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Microsoft Azure vs SAP Cloud Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

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
6.4
Microsoft Azure reduces costs with scalable services, pay-as-you-go model, and improved infrastructure, enhancing long-term returns and performance.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAP Cloud Platform provides positive ROI, especially for large enterprises, with significant cost savings and improved business processes.
The value for money is good, and Microsoft Azure has positively impacted our operational costs.
When we use Microsoft Azure, it provides enhanced security from our perspective, though I am not certain about the financial return on investment or benefits for our users as I do not have that information.
Top management buy-in is crucial, and conducting an ROI analysis is essential before adoption to ensure the investment aligns with value.
Orders are managed online, integrated with S/4HANA, reducing chances of fraud or communication errors in processes like purchase orders and sales.
In the last three to four years, whatever we have invested, we have received two to three times back from our investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure's support is often effective, yet some face delays; higher-tier support and self-help resources improve experiences.
Sentiment score
6.4
SAP Cloud Platform's customer service is effective but occasionally slow, with challenges in time zones and ticket response times.
Microsoft needs to engage L3 and L2 in support when specified in service tickets.
The support from Microsoft Azure is good.
Regarding technical support from Microsoft, I find they are responsive and helpful, depending on which support package you're on.
The availability of knowledgeable support to the implementation partners and the customers could be better.
I rate the technical support as ten out of ten because there is often a need for continuous technical support.
Regarding support, whenever we are creating a ticket for any problem, we want the solution immediately at the earliest.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Azure offers scalable solutions, but users face challenges with costs and resource limits, leading some to prefer competitors.
Sentiment score
7.3
SAP Cloud Platform is scalable, supporting diverse business needs, though implementation challenges exist; larger organizations find it suitable.
Microsoft Azure is not just one product; it is a platform with multiple products within Microsoft Azure, and I would say it is scalable and would rate it a nine.
The scalability of Microsoft Azure is excellent for growth and adaptation, depending on company requirements.
It has different kinds of designs that allow for management and deployment in multi-zones, offering both scalable and non-scalable options.
On a scale of one to ten, I'd rate its scalability at nine and a half to ten.
SAP Cloud Platform is most suitable for various business needs, allowing easy expansion.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Azure is stable with good uptime, though stability varies by configuration; users generally rate it highly.
Sentiment score
7.9
SAP Cloud Platform is stable and reliable, with frequent updates and minimal issues, though external factors can affect performance.
We noticed a few critical servers went down due to a Microsoft Azure-end hardware issue.
We are now migrating clients without the zoning into mandatory multi-zone deployments, so if one zone goes down, their application and database remain live.
Microsoft Azure is quite stable, but recent outages and security issues have slightly decreased my confidence.
If the databases are accurately managed, the solutions and processes are performed quickly and efficiently.
Earlier, we had individual applications, but now everything is migrated to SAP, and it's all on a single platform, making it easier for management to make timely decisions.
SAP Cloud Platform is pretty stable, although there are occasional rare glitches.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Azure users seek simplified pricing, improved security, better integration, enhanced documentation, responsive support, and intuitive management tools.
SAP Cloud Platform needs enhancements in flexibility, integration, usability, security, pricing, performance, support, documentation, and licensing structure.
Recent outages and security issues are also a concern, causing a decrease in confidence, especially when partnering with third-party companies.
The administrative side is suitable for technical people, but our finance and HR super users find it less user-friendly, as they prefer drag-and-drop features to build their own solutions without contacting IT.
There is still room for improvement in terms of pricing.
Allowing more third-party applications to be integrated into the cloud platform would make it easier for customers to adopt SAP Cloud Platform.
SAP Cloud Platform should improve on integrating third-party applications with S/4HANA.
In 2024, we will have migrated to S/4HANA through RISE with SAP.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Azure provides flexible pricing with pay-as-you-go, free tiers, and discounts, emphasizing cost-effectiveness despite complexity.
SAP Cloud Platform's pricing is generally higher, with complex cost structures that can be expensive for smaller companies.
Microsoft solutions might be cheaper than some services like AWS, but some solutions may be more expensive depending on the services compared.
Copilot is expensive based on recent pricing for our POC.
They have discounts and also provide promotions for a three-year reservation which comes with significant discounts on the infrastructure part.
SAP is competitive compared to other enterprise solutions like Oracle, though not necessarily cheap.
The cost for SAP Cloud Platform is high as the server is expensive.
Whatever we want to purchase, it is in lakhs of rupees or crores only.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure is praised for scalability, ease of use, diverse services, strong security, and seamless integration with various technologies.
SAP Cloud Platform offers security, scalability, seamless integration, and automation, enhancing deployment speed, flexibility, and compliance.
Power BI, another feature of Azure, is extremely elegant and has robust features that support forecasting using R and Python.
If Microsoft gives a report, such as a server performance report in a detailed way, which shows what is consuming more CPU, memory, and disk IO, and network utilization during a particular time, it would be helpful to visualize that information.
What is very interesting in terms of scalability is the automatic possibilities to provision some new machines to be able to absorb the number of users we have in the system.
The main benefits of the SAP Cloud Platform for us are that earlier we had the primary data center at our place, but now we have shifted to the cloud.
It converts CapEx into OPEX due to its SaaS model.
The most proficient feature of SAP Cloud Platform is integration for data services linked with Fiori apps.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
321
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (1st)
SAP Cloud Platform
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 18.4%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Cloud Platform is 6.9%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
PaaS Clouds Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure18.4%
SAP Cloud Platform6.9%
Other74.7%
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Abid  - PeerSpot reviewer
Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience
For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.
PinakiGhosh - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.
866,778 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Answers from the Community

