SAP Cloud Platform Reviews

I'm doing some research because I would like to see how we can make Azure API and SAP CPI work in my current IT landscape. I lead teams who work on it. I am not very hands-on, but am responsible for the major decisions.

My organization typically uses SAP Cloud Platform to interface our core ERP, SAP ERP, with partner systems, billing systems, automation systems, finance systems, and so on. We've also been migrating interfaces with other technologies to SAP CPI.

We are on the SaaS version of Cloud Platform.

One of the most valuable features I have found is that the solution is secure. It is a service based in the cloud. In terms of services, we don't have to plan to the last detail. It is pretty scalable. In terms of the typical functions we do in SAP, it meets most of the use cases quite well.

Earlier, we had interfaces in flat files for other middleware, specifically a legacy middleware system. The point of failure was spread across multiple areas, and the interfaces failed more frequently than what we needed. The monitoring was also challenging and required a different skill set. We had five different middleware systems, so we had five different maintenance teams, so consolidation was challenging. However, once we moved most of that to CPI, the maintenance costs, in terms of the maintenance teams, came down. We have much more certainty now about the functioning of our databases, leading to a decrease in instances of failure.

What I would like to see improved is the learning curve. It is not easy to train someone on SAP CPI. Also, when it comes to different partner systems, especially front-end customer experience systems or mobile apps, CPI doesn't seem to be the best fit, especially in the context of customer experience systems, content management, and mobile apps.

I have been working with SAP Cloud Platform for three years now.

The solution has been safe and stable.

We have several thousand users on the platform.

We sometimes ask questions about queuing and a few other things. There are some smaller ITP protocols that CPI does not support. We have had interactions and discussions with them. In general, I am happy with them when it comes to them providing technical responses, but there is a reluctance to go out of their way to help. They just answer exactly what we ask, and they don't try to offer it even instead of that. So if you don't ask the right question, they'll probably not give you the answer at all.

Neutral

Some of the older tools are now reaching the end of their lifecycle and becoming obsolete. We also had challenges related to stability and maintenance.

The initial setup was straightforward. The only complexity we encountered was in migrating the existing systems. However, when it came to setting up the CPI itself, it was relatively straightforward.

It's not too difficult to maintain. We know what we're getting into from the maintenance perspective. Otherwise, it's not a big challenge.

Our internal IT shop implemented the solution.

SAP Cloud Platform is generally more expensive than the other options.

We're still looking at Azure API for the other half of our landscape. But for SAP-related work, it was obvious to go with CPI.

Each use case might be slightly different, so people need to do due diligence before deciding what is the best fit for them. While SAP CPI is really good, it may or may not be the best fit for someone else.

I rate SAP Cloud Platform an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for ERP purposes. We cover finance, research and development, program management, and HR.

At the moment the most valuable aspects of the solution are the project management and finance features. 

The CPS is very good.

It's suitable for various sizes of companies. I have used it with big companies and with small ones as well. 

The BI design is simple compared to other SAP products.

For our organization, the price is the main downside. They should work to reduce the cost. This specifically affects small companies who would like to use it.

The solution should work to simplify its offering to make it more consumable for users, especially new users.

The solution requires more flexibility overall.

I understand that in the future, they will be offering open source ERP, which will be quite useful.

I have been using SAP for 25 years now.

The stability is quite good. There are always bugs and issues to resolve, but in terms of impacting the business, I haven't noticed much.

We have about 300 people using the solution currently. Starting from where we did, at 100 users, all the way up to 300 users, we haven't scaled much. If a company scales up to 5,000 I don't know what will happen. We haven't tried to make that jump.

The BI design is used every day. The cloud platform is used for the special developments we have, so we use it often as well.

We've been in touch with technical support. They are pretty good. I'd rate them 3.5 out of five. They aren't perfect, and could be improved, but overall they are okay.

