SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs Smartsheet comparison

SAP Portfolio and Project M...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

SAP Portfolio and Project Management and Smartsheet are competing products in the project management space, with each offering unique advantages. Although SAP appears to deliver a more comprehensive solution, Smartsheet’s flexibility and ease of use often make it the preferred choice for many organizations seeking a balance of features and accessibility.

Features: SAP Portfolio and Project Management focuses on enterprise-level project oversight, resource management, and integration with other SAP systems, making it suitable for large organizations. Smartsheet provides a user-friendly platform with customizable templates, collaboration tools, and integration with third-party applications, appealing to teams looking for a flexible solution.

Room for Improvement: SAP can benefit from simplifying its interface and improving integration with non-SAP systems. Additionally, enhancing usability for non-technical users could broaden its appeal. Smartsheet could improve by expanding its functionalities for larger enterprise-scale operations, enhancing reporting features, and strengthening its offline capabilities to better serve diverse environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP’s deployment is notably complex, requiring significant time and technical resources, though it is backed by strong customer support. Smartsheet’s cloud-based model facilitates a quicker, less resource-intensive deployment, making it a favorable option for organizations with limited IT resources. Smartsheet's responsive support enhances its appeal for organizations prioritizing ease and speed.

Pricing and ROI: SAP Portfolio and Project Management involves higher initial setup costs and a longer timeframe to achieve ROI due to its complexity and scope. Smartsheet offers a lower cost of entry and quicker time to value, making it attractive for organizations seeking faster returns. Smartsheet’s competitive pricing and rapid deployment increase ROI potential for many enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: April 2025).

SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs. Smartsheet

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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 Portfolio and Project M...

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

9th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Smartsheet

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Management Software (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Project Portfolio Management category, the mindshare of SAP Portfolio and Project Management is 6.9%, up from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 8.5%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Portfolio Management

Featured Reviews

Nalin Kumar

Quality Assurance Group Lead at Samsung

End-to-end project management capabilities and offers seamless vendor and client contract alignment

The system is old, so there are several issues that arise when we fetch data from integrated systems. Sometimes the data gets stuck, and there are instances where we need to access multiple pieces of information simultaneously. This creates problems that I have personally experienced. Therefore, these aspects need to be much more free-flowing and seamless. If something gets stuck, it takes time to resolve, and during the contract phase, we have Service Level Agreements (SLAs). If those SLAs are breached, it becomes problematic. Given that there are approximately 3000 projects running concurrently worldwide, utilizing the system with a vast database and numerous activities taking place. It could benefit from decentralization. Currently, it operates as a central system, but if it could be centralized for specific subsidiaries, it would be easier for us to manage.

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PaulDiaz

Project Manager at Amgen

Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating

I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It improves productivity, cash flow management, and inventory control for clients."

"SAP is gradually introducing more flexibility and customization options to the system, allowing users to adapt it to their specific needs."

"The integration portion with SAP models is valuable."

"The dashboard and the layouts are quite good."

"For doing project plans what was really valuable is the ability to do a predecessor."

"Smartsheet is a really good tool for collaboration."

"Enables coordination and sharing of information that is relatively inexpensive."

"The ability to build a quick dashboard and give management insight into the progress of the project itself is probably one of the most beneficial pieces."

"The most valuable features of Smartsheet are its collaboration tools, the ability to centralize and prioritize projects, and robust reporting capabilities."

"Their support is awesome. We are on an enterprise plan and there is a customer success at Smartsheet and anyone from our licensed users can just send an email to them and they respond as soon as possible."

"It operates as an enhanced and versatile version of Excel, offering a wide range of capabilities that allow you to accomplish various tasks and operations."

More Smartsheet pros

Cons

"The system is old, so there are several issues that arise when we fetch data from integrated systems. Sometimes the data gets stuck, and there are instances where we need to access multiple pieces of information simultaneously."

"It would be valuable if SAP integrated seamlessly with some products like Jira and Bitbucket."

"The platform's support structure needs improvement."

"They should improve the solution's integration with API."

"More intuitive access without constant logins would be beneficial."

"Smartsheet could improve the UI and integrations. Some of Smartsheet's competitors have more than 2,000 integrations while Smartsheet only has approximately 40 integration applications."

"Initially, there were issues like dropdowns. Those have been overcome."

"The downside of Smartsheet is that there are some security concerns. We were able to restrict people from sharing sheets with anyone who was not in our domain, but it could be easier. We also found it hard to restrict certain user groups from adding attachments to sheets."

