s workflows. They include the following:

SAP Cloud Platform facilitates the seamless integration of existing solutions and hybrid system landscapes.
The solution assists companies to deliver tailored end-to-end interfaces for improved user experience through software development kits (SDKs).
It simplifies application interface management through the option of building apps in the Kubernetes environment.
SAP Cloud Platform simplifies the development of native business applications through the various development tools and capabilities it offers.
It provides companies with a wide range of pre-configured business services.
Companies are offered the possibility to streamline the integration of new apps with a lowered overall cost of ownership.
The product can reduce costs for organizations, as it does not require an up-front investment in software or hardware.
The solution can increase productivity for developers through its supported open programming standards.

Reviews from Real Users

Shylaraj AK, a senior architect at a construction company, describes SAP Cloud Platform as easy to maintain, great features, and helpful support, which attributes to his high rating for the product.

Ehab-El H., chief executive officer at Asis, likes SAP Cloud Platform because it is easy to use with a fast deployment and straightforward setup.

SAP

Sample Customers

Uvionics Tech, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Alpha Modus, Inventive, Web Business Consulting, FindBrok, SilverHook Powerboats, United Way of Allegheny County

Siemens, Shell & Volkswagen, Still, EarlySense, Roche, National Football League, Heidelberg University Hospital, In Mind Computing, The Timken Company, OPAL, EnterpriseJungle, Groupe Danone, Accenture, T-Systems, Sailing Team Germany, Sloan Valve

Buyer's Guide

IBM Public Cloud vs. SAP Cloud Platform

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Public Cloud vs. SAP Cloud Platform

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