We have previously used different solutions. We've used Microsoft products where they create more capabilities more frequently, and we've used Google's platform. Google is similar to SAP in that it's more scalable and easy to consume. We've also used Oracle, which is very similar.

In comparison to other SAP offerings, the solution is quite simple. There is no technical installation so you just consume it readily. However, the business configuration can take up to a year depending on a company's complexity. In our case, it took seven months.

In terms of maintenance, the work is done by SAP, so it's a real low-maintenance solution for clients. For the responsibilities that the customer has to perform on their side, however, they might need one person. 

There were many teams involved in the implementation, including program management services and SAP partners. We didn't completely handle the installation ourselves.

We're SAP customers.

We're using the latest version of the solution.

I'd advise other companies to do an assessment with their internal employees or internal functional heads before jumping into any solution. It shouldn't be just one person doing the assessment. They should all do it together and select the product collectively.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We do public cloud and private cloud implementations of SAP. We also help with the BTP solutions for integrations with Non-SAP systems. I think it's becoming more popular because of RISE with SAP. Earlier, HANA Enterprise Cloud had a lot of limitations. But now, considering RISE with SAP, the solutions are much better. So, people use the solution for running their ERP.

Feature-wise, I like it since it allows you to integrate with multiple applications. There are available connectors that allow you to integrate. Then, there are a lot of data analytics use cases you can implement once you are on the cloud platform.

I think the public cloud has a lot of room for improvement. The private cloud is working well, but the public cloud has room for improvement. Speaking about the public cloud, it's a very rigid system. So, there is not a lot of customization possible in a public cloud environment.

I think the current version of the system is very strong. I think it has pretty much all the features which were needed. So it is, and it's a very new one. So we'll have to really see how customers are able to use the solution.

I work for a consulting company. Actually, we do SAP implementations. So, I work as an integrator for SAP products. I have been using SAP Cloud Platform for five years. My company has a partnership with SAP.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I think the private cloud is scalable. The public cloud is not very scalable. The solution is suitable for small and medium companies.

Support depends on the vendor that you have chosen. There are a lot of vendors. So if the vendor is good, then support is also good. SAP's support is very good. I would rate its support a ten out of ten.

Positive

SAP does the initial setup. So when we start the implementation, they have already done the initial setup. So it's pretty simple. For a user, it is very simple.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price, I rate the pricing a six or seven.

There are not many tools with which you can compare SAP Cloud Platform. There is Microsoft Dynamics 365, but it is for very small organizations. Also, Oracle has NetSuite. SAP has a good breadth of features. I mean, it can pretty much do anything and everything, and it provides coverage to all industries. So, it's phenomenal.

I would definitely recommend the solution to those planning to use it.

I rate the overall product a nine out of ten.

SAP Cloud Platform allows flexibility in integrating with other applications and supports customizations. There are two main deployment options: public cloud and private cloud. Public cloud, while generally more restrictive regarding customization, is suitable for many business models. On the other hand, the private cloud edition offers greater flexibility and customization capabilities.

SAP Cloud Platform serves two primary functions, one of which is supply chain management. The Titan cycle is efficiently managed through SAP, which distinguishes it from other ERP systems. The costing model allows for precise cost calculations tailored to specific manufacturing facilities, crucial for production and cost analysis. These capabilities, alongside robust supply chain management, position the SAP Cloud Platform as a pivotal tool in hosted system functions.

They are pushing towards the public cloud, and such a transition requires a mature understanding of the company's business processes. With the public cloud, there will be less flexibility to customize anything. 

I tried one of the public cloud solutions with tax factors; there is almost zero flexibility. You have to follow the standard mostly without much room for customization. It's about the cloud service, and there is no room for customization or adapting the system to a specific process on the cloud.

Easy integration with very common services worldwide, such as Microsoft Office 365, requires more attention from SAP to facilitate and simplify the process. SAP should make it easier to integrate with such systems as SysTrack.

I have been using SAP Cloud Platform for ten to eleven years.

