Microsoft Dynamics AX vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud comparison

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6,731 views|5,327 comparisons
86% willing to recommend
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2,283 views|1,135 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP S/4HANA Cloud based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP.
To learn more, read our detailed ERP Report (Updated: April 2024).
769,630 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"According to user feedback, the product's most valuable features are modern web-based accessibility and user-friendly interface.""There's a moderate amount of scalability available.""Almost all of the features that we use are efficient. Live master planning successfully handles all of our company's requirements.""The most valuable feature for us is the manufacturing module. It addresses our product costing for tuna canning.""The stability is very good.""The production is a valuable feature.""The performance is good.""It is easy to use, and it has a great UI. It has very well-structured modules. In terms of setup and configuration, they're logically placed, which makes it easy for any user to pick up information and learn more about the system, rather than just be plain key users of that business operating system."

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"With the newer update, there are more funnels as well as ample opportunity to customize the solution. With the SAP Optimizer, companies are using about five to ten percent of the product as-is while the other ninety to ninety five percent is customized to automate and standardize processes.""I have found the financial and production modules to be the most valuable features.""The most valuable features of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are the ease of use from the cloud, CapEx analysis report, and everything being connected together well.""S/4HANA Cloud is very stable.""I like the SAP offerings and the standard best practices included in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud version.""Finance aspects of it and transportation management, asset management, and inventory management are valuable.""The solution is stable.""The most valuable feature of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is the new UX design."

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Cons
"The general speed of the solution needs improvement.""Microsoft Dynamics AX can improve system performance and security. The security is basic and needs a lot of improvement.""There might be some features to support localizations that could be helpful to add.""It needs better financials and reporting from the system, not through Excel.""The support here in Turkey could be better. However, the international support is good.""The implementation was completed within one month.""It could be more scalable and stable. It would also be better if the interface were more integrated with the Microsoft ecosystem because 2012 is not really integrated.""The user interface could be better."

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"S/4HANA isn't ideal for managing contracts and subscriptions. There isn't a feature to notify us when a contract for a service we need is approaching its end or a product is no longer supported. You need a separate solution for that.""The pricing is high.""SAP S/4HANA Cloud's customization can be improved.""The solution’s reporting could be improved.""I would like to see a feature where it allows integration with more platforms.""They can improve the interface. It has a client-server kind of interface, which is kind of old.""The only thing that could be improved would be the complexity of the initial setup.""The price is mainly suitable for larger companies, even then, there may be other, cheaper solutions. Additionally, this solution is the result of multiple acquisitions leaving room for there to be issues with performance."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Go for cloud implementation, if cost is critical."
  • "One client was looking at a $5M SAP proposal and we got AX in just under $2M, and they were very happy with it as they have several sister companies that face $500K SAP upgrades/maintenance seemingly annually."
  • "The pricing is expensive."
  • "It's too expensive for customers to take this on themselves. As partners, we will buy this on behalf of the customers and then charge this value for each project."
  • "It is $180 to $200 per user per month with a minimum of 20 users, which makes selling the product a bit difficult."
  • "I don't know how much this solution costs off the top of my head, but I know that the cloud and SaaS solutions are cheaper."
  • "It has a pay-as-you-go subscription."
  • "The initial investment cost goes up due to the hidden cost."
  • More Microsoft Dynamics AX Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing is competitive with other products at that level in that category."
  • "I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
  • "This is a pricey solution that best serves large enterprises. Be sure to ensure that your company's requirements need to be fulfilled by SAP. There are many other ERP's that are cheaper yet highly functional. However, it is still cheaper than some of the competition (i.e. Oracle, ESD, etc.)"
  • "I don't remember the specifics about the licensing, but it's scaled and modular. You pay for what you use. It's not a one-size-fits-all license. You have a license for every single module. It's similar to Oracle."
  • "The licensing process for SAP S/4HANA Cloud has worked well."
  • "It's very expensive."
  • "Pricing wise, SAP S4HANA Cloud is very expensive. The licensing cost can be 100,000 euros per year, depending on the number of users in your company."
  • "S/4HANA is an enterprise solution that many can't afford. You must invest a lot to get the most out of it. It isn't cheap. I rate the price seven out of 10."
  • More SAP S/4HANA Cloud Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The general speed of the solution needs improvement.
    Top Answer:The use case includes pretty much everything from finance to warehouse to production.
    Ranking
    6th
    out of 69 in ERP
    Views
    6,731
    Comparisons
    5,327
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    414
    Rating
    7.5
    3rd
    out of 18 in Cloud ERP
    Views
    2,283
    Comparisons
    1,135
    Reviews
    28
    Average Words per Review
    431
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Dynamics AX, Axapta, MS Dynamics AX
    SAP S4HANA Cloud
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Dynamics AX is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed to support the business processes of organizations in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, and professional services. The solution offers a comprehensive set of tools and features to support financial management, supply chain management, human resources management, and project management, among others.