"The product must include more modules for project management."

"Every feature for text mining, even process mining, would be a plus. We have about two hundred contract management events daily. First, I share specific documents. I talk about the search function because we assume it has a thorough search when we read the catalog. But when you test it, you realize it doesn't search within attachments. So, it's a great search function, but you need the brand folder. It has many options and can become complex."

"There are some pain points for me. Other people use it a little differently, but I would like to be able to do a little more with it. I would like database functionality with it wherein if I bring in several Excel spreadsheets of data and load them into Smartsheets, I should be able to make a correlation between an index field and run a report against those two. I can do it, but it's a little clunky. So, I need a little more experience to feel comfortable doing that."

More Smartsheet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing varies based on whether the client is new or existing and the complexity of their business processes."

"It is less expensive than Microsoft Project for enterprise or Oracle Primavera by an order of magnitude. If you buy a Microsoft Project license, it's probably $300 or so by itself, whereas Smartsheet is probably less than $50 per head."

"If I'm not mistaken, it was pretty manageable. It was about 200 bucks a seed. The business really felt a strong need for it. So, it was viewed as a safer and more straightforward cost that we were willing to pay as compared to Domo, which took some convincing."

"Smartsheet has many licensing models. You need to add the package that best suits your requirements. The license is paid per user and it is monthly. The cost was approximately $7 per PC, $15 for professional, and $33 for the enterprise plan."

"There would be more extensive usage if the solution were cheaper. It's really expensive right now, and that's why we provide a few licenses for admins. The rest of them are just users without admin privileges."

"There's a trial version and a free version. Each license costs a decent amount, $25 per month or something."

"I would assume there is a licensing fee. I don't think that it is free."

"The tool's monthly fee is 25 dollars, which is within the range of most cloud-based project management tools. I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"The solution is reasonably priced."

More Smartsheet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Energy/Utilities Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Retailer

Educational Organization

39%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

The platform's support structure needs improvement.

What is your primary use case for SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

We use it for end-to-end project management as per the received requirements. There is a customized module called the Project Management System (PMS) where we receive the requirements. Once a requi...

What do you like most about SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

SAP is gradually introducing more flexibility and customization options to the system, allowing users to adapt it to their specific needs.

Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?

Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...

What do you like most about Smartsheet?

The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?

The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.

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Product Reports

Project Portfolio Management

Download SAP Portfolio and Project Management product report

SAP Portfolio and Project Management report

Download Smartsheet product report

Also Known As

Portfolio and Project Management

No data available

Overview

Portfolio Management integrates information from existing project management, human resources, and financial systems to provide an overview of the project portfolio with easy drilldown to details for portfolio managers, project managers, and resource managers. This enables innovative and collaborative, cross-functional business processes. Project Management covers the entire range of project management activities in development and consultancy projects, from planning to implementation to project completion.

SAP

Smartsheet is a dynamic platform with features like real-time data sharing, Gantt charts, and integration with Jira and Microsoft Teams, offering valuable tools for efficient task management.

Smartsheet combines Excel-like functionality with cloud accessibility, making it efficient for tracking, reporting, and workflow management. Users benefit from its scalability and robust security, making it ideal for enterprise-level projects. However, improvements in data visibility, real-time collaboration, and user-friendliness can enhance its utility. Customizable dashboards, project management features, and seamless integrations offer great flexibility, though there is a demand for better automation, API enhancements, and new templates.

What are Smartsheet's most important features?

Real-time Data Sharing: Facilitates seamless collaboration between users.
Project Management Tools: Includes Gantt charts and task prioritization for efficient project tracking.
Integration: Works with major platforms like Jira and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive data flow.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces manual work with robust automation functionalities.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to tailor dashboards to meet specific needs.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlines workflows with tools that enhance project tracking and collaboration.
Scalability: Supports growing enterprise demands with its scalable architecture.
Security: Provides robust, secure environments for data management.
Adaptability: Offers flexibility to customize workflows for improved resource management.

Smartsheet is utilized by organizations in industries like engineering, education, and IT for project management, task tracking, and data integration. It enables planning, scheduling, and team collaboration, facilitating dashboard creation and automation of processes. Its flexibility in customizing workflows is appealing to those managing projects and programs.

Sample Customers

Joy Global Inc., Citrix, EMC Corporation, Concho Resources, Concho Resources, RZD Russian Railways, Family Dollar Stores Inc., Lenovo

Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix

SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs. Smartsheet