The system is stable. I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.

If you need to extend the system's database when using a cloud service, you must contact the provider because you cannot do it alone. Around 150 users are using this solution.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

When you reach out to resolve the issue, support is perfect. However, it takes timeto reach someone and start work in this case, so the response needs to be faster. The technical team is strong. Once they know your trouble, they start working on it.

When discussing the landscape, it refers to the server's database and application itself. Since it's a cloud service, it is SAP's responsibility to set up the environment before starting the implementation. However, the implementation depends on many factors, such as business requirements, resource availability, and alignment of business processes within the system. Managing change can be very challenging, especially during testing and implementation.

The average time to implement and roll out SAP is typically around one year. If you are very quick, mature, and ready in advance, the shortest implementation time can be as little as six to nine months. On average, it takes about one year. However, it can extend to two years depending on the company size, whether it involves multiple or single companies and various other factors that can affect the timeline.

SAP is expensive. We will not proceed with it unless we have a very clear ROI. Instead, we will opt for something else due to the price.

The estimate is for SAP services and does not include support costs, which may require separate contracts or service-level agreements with third parties. For instance, the cost for one hundred users could be around one hundred thousand dollars annually, which is quite high.

Companies should carefully assess their application and system requirements. It's essential to determine precisely what is needed, and the company's assistance should focus on understanding these requirements. If certain systems are unable to function, potentially considering costs may be advisable. Opting for a more cost-effective solution may be advisable in such cases.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

I use SAP Cloud Platform in my company as an integration tool primarily focused on SAP products.

SAP Cloud Platform is a new tool in the market, so it's still not mature enough as it still lacks a lot of features. SAP Cloud Platform primarily focuses on SAP integrations, so it might work better if you have SAP's Digital Core. Tools like Salesforce or ServiceNow, are better choices than SAP Cloud Platform.

The tool's UI is not very intuitive for cloud integration, so it needs research to understand its options and how it may work. SAP Cloud Platform is built on a framework named Apache Camel, and they have continued with that to date, which may make it seem not the easiest version of the tool. As a user or a developer, Apache Camel framework in SAP Cloud Platform may not seem like the easiest tool to build as the process may not seem to be very intuitive. The UI of the tool is not intuitive. Right now, if I compare SAP Cloud Platform with Dell Boomi, I would say that the latter provides a far more beautiful and intuitive view compared to the former.

I have been using SAP Cloud Platform since 2017. I have been a user of SAP Cloud Platform since the time SAP did not have the cloud version and relied on SAP Eclipse, an on-premise tool for ABAP development, which I found to be pathetic. I am a user of the product.

It is a stable solution, as I never encountered issues when using it.

It is not much of a scalable solution. One of the issues with the tool is that if its processes get stuck, you cannot cancel them from your end, so you have to seek help from SAP, which is a painful process as it takes hours before the stuck processes get canceled. The product is fine, but it is not the best.

My company provides the solution to one of the companies under the big four. A considerable number of people use the platform, and it is growing because the demand for cloud integration has increased as it's free with other SAP products, causing the demand for Dell Boomi to reduce. I don't have a straightforward number related to the number of the tool's users in my head, but I think that indicates the tool currently has more than 100 users.

I have experience with the solution's technical support of SAP, and it takes a long time to get help from SAP. It is difficult to find answers in SAP for help as there is no online community as such, though I believe SAP has answers in KBAs, so you will have to dig into its massive knowledge base.

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

The product's initial setup phase is slightly difficult, as it needs a lot of expertise for one to do it in a reasonable amount of time. With SAP Cloud Platform, you may have to install bridges, connectors, and so on, so it's not very easy, making its setup phase seem like it is of medium complexity.

My company chose SAP as it pushed us to select SAP Cloud Platform instead of Dell Boomi or any other tool, as Cloud Platform belongs to SAP. SAP Cloud Platform comes free with SuccessFactors, which is a primary reason why clients use it. SAP Cloud Platform does add a lot of complexity for the company's team owing to its capabilities.