NC
Aug 3, 2023
Aug 3, 2023
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 both large and small companies. Its stability is great and the ability to expand is very simple. SAP Cloud Platform offers smooth integration and data synchronization - the push and pull of data is extr...
2 out of 4 answers
RP
Oct 12, 2021
I think it's based on the context of your environment and what you want to do. The LinkedIn article by Murali Shanmugham gives you some perspective here.    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse... If you use SAP applications extensively, extending them with various services offered by SAP on the SAP Cloud platform would be very useful.  In fact, SAP has made this platform available on hyperscalers like MS Azure, AWS, etc.  
Nov 15, 2021
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 both large and small companies. Its stability is great and the ability to expand is very simple. SAP Cloud Platform offers smooth integration and data synchronization - the push and pull of data is extremely valuable. The functionality with SAP Cloud Platform can be difficult. We have experienced some challenges with usability and not being able to get all of the information we need. We would also like to see improvement with security, authentication, and reporting. Microsoft Azure is extremely scalable with the capability to build an environment quickly. The automation and agility of Microsoft Azure is very valuable. It offers a great information protection feature - you can create custom labels for different documents and files. This keeps data more organized and secure. Support with Microsoft Azure depends on the plan you purchase; lower-tier plans get limited support. Microsoft Azure can be a very expensive solution overall and can be complex to set up and manage. Integration with other products needs to be better. Microsoft Azure seems to be a bit slow in catching up with what other solutions have to offer. Conclusion Microsoft Azure’s biggest downside is the lack of functionality. SAP Cloud Platform provides better integration with other operating systems. If you or your clients are fully committed to the Microsoft ecosystem, then Microsoft Azure is probably the best option for you. For those that use other ecosystems, SAP Cloud Platform would be a better fit as they offer better integration with other solutions and broader overall functionality.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business139
Midsize Enterprise53
Large Enterprise148
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise25
 

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 ...
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...
How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?
I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure...
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 ...
What do you like most about SAP Cloud Platform?
The product improved our company's business operations since we got value out of it.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Cloud Platform?
The cost for SAP Cloud Platform is high as the server is expensive. Hiring staff to work on S/4HANA Cloud requires high salaries, which impacts the overall budget of the company's implementation.
 

Also Known As

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure
SAP HANA Cloud Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure vs. SAP Cloud Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
866,778 professionals have used our research since 2012.