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IFS Cloud Platform vs Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in ERP
13th
Ranking in Activity Based Costing Software
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
CRM (21st), Customer Experience Management (7th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (11th), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (3rd), Local Government CRM (6th), IT Asset Management (10th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (10th), License Management (3rd)
Sage Business Cloud Enterpr...
Ranking in ERP
23rd
Ranking in Activity Based Costing Software
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the ERP category, the mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 2.5%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Brendan Fisher - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, customizable, and modern
IFS is a very large and complex software, and implementation of IFS can be challenging and may lead to a difficult lengthy project. It can take between 12 and 24 months in some cases to deploy. I have found that not all clients are fully aware of how big the task is that they're undertaking when they make a decision to move to software like this. Companies need to be more aware of the complexity of an ERP implementation project and while I fully recommend moving to IFS, it is not easy and does require business change when adopting an ERP solution. New features are a difficult ask - I work across multiple industries and everyone would probably choose a different feature. Maybe BIM in Construction or Customs link-ups for importers/exporters.
Muhammad Uwais - PeerSpot reviewer
An elastic, multi-company structure that naturally parameterizes and adapts
The best feature is the solution's elastic, multi-company structure. You can expand or add companies at any time while retaining the same architecture and flow with minimal affect on your wallet. The solution is parameterized so you don't need a lot of customizations because it naturally has the ability to parameterize, configure, and adapt to various organizational procedures. You don't have to stick to some standard way of doing things because the solution adapts to your way of doing things. The approval and audit engines are very powerful. The built-in development component allows you to customize and develop without depending on third-party factors. Across six years, 80% to 85% of our use cases are completely managed within the solution because of its architecture.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We could quickly understand what was going on and what the customer wanted to do."
"The best feature is the maintenance module, which is essentially an industry-specific workflow designed with a manufacturing module as per industry standards. It's very precise and specific without having complex functionalities. It's straightforward. Field Service Management is definitely a wonderful product that IFS has developed because it caters to field services. The energy and utility sectors can answer their business needs using the software."
"IFS has been completely rebuilt, modernized, and cloud-based so we don't need bulky software installations."
"Individual user profiles that can be configured as templates to minimize data entry."
"The workflow of the solution is very good."
"The most valuable feature is the distribution module."
"There are fewer fields on the user screen compared to other products. This makes the UI a little bit easier to understand."
"I like the connectivity and interfaces. In V10, it's easy to modify the interfaces and layouts, but it's becoming more complicated in the cloud. IFS is excellent at asset maintenance and incident management. They have specialized modules for IFS that cover incident and asset management and everything else connected to finance. The reporting in IFS is also easy to use."
"The solution is parameterized so it naturally has the ability to parameterize, configure, and adapt to various organizational procedures."
"The interface is rich in features, allowing efficient management of business operations."
"The most valuable feature of Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management is the business intelligence module. Additionally, report consolidation, cloud access, and analysis are useful."
"The accounting part and the procurement part are most valuable. It is a very good system with workflows and notifications."
"Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management has helped by making processes such as calculating costs, accessing inventory information quickly, validating offers, and extracting data easier."
"The initial setup is not complex. The deployment process was relatively straightforward."
 

Cons

"The solution's reporting tools still require improvement."
"Sometimes from the sales perspective, clients don't always fully understand how large a task or a project they're getting involved in when they decide, "We're going to switch across to IFS." They could probably do a little bit more, maybe around preparing people for these projects."
"Technical support could be improved."
"IFS Applications can improve the reporting capabilities and increase the speed of feedback time in the IFS Applications. This would help with the overall performance of the solution and provide better experiences for customers."
"Customization needs to be improved."
"We have upgraded to the latest version right now. We have issues with the quality. We tried to enroll in their Evergreen program which was meant to help us adopt any service update or anything that the tool’s providers come up with."
"We would like to see AI-driven CSI functions built into the tool that would allow us to quickly tie our improvement goals to metrics and activities, so Assyst will suggest the next steps to help us get closer to our goals."
"The integration is a bit complex, and post-implementation support services need to be improved. They have a service center based out of Sri Lanka. The support aspect is good, but the response time is a little slower than we anticipated. In the next release, it would be better if Warehouse Management could be improvised. They have a product line that's a data warehouse management system, but it's still premature and requires a bit of enhancement."
"It is not suitable for corporate or manufacturing companies. For example, it's challenging to use it for a manufacturing company."
"Integration with other tools like BOM or Cisco BlueQ could be improved."
"Integration with other tools like BOM or Cisco BlueQ could be improved."
"The solution does not have a solid, out-of-the-box API architecture that is supported."
"Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management could improve the search functionality. For example, if I was to search for a transaction from last year it would be difficult to accomplish. I have to scroll through to find what I am looking for. The approach should be more similar to Quickbooks where when you search for something it takes you directly to the searched item."
"Its implementation process is kind of complicated. If the person implementing it doesn't know what he is doing, the system can have many issues. Sage X3 is just an accounting system. As compared to Oracle E-Business Suite, it does not cover a lot of functionality. It doesn't have the payroll, lease management, and HR modules. Oracle E-Business Suite is better than Sage X3."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I consider it to be a well-priced solution compared to other mid-range or high-end ERP solutions."
"We pay for a license to use the solution, which is not very expensive."
"Licensing is on an annual basis, with no additional costs."
"The pricing of the solution may appear to be expensive for smaller companies with only tens of users; however, for larger and mid-size industrial companies, IFS is able to win deals and the pricing is competitive in the market."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"Pricing is an area that could be improved. They could be more competitive."
"IFS Applications is expensive software, but it's on par with SAP and Oracle. It's for large enterprises and government entities and not for small and medium-sized enterprises. They have one licensing model, but if you want to have a module-specific license, they provide component-based licenses. Unlike SAP and Oracle, it doesn't have different levels of licensing. It's one level of licensing."
"Ask for all-inclusive pricing, as they are pretty flexible if you ask for custom models."
"It is very cheap. There are no additional charges, but the problem is that you have to acquire an additional supporting system such as a budgeting system. You will have to implement the integration and maintain two systems. So, you need to pay for the license of that budgeting system and this one. You also need to pay the license for the payroll and integration. There are all these integrations that you have to pay for."
"The cost is not expensive."
"The solution delivers the same capabilities of SAP or Oracle at about 30% to 40% of the cost."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, it depends on the number of branches used. The price can be upwards of $40,000 annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
23%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IFS Applications?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten since it is an extremely scalable solution that can be used for various use cases with thousands of users.
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?
I am not able to recall much about batch. Documentation-wise, they need more. There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products,...
What do you like most about Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management?
The initial setup is not complex. The deployment process was relatively straightforward.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management?
The pricing of Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management is high compared to other solutions like Bitrix.
What needs improvement with Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management?
Integration with other tools like BOM or Cisco BlueQ could be improved. The importation of configurations like BOQs is challenging as each line has to be added individually, which is time-consuming...
 

Also Known As

IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
Sage ERP X3, Sage X3
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Power Distributing, Universal Paper and Plastics
Find out what your peers are saying about IFS Cloud Platform vs. Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.