    With Dynamics AX, organizations can manage their financial operations, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and cash management. It also offers tools for managing the supply chain, including inventory management, purchase order management, and sales order management. Dynamics AX also supports human resources management, including employee self-service, benefits administration, and payroll. Overall, it is a flexible and scalable platform for organizations of all sizes.

    Microsoft Dynamics AX Features

    Microsoft Dynamics AX has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Financial management: Microsoft Dynamics AX offers tools for managing financial operations, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and cash management.
    • Supply chain management: It supports the management of supply chain operations, including inventory management, purchase order management, and sales order management.
    • Human resources management: The human resources management feature includes tools for managing human resources operations, including employee self-service, benefits administration, and payroll.
    • Project management: Microsoft Dynamics AX has tools for managing projects, including project tracking, project billing, and resource management.
    • Manufacturing: The solution supports the management of manufacturing operations, including product configuration, production planning, and quality management.
    • Retail: Microsoft Dynamics AX offers tools for managing retail operations, including point of sale (POS), merchandising, and customer management.
    • Professional services: The solution’s professional services include project management, time and expense tracking, and billing.
    • Reporting and analytics: With Microsoft Dynamics AX, business intelligence and reporting capabilities help organizations gain insight into their operations and make data-driven decisions.


    Microsoft Dynamics AX Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Comprehensive: Microsoft Dynamics AX integrates with other Microsoft solutions, such as Office 365 and Power Platform, to provide a comprehensive and integrated solution for business management.
    • Streamlined operations: The solution helps organizations streamline and automate their financial, supply chain, and human resources operations, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort.
    • Customization: Microsoft Dynamics AX is a highly customizable solution that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a wide range of industries and organizations.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Dynamics AX is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are its UI functionality, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.

    "The most valuable feature I've found is the UI functionality,” says Navnath B., Head IT and CIO at Mutual Automotive Pvt Ltd.

    Another PeerSpot reviewer, Timpa A., IT Manager at an energy/utilities company says he like the solution because "It is flexible and cost-effective."

    Shahzad I., ERP Project Manager & Managing Consultant at Liwa Education, Iranfava, explains, “It's good for retail businesses. It expands a lot and constantly brings on new features. It's got a lot of competitive features.”

    SAP S/4HANA stands for SAP Suite 4 HANA. It is a next-generation integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that is designed for businesses of all sizes, in all industries, that require deep and broad functionality combined with a high degree of flexibility. SAP S/4HANA was launched in 2015 and been adopted by more than 3,200 customers over a period of sixteen months. SAP S/4HANA is materially different from anything SAP has done before and represents the company’s biggest innovation since SAP R/3.

    SAP S/4HANA is intended to provide a digital core for an organization. It is fully architected for the most advanced in-memory platform, SAP HANA, and is designed on the most modern design principles with the SAP Fiori user experience to create a personalized and simple feel on users’ device of choice (tablet, laptop, mobile). SAP S/4HANA aims to simplify an organizations’ system landscape and reduce total cost of ownership by shrinking the data footprint while at the same time improving productivity levels in the form of higher throughput. Timelines for cloud deployments average around six months.

    SAP S/4HANA is designed to drive business innovation by connecting people, devices, and business networks in real time to support the development of new business models. It will also help accelerate the adoption of, and connection to, the Internet of Things and Big Data. SAP S/4HANA can analyze big data at unprecedented speed allowing users to access real-time information from anywhere, any way they’d like and thus help managers make truly insightful decisions. The simplified data model allows customers to reimagine their IT, helping to drive lower costs and deliver IT efficiency. This, coupled with the SAP S/4HANA prediction and simulation capabilities allow it to anticipate the impact of business outcomes. By doing all the above, SAP S/4HANA aims to provide ultimate sophistication in the simplest possible manner.

    To learn more about SAP S/4HANA, visit http://go.sap.com/product/enterprise-management/s4hana-erp.html

    Sample Customers
    ConQuaestor, D & H Distributing, Sunny Queen, Mesa Associates, Britax Childcare, Ibema, Arafa, Sabo S.p.A.
    La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company33%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Retailer8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Retailer6%
    Educational Organization6%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company41%
    Computer Software Company23%
    University14%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government9%
    Educational Organization7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business46%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise29%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise53%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise58%
    Buyer's Guide
    ERP
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP. Updated: April 2024.
    769,630 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Dynamics AX is ranked 6th in ERP with 51 reviews while SAP S/4HANA Cloud is ranked 3rd in Cloud ERP with 41 reviews. Microsoft Dynamics AX is rated 7.6, while SAP S/4HANA Cloud is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Dynamics AX writes "A stable product that offers excellent ROI and reliable technical support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP S/4HANA Cloud writes "A valuable tool for businesses seeking to enhance their overall performance and competitiveness in the digital era". Microsoft Dynamics AX is most compared with SAP ERP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, SAP S/4HANA, Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, whereas SAP S/4HANA Cloud is most compared with SAP Business ByDesign, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, SAP Business One, IFS Cloud Platform and SAP S/4HANA.

    We monitor all ERP reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.