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Infor M3 vs Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP ERP 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Infor M3 is 2.3%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 3.1%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP ERP is 8.6%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP ERP8.6%
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central3.1%
Infor M32.3%
Other86.0%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

UD
Vice President, Delivery at Independent Computer Consulting Group, Incorporated
Maximized industry-specific process efficiency with rapid implementation
The best features of Infor M3 are the micro-vertical and industry ready-made solutions rather than generic solutions. They have ready-made solutions ready, so the implementation of the process discovery happens very fast. It won't take more than two months, and if the process is very simple and they adopt the standard, it may happen within five weeks, covering the implementation cycle which will finish within seven to eight months. Most of the time, it helps streamline business processes; maybe some processes such as unique subcontracting vary by continent or job work, which could be different due to legal compliance. Other than that, everything helps because the processes are very much streamlined. Everywhere you have a check and maker concept, there is a workflow, and all those things are there; document management is also very simple. You can drag and drop the reports. The workflow feature is very good and flexible, working with multi-level authorization and all those capabilities. Apart from that, the GUI interface screens are really good. Users can design their own workspace based on the roles, and there are roles-based security options, with many roles available that you need not define—you can just tweak them.
BN
VP Sales at Zelite Solution
Streamlined sales pipeline has improved daily task tracking and clarified client follow-ups
The best features Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers for me is that this software makes my life very easy, as I have a complete snapshot of my pipeline and a complete snapshot of my daily activities, where I can see what the status of my leads is, where I am standing in terms of closure, and the aging of my opportunities, which tells me how much time there is in the opportunity. Out of all those things I mentioned, the pipeline view and day-to-day activities feel the most valuable to me in my day-to-day work. There are AI-driven insights through Copilot, which is worth mentioning. Email communication and everything I receive is tracked with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and the best feature is that I can access everything on my mobile, so I do not have to open my laptop and the application every time. It helps me with my sales forecasting also, and predictive analysis is one of the best features for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. We have more insights and more clarity about our sales, our pipeline, where we are standing, and we have more clarity on our leads. Becoming a process-centric organization helps us a lot to keep us accountable, so Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has made our life easy in terms of sales.
Achmad Dimyati - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Long-term adaptation and evolution meets changing technology trends
SAP ERP is not really real-time. We use the HANA database which is supposed to be memory data in memory, but we are still not very happy. It is supposed to be real-time and come very quickly, but in reality, it still takes time to run. That is why we use BW of SAP, Business Objects, and now we have moved to the Analytic Cloud where we start using predictive AI. SAP recently implemented Databricks, and they started investing significantly in the analytic environment. SAP ERP has been left behind as they moved to S/4HANA with the HANA database. They restructured the whole table structure of SAP ERP, introduced simple finance, simple logistics, and moved HR to SuccessFactors. They have the BTP layer where they manage everything from integration to master data management. The challenge with SAP is that they move very fast to different products and buy different products. It requires significant investment and many skills to catch up because all of these have different sets of technology. The fundamental has changed differently. It is not monolithic anymore but different products under one name, SAP. You have to buy it model by model for additional models. Products such as SuccessFactors, Ariba for procure to pay, Concur for travel, and Facility Management use totally different technology. They try to integrate with each other, but it remains a challenge for SAP to make them have the same management, technology, and operational approach.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is highly customizable."
"M3 has several useful features for managing supply chains, production, and customer orders. It's an excellent system that helps me meet all my requirements for fixed costs."
"Infor M3 has tailor-made packages for each and every industry."
"Infor M3 has ready-made processes, which provide the best workflows."
"The solution provides all modules, supply chain, HR - it's good for management."
"It's very stable, and it handles all types of industrial and manufacturing businesses in very good ways. I've found it to be easy."
"Its ease of use is most valuable; inquiries are transparent, and it shows good information on each screen so we don't have to go to 14 different screens to find out about one item, which is a big advantage."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the Infor GL tool that allows us to do our application support and development."
"The solution is very well integrated and doesn't require a lot of work in that respect, and one of the advantages is that the vertical covers all aspects of the functionality for the various areas of operations and integrates easily with the existing Office products, BI, and CRM."
"The most valuable features of Business Central for me are its seamless integration with Power BI and the ability to create customized reports."
"The solution is easy to use, flexible, and customizable."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV's most valuable feature is the integration with other Microsoft solutions."
"The value for money is very high as it fits the business well."
"It is a stable solution."
"The initial setup is easy."
"For people who want to start using Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, it's a far easier system to use than any other competing ERPs in the segments because it's very easy to configure."
"This product is very scalable and easy to expand."
"If you are well versed in SAP, the initial setup is pretty simple."
"The tool can be very much customized."
"Generally, there's a lot of possibilities as the solution is quite vast and flexible."
"This is a robust solution with a lot of control measures."
"We can go 100 times our volume of transactions and we won't have any problems with it."
"I like the solution's ability to close plans and resource requirements in deals."
"The stability is SAP ERP is not good only because the version is old. They could work on improving the versions."
 