I recommend the solution to those who plan to use it, but I would always say that the cost of building and maintaining integration in the solution will always be higher.

I rate the overall tool a seven out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for integration purposes.

It has facilitated integration with SAP and other products.

I’m not sure what the most valuable feature is for my team. It works.

It’s great that we have the entire suite of SAP at our fingertips.

The initial setup is straightforward.

It integrates well with our other SAP solutions.

It’s very easy to use.

I can’t speak to features that may be missing.

I’ve been using the solution for around 10 years. I’ve used this solution in the past 12 months.

It is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable. It performs well.

Scalability is not a problem. We have around 100 users and they are all integrators.

It’s extensively being used in the company.

Technical support has been excellent.

Positive

I did not previously use a different solution.

The initial setup is not overly complex or difficult. It’s simple and straightforward.

I’d rate the ease of setup at a four out of five.

The deployment itself was so long ago. I'm not the product owner of that infrastructure. I don't have details with me in regards to how long it took or what steps were involved.

I’m not sure how many staff members we need for maintenance.

We handled the implementation in-house with our own team. We didn’t need the help of consultants or integrators.

We get a good ROI. I’d rate it as four out of five.

I don’t have any details in regard to pricing.

We did evaluate other options. For example, as I recall, we looked into Oracle as an option. I don’t recall if there were others. It was a long time ago. We chose SAP as it integrated well with our other SAP solutions.

SAP is one of our vendors. We have a workshop with them. Then we have direct communication with them.

I manage a team. I don't use it directly. I manage a team that uses it. I’m not sure what version we are on. However, it is always the latest version or the previous version of the product.

I’d rate the solution nine out of ten. It’s very easy to use and integrate, especially with other SAP solutions.

We are not using SAP, however, we will provide SAP implementation and operation services.

There are various use cases. You take the common processes, finance, supply chain, procurement, then some kind of your HR, and processes like asset maintenance. It can be used there. When it comes to an individual industry like manufacturing, logistics, or the sales processes areas, in the current versions of SAP, those use cases are a little bit more open-ended for the larger customers.

The solution has a lot of great features. It's great to use for procurement processes and cash management tasks - including bank communication.

Consolidation and group reporting are helpful.

The initial setup was straightforward.

The solution can scale well.

In the planning area, IBP is there, however, with IBP still, there are a lot of customizations we need to do. There are integration areas we need to improve, and IBP processes also. IBP is a little bit of a closed process.

If you see the SAP product span, there are so many cloud versions. It is good as an add-on, or to plug in all of them. If that was possible, to plug them all together, that would be good. When it comes to giving a license BOM, there is so much confusion about that. For example, why there are so many items added to that? They could simplify it a bit, or create one cloud product instead of three or four different licenses. They can eliminate more than 20% or 30% of the BOM component, which currently SAP is doing as a separate line item.

Reporting is confusing. There are three or four areas. One is the 4HANA SAP, then BPC reporting. It's too much. The customers do not have that much knowledge in order to choose for themselves the best way to approach reports and so they are getting confused. At least in the near future, they have to start standardizing the way S4 is standardized now. 

When they innovate too fast, they end up confusing their customers.

I've been working on the solution for the last 13 years. 

While the stability is good, when there is no proper data modeling, when that happens, it can be unstable. 

The solution is very scalable. 

We've been happy with technical support.

Positive

The initial setup is pretty simple. The time it takes to deploy depends on the client and the environment, however. 

You need customer buy-in and for them to earn the system a bit as well. Many don't want to change right away. Many are working with legacy systems. For a medium to small setup it shouldn't take more than six or seven months to deploy fully. 

The amount of people you will need for deployment and maintenance also varies. If a company is into manufacturing, logistics, sales, service, finance, HR, supply chain, planning, asset maintenance - if they have all the processes - then it will need around 15 different people. Not all of them will be required for hte full six months, however, you'll need someone from each area involved at some point. 

