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SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP ERP comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Business ByDesign
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (6th)
SAP ERP
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
ERP (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP Business ByDesign is designed for Cloud ERP and holds a mindshare of 3.7%, down 7.4% compared to last year.
SAP ERP, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 9.0% mindshare, down 16.1% since last year.
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Business ByDesign3.7%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP21.3%
NetSuite ERP21.1%
Other53.9%
Cloud ERP
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP ERP9.0%
SAP S/4HANA6.2%
Oracle E-Business Suite4.1%
Other80.7%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Divisional Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Valuable features enhance sales and service capabilities while performance improvements are needed
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handling. My feedback about the modular architecture and customized features of SAP Business ByDesign is that it is only good, but we have not explored much on this one. The initial setup for SAP Business ByDesign was complex. One disadvantage was that we had the legacy system, SAP Business One, and we could not migrate our data to SAP Business ByDesign. They should have provided a migration path.
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

"Now we can know our available stock; this visibility enables us to make better resource and supply chain operations decisions as well as better financial decisions."
"The stability has been great, and compared to other products that I have used before, they have been doing really well with stability."
"The most valuable features of SAP Business ByDesign are customer invoicing and cost and revenue, from which I get the data for my project reports."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"When we were using it, we did see an immediate benefit, especially in the inventory on consignment issue. We were a biotech pre-revenue company and most of our manufacturing was outsourced. So being able to track inventory within the system without creating a financial impact was very key for us."
"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"The standard system is stable."
"The solution provides good production planning."
"SAP is already working on improvements by doing annual releases with enhancements."
"It is a stable solution."
"The features are very useful for finance."
"In every aspect, SAP is an enterprise solution that has a lot of customization and, as a hospital, it offers us tremendous help that supports our processes."
"Finance, Controlling, Material management, and Plant maintenance are valuable features, especially the integration between the various components."
"Everyone who uses SAP ERP has benefited from the functionality."
"Control and governance are the best features."
 

Cons

"The database needs to be more customizable."
"The solution could improve the stability. It is approximately 60% stable."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"One disadvantage was that we had the legacy system, SAP Business One, and we could not migrate our data to SAP Business ByDesign. They should have provided a migration path."
"I would like the tool’s interface to be better. Currently, we use a client application to access the product. I want that to be replaced with a web version. I would like to improve the tool’s internet availability. I also want the product’s setup to be easier."
"SAP Business ByDesign is a very vast product, but it has to be a bit more centralized. All the models need to be more centralized for a better experience."
"Scalability can be an issue. That is why SAP Business ByDesign needs to be more customizable and more flexible."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"It should be less complex. It should also have better integration capability. I am using the ACC version, and in this version, the integration and the communication are very difficult and complicated."
"Its user interface should be improved."
"The production system must be upgraded."
"If big companies are going for SAP and they would like to install it, they should know that it still needs time. Implementation will cost a lot of money."
"The initial setup is complex."
"In previous generations, SAP was stable and the roadmap was very predictable, but currently it's very difficult."
"I think we have not seen any tangible benefits from SAP ERP."
"The solution is not 100% stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool’s subscription is yearly. There is no flat pricing involved and everything has a range. Pricing depends on the functionality that you would use. You need to also pay for the additional hosting and maintenance costs."
"The price of SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"We have to pay yearly."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution."
"My company makes early payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. There are no additional costs apart from the charges paid toward the subscription-based license offered by SAP."
"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 license needed to use this solution."
"Some components are available at an additional cost, depending on the type of contract that you have."
"I don't know the price, but I know its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"It could always be cheaper. They don't have a very easy model of licensing, but large entities would get the upper hand in negotiating the license."
"I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. SAP ERP is a costly tool."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
13%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise78
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Business ByDesign?
The price is high, as every year SAP increases the price by 3.5%.
What needs improvement with SAP Business ByDesign?
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handl...
What is your primary use case for SAP Business ByDesign?
Our use case for SAP Business ByDesign is our dealer team accessing their system to perform sales and service; these two functionalities are done through SAP Business ByDesign. SAP Business ByDesig...
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 and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
To make the product better, I notice that deployment must improve, and so should performance; it should be faster, along with pricing.
What is your primary use case for SAP ERP?
I have not actually used SAP ERP's analytical tools, but I leverage SAP ERP for human capital management. I am using SuccessFactors for that, and SAP ERP's real-time data insights have contributed ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Standard Bank of South Africa, AOK Bundesverband, PT XL Axiata Tbk, Tvoy Dom, Schaidt Innovations GmbH & Co. KG, DeLaval International AB, EMC Corporation, Lenovo, Castle Importing Inc., Unilever, Rifle Paper Co., RAK Ceramics, Rough Country, B&G Manufacturing, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town
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 Oracle, NetSuite, SAP and others in Cloud ERP. Updated: September 2026.
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