Cons

"Customer support from Infor is responsive and addresses issues, but the response time can be delayed, which sometimes leads me to explore private vendors."
"The solution is stable but not agile."
"The configuration appears to have been designed around theory rather than practice."
"Here in Infor M3, you have certain limitations where the main components cannot be modified—you must work around or use bolt-ons."
"The solution's technical support is an area with shortcomings that need improvement, especially the support for the product named M3 rather than the support offered by Infor as an organization."
"We can't make modifications to fit the client's requirements."
"From a technology perspective, this is an old solution making it harder to integrate and maintain."
"Sometimes, M3 alone cannot handle all the planning functionalities required by a customer. It has to be used along with industry-specific planning tools because M3 doesn't have all the features. However, no product can handle all the requirements of all the industries. There will be some shortcomings in all the products. Though this is an area for improvement, it is not a very serious shortfall or limitation. It can be covered by using third-party planning applications that integrate with Infor M3."
"The solution is not best suited for larger-scale businesses."
"Inter-company functionality: Relatively shallow and mostly manual."
"There are some aspects of the solution that is complex."
"In sales and marketing, we want improvement in workflow with more automation in the sales and marketing process."
"There is room for improvement in terms of compatibility."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is not scalable."
"There is some network issue."
"An improvement would be the customizations that we do tend to limit by adapting our processes to the software."
"The solution is not ready for the current e-commerce environment."
"The product can be a little slow when dealing with thousands of employee data."
"When there is a system error it provides an error code and a lot of times these can be complicated. The support team could have more knowledge to be able to assist with these situations more promptly."
"ERP could use better integration with other systems. That's always the thing."
"Certain things are off-the shelf, but there are a few things that need to be developed based on client specific or unique business processes."
"I would like to see the customization of the reports become easier to work with instead of having technical support have to assist us."
"Customer Service: Satisfactory. Technical Support: 6 out of 10"
"The technical support is not very good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Infor M3 is a tier-two product and is cheaper than tier-one products such as SAP and Oracle. However, it is more expensive than some other tier-two products. The licensing cost is dependent on the number of users. Also, if you purchase other tools from Infor as a package, then there may be other discounts offered."
"There is a yearly licensing cost. The price is based on the modules you need. There are several modules, such as HR module, accounting module, sales module, scheduling module, etc., and the price will vary depending on the number of modules you choose. The customers always say that it's very expensive. It can cost a lot of money if your organization is huge. It's not implemented in a lot of organizations in my country because it's too expensive."
"The cost is between $50 and $100 per user annually."
"I'm not part of the team that manages Infor M3 pricing, but it depends on the client, integration, ship-out, and training levels. You get the price from the solution provider, but it would be best to discuss it because nothing is set in stone regarding pricing."
"The tool’s licensing is yearly."
"If you compare Infor M3 to SAP, Infor M3 is less expensive than SAP, but if you compare Infor M3 to Dynamics 365, Infor M3 is more expensive. It also depends on the model that you buy. It depends on whether you have the complete package or whether you have separate models."
"The solution is on the cloud and they provide 50 gigabytes of free space on their Microsoft Drive. The reason for this is that Microsoft is requiring you to upgrade all of your systems to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in order to effectively use the cloud. This means that if you are currently using a different version of Microsoft for a specific purpose that does not require this solution, it can be frustrating to have to spend money to upgrade to this solution just for the purpose of syncing with the cloud. Additionally, even if you do purchase Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, there can still be issues with syncing between the on-premise and cloud clients. This can be especially frustrating as the cloud storage is not free and can be difficult to access even after purchasing."
"Business Central charges a monthly fee of $70 to $100 per user."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable."
"We have a perpetual license to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV."
"The solution is a little bit expensive."
"I think the pricing is the best; it's cost effective for sure."
"There are two types of licenses. One is the essential license in which everything is covered, and the next is the premium. If your company is a manufacturing or service management company, then you can go for the premium license because those two modules are the premium ones. You can manage your manufacturing activities and your service activities."
"The tool’s licensing is yearly. The solution is cheaper compared to other ERP products from Oracle or SAP."
"When we talk about pricing it is expensive. On a scale of one to ten, it would rank a two. There are no additional fees but the user licenses are high."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"SAP ERP is expensive."
"It is less expensive than its competitors."
"This is a costly product."
"SAP is a bit on the costly side, but they also provide support and other things. We are paying for licenses and the use of the cloud."
"There is a one-time license that is needed to use the solution. The support is what is needed to be renewed annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
8%
University
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise78
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Infor M3?
Some customers expect more out-of-box reports, and in some areas, they should provide more reports. However, Infor ha...
What is your primary use case for Infor M3?
Infor M3 is specifically dominant in fashion, food and beverages, and chemicals manufacturing; it works into micro-ve...
What advice do you have for others considering Infor M3?
In Microsoft, it is easier to work due to its .NET technology and hybrid architecture, but Infor M3 is more structure...
Is it advisable to purchase Dynamics CRM in addition to NAV 2016?
Short answer: depends on your sales needs. NAV 2016’s built-in CRM is very basic. It’s fine for simple contact manage...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The pricing and setup cost via partner for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are very attractive, as you get th...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The only thing that could be improved is integration with WhatsApp, which I can see for Microsoft that it has to be a...
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 a...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
SAP ERP logged out in slightly less time than expected. Updates to the SAP UI would be useful.
What is your primary use case for SAP ERP?
I have been using SAP ERP for posting journal entries and analyzing the P&Ls and the financial close. By posting ...
 

Also Known As

Infor Lawson M3, Lawson M3
Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Grosfillex, High Five Sportswear, L_derach, OTK Group, PHS Group, Propper International, Red Wing Shoe Company, Reynolds Catering Supplies, Saudi Diesel, Sheetz, Zeppelin, Zodiac Aerospace
Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
B&G Manufacturing, Unilever, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town, Bhopal Municipal, Corporation (BMC), adidas Group, Butcher & Packer Supply Company, Franklin Valve L.P., Evoshield, Prime Meats, a Norsan Group company, EMC Corporation, Varian Medical Systems Inc., FC Bayern Mªnchen AG, AkzoNobel Chemicals B.V., T¾V Rheinland, Pacific Drilling S.A., Fire & Rescue New South Wales, University of Amsterdam, Pa_alon S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and others in ERP. Updated: May 2026.
896,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.