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SAP ERP 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.6
SAP ERP enhances inventory management and efficiency, offering cost savings and faster ROI through automation and data analysis.
Sentiment score
4.5
SAP S/4HANA Cloud users saw long-term ROI and efficiency, despite high initial costs and varied experiences.
SAP ERP did provide value for money.
The transcript suggests SAP S4HANA Cloud may offer cost and time savings.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
SAP ERP customer service is generally praised, but technical support experiences vary, with some noting improvements and valuable features.
Sentiment score
6.9
SAP S/4HANA Cloud's service is praised for professionalism but criticized for long response times and support channel navigation challenges.
SAP technical support is very good.
It was very quick, and we didn't have many tickets, but every time any issues arose, they were very quickly resolved.
It is not easy to justify something as high priority unless the system is completely down.
My experience shows that it often requires another level or two to reach someone who can effectively address the problems.
If tickets are raised to the wrong team, it takes considerable time to be routed to the appropriate team.
SAP doesn't typically listen to individual feedback because of their position as the number one product.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
SAP ERP is praised for its scalability, flexibility, and ability to handle large user bases and significant data loads.
Sentiment score
7.7
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is praised for scalability, adaptability, and integration, suiting both large and small enterprises effectively.
It is scalable when moving from one version to another or adding additional components like warehouse management.
The scalability of SAP ERP is excellent.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
SAP ERP is praised for reliability and efficiency, with stability ratings often between 8 to 10 out of 10.
Sentiment score
7.4
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is praised for stability and performance, though updates and customizations can occasionally affect reliability.
Production processes would be on hold without stability, so it is quite important that the software is very stable.
Stability-wise, SAP ERP is the best product among others.
SAP S_4HANA Cloud is very stable, especially for bigger corporates that are geographically spread out.
It is very flexible and can cater to every industry.
 

Room For Improvement

SAP ERP faces criticism for high costs, outdated interface, limited flexibility, and struggles with integration and real-time needs.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud needs interface, mobile, and user improvements, with cost, integration, and complexity posing challenges for businesses.
SAP ERP could improve by integrating additional components such as digital signatures and barcoding.
SAP recently implemented Databricks, and they started investing significantly in the analytic environment.
We are using version 6.0 and it meets our needs.
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.
This reliance on ETL experts or data engineers is necessary to ensure clean quality data, which is critical for the effective operation of the SAP S_4HANA system.
It should have features or facilities so customers can get audit-related queries resolved independently without requiring ticket-based service.
 

Setup Cost

SAP ERP is costly, with implementation exceeding $1.5 million, but valuable for large enterprises due to extensive features.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud pricing is modular and expensive, typically more suitable for larger enterprises than smaller businesses.
Small and medium companies can struggle with the pricing.
The pricing for SAP ERP is medium but slightly on the higher side.
 

Valuable Features

SAP ERP offers integration, customization, and efficiency with industry-specific modules, a centralized database, and robust architecture for seamless operations.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud enhances business efficiency with integration, real-time analytics, scalability, and global access, supporting diverse platforms.
The consistent integrations and real-time data analytics in SAP ERP significantly enhance the decision-making process by facilitating follow-ups and action points.
SAP ERP has impacted our organization positively because it is highly customizable to build any process we have in our companies and to write programs.
SAP ERP is particularly strong in manufacturing, from production planning to plant maintenance, then Material Management itself, and managing warehouse management and inventory control.
Some of the most important features include data analytics and real-time data analysis capabilities.
The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides integration, controls, efficiency, visibility into business operations, and collaboration, especially for geographically spread operations.
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP ERP
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
ERP (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP ERP is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 17.2%, down 22.2% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 15.2% mindshare, up 11.9% since last year.
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP ERP17.2%
SAP S/4HANA9.6%
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central6.5%
Other66.7%
ERP
Cloud ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud15.2%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP20.6%
NetSuite ERP18.6%
Other45.6%
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Achmad Dimyati - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise76
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

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 do you like most about SAP ERP?
The solution has made the most significant impact on our human resources function, specifically in HR operations and HR analytics. One feature of SAP ERP that I found most valuable is its use of co...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
SAP ERP is fine as it is at the moment. It is difficult to comment on improvements for this version. I know HANA has improved regarding user interface and other functions, but we don't use that par...
What do you like most about SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
The manufacturing area is a good feature.
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 recruiting and maintaining trained personnel as it's not just a one-time payment yet requ...
What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
While SAP S/4HANA Cloud offers numerous functional benefits and powerful integration capabilities, there remain certain usability and operational challenges—particularly within the Fiori applicatio...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Infor and others in ERP. Updated: August 2025.
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