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SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud 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

Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Business ByDesign4.3%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP18.8%
NetSuite ERP17.6%
Other59.3%
Cloud ERP
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP S/4HANA6.3%
SAP ERP10.4%
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central4.0%
Other79.3%
ERP
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud10.5%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP18.8%
NetSuite ERP17.6%
Other53.099999999999994%
Cloud 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.
Effendy Mohamed - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Instrument and Control at PETRONAS
Empowered decision-making accelerates with enhanced analytics capabilities
In my opinion, areas of SAP S/4HANA that have room for improvement would be in AI and insights generation, which would be a good enhancement for the future. Currently, this analytics is still driven by some sort of structured reporting system. Although it is easier, you still need to do some configuration of it. With AI functionality, you could just prompt and request the information, and then the version would quickly be revealed to you.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Extensive real-time analytics and superior support enhance decision making but continued product evolution impacts existing investments
Improvement is needed, and they need to slow down. When I say slow down, they need to do more validation. Things are going rapidly and changing fast. For example, they moved from SAP SRM product to SAP CLM. They bought IBM CLM and marketed it as SAP CLM. Shortly after, they bought SAP Ariba and discontinued the SAP CLM product. Now they state that SAP SRM is outdated and has reached sunset. The challenge is that if a customer has already deployed the entire solution on-premises, it becomes difficult to immediately convert to the new product and manage new license costs. From a consulting perspective, it appears that SAP's biggest competitor is itself, as they sometimes discontinue their own products to promote new ones.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When comparing SAP Business ByDesign to much larger ERP solutions, such as SAP ECC 6.0 or SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business ByDesign is more user-friendly and easier to implement."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"The most helpful feature is the integrations. Integrating the tool with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is easy, facilitating implementation and deployment. The runtime analysis checks for real-time analytics to see if the software works properly. This is a powerful feature."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"I have found the consolidation of the business and group reports very useful. There is plenty of features and the manufacturing and finance aspect of the solution are strong."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"We have access to all types of reports in a single solution."
"SAP S/4HANA dominates around 70 percent of the ERP market in Chile, and I believe this isn't merely coincidental. I've always maintained that if someone believes SAP S/4HANA lacks a certain functionality, they haven't explored it thoroughly. However, there's a widespread lack of understanding regarding its full potential and how to configure it."
"The biggest benefit of SAP S_4HANA is that you can manage all ERP systems effectively; if you're a production company, you can track product costs, manage profitability easily, and define sales prices."
"I have found SAP S4HANA to be scalable."
"The most valuable feature is probably the full integration with the finance system."
"I am really happy to use HANA since it is highly syndicated with public office systems."
"One of the things I like about it is its well-integrated and secure nature."
"The solution's most valuable features are performance and processes."
"Real-time data analytics capabilities and the ability to integrate external tools like Qlik Sense are some of the most valuable features."
"SAP S4HANA Cloud is one of the best products in enterprise solutions, especially in manufacturing, retail, logistics, wholesaling, and distribution."
"I'd rate the solution nine out of ten."
"I like that it saves every transaction, so anything is traceable."
"The solution is versatile with various integrated tools such as connecting with finance modules, controlling parameters, and creating universal journals."
"SAP versions used to be quite cumbersome for the end-users. Now SAP S/4HANA has a totally different approach. They use Fiori landing pages, which makes life better."
"The accounting on SAP is great."
"It is a straightforward solution."
 

Cons

"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."
"I would say budget controlling needs improvement. I mention this because it does not have all the functionalities that we need in terms of managing the budget."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"SAP Business ByDesign can improve the flexibility and user-friendliness of the reporting during the implementations. Customizing the reports inside the device requires a lot of knowledge and most of the time a developer level is needed. For example, if you want to have a more specific reporting layout."
"Scalability can be an issue. That is why SAP Business ByDesign needs to be more customizable and more flexible."
"Scalability is difficult."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting capability. To use it properly, you need intensive IT support. You cannot write your own reports."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"The migration to SAP S/4HANA is hard."
"The tool's high cost is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The cost of their support services could be more affordable. It's currently an expensive proposition."
"The two things that need to be improved are price and customization."
"The product should improve its cost."
"Technical support has been declining. They aren't as responsive as they used to be."
"The initial setup isn't easy because it takes six months to deploy the project."
"We are always looking for a better user experience. We would like to see more consolidation in SAP S4HANA because of all the financial compliance and regulatory changes."
"Integrating SAP with other products like payroll solutions should be smoother. I wish there were some tools a consultant could build according to the client's requirements. For example, say I want to process debit and credits. In SAP, we have to follow SAP terminologies and patterns. I need a template to deploy my structure according to the client's requirements. There is no structure available in SAP that a consultant can mold."
"The price is mainly suitable for larger companies, even then, there may be other, cheaper solutions."
"The pricing is high."
"I would like to see enhancements in certain features."
"The pricing is high."
"We'd like to have more of a low-code platform."
"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
"The only thing that could be improved would be the complexity of the initial setup."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"We have to pay yearly."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"It's quite an expensive solution"
"It's quite expensive. However, it can be expensive to maintain the solution."
"It is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to five, with five being the most expensive, I would rate the price at four."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution's pricing depends on customers and how much discount they can get. However, the list price is expensive."
"Though we are talking about a competitively priced model, the pricing could be more cost-effective."
"The solution's license cost is on the higher side."
"The implementation costs of SAP is substantial."
"The license for S/4HANA is expensive, and the licensing structure is hard to understand. The admin license is something like 500 euros per user. Other ERP solutions allowed you to pick only the modules you need. The SAP ECC version requires you to take all the modules even if you are not using them."
"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."
"Its pricing is way over any of the other ERPs. I'd rate it one out of ten in terms of pricing."
"The licensing process for SAP S/4HANA Cloud has worked well."
"The solution’s pricing is very high."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"The solution is affordable."
"I'm not directly involved in the pricing discussions; it's more of a concern for the finance team."
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Answers from the Community

RB
SAP Practice Manager at Data-core systems
Jun 30, 2021
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud. So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per us...
See 2 answers
EB
Director of Community at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
Jun 28, 2021
Hello @Terry Jones ​, @Sanath Premachandra ​, @Ben Melchionno ​and @ASalman. Can you please assist in answering this question?
PB
Project Delivery Head - MENA at WMS Middle East LLC
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud.  So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per user on the cloud.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise53
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP Business ByDesign?
The most valuable features of SAP Business ByDesign are customer invoicing and cost and revenue, from which I get the...
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 impro...
Are there any advantages of SAP S4 HANA over SAP Business One (SAP B1) apart from the cost?
SaP Business One is a complete solution for business management. The software applications are broad, ranging from ac...
What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA?
In my opinion, areas of SAP S/4HANA that have room for improvement would be in AI and insights generation, which woul...
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
My experience with SAP S_4HANA involves working on several projects helping customers prepare their transition from E...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is very expensive, both to purchase and maintain. It's important to evaluate the costs of recruitin...
What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
A lot of my clients are complaining about the SAP license policy. I think that is quite intransparent and obviously q...
What is your primary use case for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
SAP S_4HANA Cloud is still used for ERP, so enterprise resource planning, and I would say the true core of SAP S_4HAN...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

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
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
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