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IFS Cloud Platform vs SAP S/4HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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
5.1
Users reported improved operations and financial reporting with IFS Cloud, seeing up to 4.5x ROI over 18 months.
Sentiment score
5.1
SAP S/4HANA offers high long-term ROI by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and providing innovation despite initial investments.
It's not a matter of the solution; it's a matter of the clients and the approach that we follow.
Works at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
If we can maximize that, we can get the full price benefit of the solution.
Principal Instrument and Control at PETRONAS
We have observed a good return on investment, with calculations based on a five-year ROI plan.
Account executive at Cisco
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.7
Australian support is strong with expert consultants, but timeliness and service consistency vary, impacting resolution times and communication.
Sentiment score
6.2
SAP S/4HANA support is mostly satisfactory, with varying experiences influenced by response times, partnership levels, and team efficiency.
A traditional challenge with SAP support is that SAP teams only support the standard functions, which are part of the product.
Delivery Head- IT Shared Services at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Establishing the right channels was a challenge, as BTP was new to everyone, including our SAP contacts.
Chief Executive Officer at LogicalDNA Solutions
I would rate the support a ten because there are a lot of knowledge-based articles published, and most of them are available online.
Program Director at KloudData Inc.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IFS Cloud Platform is scalable for businesses of all sizes, though some face complexity in updates and dependency management.
Sentiment score
7.7
SAP S/4HANA offers flexible scaling in cloud environments, praised for adaptability but can be costly for smaller firms.
IFS Cloud Platform has standard functionalities that follow the standard supply chain management processes, and it is easy to customize or configure.
Consultant at Arcwide
SAP S/4HANA scales exceptionally well.
Enterprise Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
It is very easy to scale within businesses, especially when a new business falls within the range.
Project accountant at Montego Upstream Services Limited
Scalability is a key strength of SAP, especially for HANA, compared to all the other ERPs.
Delivery Head- IT Shared Services at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
IFS Cloud Platform is praised for stability and reliability, with rare downtime, and depends on client maintenance and setup.
Sentiment score
7.7
SAP S/4HANA is stable and reliable with some challenges in data handling, customizations, and infrastructure-dependent performance variations.
Now, with the drastic developments especially in the cloud applications known as Arena on IFS Cloud Platform, it has improved tremendously.
Consultant at Arcwide
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.
Associate Partner - SAP Solution Architect and MDG expert at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Not very often, but it can happen, especially with user load; if many people use the system at the same time, there might be issues depending on various factors.
Enterprise Architect at E.ON
I rate the stability of SAP S_4HANA as fairly stable because we have never experienced any downtime from SAP, and the performance is good.
Head of IT at Genix Pharma (Private) Limited
 

Room For Improvement

IFS Cloud Platform requires usability, integration, and support improvements, along with enhanced customization, AI, and simplified user experience.
SAP S/4HANA requires better integration, usability, and cost adjustment, alongside improved migration, support, and predictive analytics features.
There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products, especially Maximo.
Senior Director at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
They are working on IFS AI, but we have not explored much into that yet, and if they want to keep their competitive edge, that is an area they need to concentrate on.
Consultant at Arcwide
Organizations face challenges like adapting to new technologies rapidly, and whether customers are early or late adopters influences their experience.
Managing Director at a recruiting/HR firm with 501-1,000 employees
I can perform a lot of data manipulation directly on SAP using S-One, without having to resort to Excel, unlike with View ID.
Project accountant at Montego Upstream Services Limited
The performance of the SAP interface could be improved.
Associate Partner - SAP Solution Architect and MDG expert at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

IFS Cloud Platform offers competitive pricing, best for large enterprises, with scalable value similar to SAP and Oracle.
SAP S/4HANA is costly, with various licensing models and high pricing, often challenging for smaller businesses compared to competitors.
It's higher compared to similar peer solutions.
Account executive at Cisco
Most users or IT professionals typically criticize the high price of SAP license costs.
Enterprise Architect at E.ON
It's not easy to have a clear understanding of the price and the value, especially if I talk about the business transaction platform.
Associate Partner - SAP Solution Architect and MDG expert at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

IFS Cloud Platform offers customizable pricing, robust integration, intuitive interface, and excels in enterprise management with adaptable features.
SAP S/4HANA enhances business operations with integrated features, real-time analytics, user-friendly interfaces, and cloud-based scalability.
The cloud feature in IFS Cloud Platform is predominantly valuable, especially the enterprise asset management module, which IFS has very good business into, along with strong finance, project management, and supply chain management modules.
Consultant at Arcwide
There are fewer fields on the user screen compared to other products.
Senior Director at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
It enables the posting of transactions and allows us to see the impact across various application scenarios, providing significant benefits for business.
Enterprise Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
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.
Chief Executive Officer at LogicalDNA Solutions
The insights given help us make strategic decisions.
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in ERP
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
CRM (35th), Customer Experience Management (9th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (21st), Activity Based Costing Software (9th), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (4th), Local Government CRM (15th), IT Asset Management (15th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (19th), License Management (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA
Ranking in ERP
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 2.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP S/4HANA is 6.4%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP S/4HANA6.4%
IFS Cloud Platform2.6%
Other91.0%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Thangaraj Ramasamy - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Arcwide
Has supported project management and business customization through strong modular flexibility
The cloud feature in IFS Cloud Platform is predominantly valuable, especially the enterprise asset management module, which IFS has very good business into, along with strong finance, project management, and supply chain management modules; these are the major modules that are performing well with IFS, and the cloud options along with user-friendly customizations for any technical developments are additional advantages. The integration of IoT with IFS Cloud Platform is performing well, enabling us to integrate with predominantly any third party through the standard inbuilt connectors that are readily available, and if we need to customize the integration, we can certainly do that too.
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head- IT Shared Services at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
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
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise53
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IFS Applications?
The product is reasonably priced. The costs are justified by the value provided, considering the comprehensive features and minimal need for customization. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with IFS Applications?
When it comes to AI, I feel that is the area where we expect something more from IFS Cloud Platform. They are working on IFS AI, but we have not explored much into that yet, and if they want to kee...
What is your primary use case for IFS Applications?
Currently, I am working with Arcwide, which is a service industry that predominantly focuses on IFS consulting, including IFS implementations, rollouts, upgrades, and support services.
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?
In my opinion, areas of SAP S/4HANA that have room for improvement would be in AI and insights generation, which would be a good enhancement for the future. Currently, this analytics is still drive...
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
My experience with SAP S_4HANA involves working on several projects helping customers prepare their transition from ECC to SAP S_4HANA. My role was to study the gap and technical feasibility by exe...
 

Also Known As

IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
SAP S4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
Find out what your peers are saying about IFS Cloud Platform vs. SAP S/4HANA and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.