We are implementors. We implement SAP on behalf of customers.

Their enterprise management has standard pricing. This means whatever you use, the cost will be, almost more or less the same, however, there are other components where it depends on the volumes of your business. The licensing model for each application is different, not all of them follow the same model.

We are the gold partners with SAP.

I'm an enterprise architect.

I'd recommend the solution to others. It works across various departments.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

I am working for a consultancy company. We have this application that we are designing which needs services to get our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) data transferred to our data services on the cloud. When we collect some data from applications, we can see information like what kind of applications people are using so we are aware. Then we can inform the managers so that they know and can take action. That is one part we have working.  

We also have some simple list-based applications so users can get lists of orders for today, or tasks for today, or tasks for a selected week. Also it is like a task list. We let users create some list of obligations where you can say something is confirmed done. Then that information gets posted back to the ERP for tracking.  

The most valuable feature of this product is the scalability inherent in it because it resides on the cloud.  

This product needs a lot of improvement and should be simplified. It is really clumsy. You need a lot of connections running just to get it working. Even though it is a private cloud, we need a lot of connection speed and resources. I would have preferred something on-premises which would have been very simple. But that is our use case: programming and hosting it on our web solution. And that is all.  

I would personally like to see a lot of examples of how to do things with the solution. This is a scalar platform and they are providing some solutions. There are some applications available that you can activate from cloud connectors, et cetera. That is good. But I need to see examples of what some use cases are and I need to be able to build some applications. It is not just about how can I utilize this platform, but there should be step-by-steps. For example, in step one, I need all my connections in place. Well, I also need to know also what kind of connections. Second, I need to know what my data should be. Third, I want to know how I can use a simple auditor. These can be very simple examples for different features. It would be helpful.  

If you go to some other platform tool sites, they are loaded with examples and templates, et cetera. I think that part of the presentation of this solution is missing here. It is as if they are saying that even from the start I had to know everything about how the product works before I ever used it. That is frustrating at times. Instead, it is always like a game of trial and error to see if something is working or not. That is time-consuming and very frustrating.   

I have been using SAP Cloud Platform for over now one-and-a-half years now.  

My impression of the stability is that it is not good. Almost every month there is something new and that makes us nervous about delivery. If our applications are running fine and something critical changes, we may need to make changes to fix our solution and then test it and deploy it. Maybe doing updates once a year would be fine. But I think the changes are too frequent and this makes it a very difficult platform to develop on.  

The scalability of the product is fine. Scalability is one of the benefits that we have in using the product.  

I do not know exactly how many people are using the solution in our organization, but we have a little over 20 users with some four to five admin roles. So there are about 30 users in total.  

I would say that the technical support is okay. I was using it because we had some questions for our testing. Someone is always there in the office, so it is easy to contact them. Or we can create a ticket and it will go to our contact person. It is not certain that we get an immediate response which is common in any technology. Overall, the service is not bad.  

I was a consultant working with encryption. My part in that consulting team was working with SAP and since the beginning, I was working with S/4HANA. Right from early 2016, I have been working on mobile applications. I was working on mobile earlier on, but it is not the same these days.  

The initial setup is complex. I do not know exactly how long it took to deploy because it was done by a different team. It took at least a month. It is available, but actually getting the product to work as expected could take months. That is too long.  

The rates are client-specific because they are negotiated. The actual rates may be classified, even for me.  

The advice I would give to people considering this solution is that there are a lot of open platforms and tools available. SAP, in particular, is very expensive unless you have an enterprise organization that can afford to use it. Otherwise, it is really very expensive. Personally, I am trying out and testing open source tools like Ionic. Some of those tools are really fantastic, I think. Ionic, for example, has all the features. You have to have proper security in place, but I think that can be managed. But I would recommend that users try out these open source platforms and tools.  

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product for enterprises as about a six.