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SAP HANA pros and cons

Vendor: SAP
4.1 out of 5
Badge Leader

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

SAP HANA provides predictive capabilities for asset maintenance and real-time forecasts.
It is known for high performance due to its in-memory processing capability.
The integration and flexibility with other solutions are highly valued.
Data storage requirements are reduced, offering efficient storage solutions.
Users appreciate the high database loading performance and efficiency in operations.

CONS

SAP HANA is very expensive, including high licensing, implementation, and hosting costs, which is a primary concern for users.
The initial setup and deployment process for SAP HANA is complex, often requiring significant expertise and time to complete.
SAP HANA has compatibility and integration challenges with third-party tools and non-SAP platforms, impacting its usability and performance.
Technical support and customer service for SAP HANA are perceived as lacking, with slower response times and insufficient support despite the high cost.
SAP HANA struggles with high memory requirements and lacks certain key features found in traditional databases like Oracle, affecting its performance and scalability.
 

SAP HANA Pros review quotes

reviewer1386300 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 23, 2020
SAP HANA is vertically and horizontally scalable.
MN
Apr 19, 2024
The product's initial setup phase was really easy.
Dhiraj Jankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 16, 2025
The most valuable SAP HANA features are that, compared to Oracle, there is less administrative work and less complex work to handle, making it very straightforward.
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2383002 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 25, 2024
It's sufficed all of our requirements. We primarily needed it to run SAP applications, like NetWeaver or S/4HANA, and it has been really good at that.
SA
Sep 23, 2022
When we upgraded, we received more functions or more features.
BV
Jan 12, 2022
The solution offers advanced features that the company was struggling to implement.
reviewer1353810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 21, 2020
Its in-memory capabilities are good, which is why many companies still use it.
George Mukira - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2019
The most value for us was in terms of using it to issue tenders online. We host our server, but it is open to the public, so clients who want to buy those tenders were able to go online, put their tender documents up, and we could evaluate them using SAP.
HP
Jun 11, 2025
The benefits include high database loading performance, superior reporting performance, and ease of use.
AD
May 16, 2023
SAP HANA's interface is pretty user-friendly.
 

SAP HANA Cons review quotes

reviewer1386300 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 23, 2020
High availability and disaster recovery are very poor in HANA.
MN
Apr 19, 2024
The high price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required.
Dhiraj Jankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 16, 2025
I cannot recommend this product to users. I feel that SAP's approach of mandating customers to go with SAP HANA is not a good point; they should make SAP HANA so good that customers willingly choose it.
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2383002 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 25, 2024
The releases need to be more stable. It's surprising to still encounter significant bugs after ten years of the product being available.
SA
Sep 23, 2022
The pricing could be better.
BV
Jan 12, 2022
A documents preview could be helpful.
reviewer1353810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 21, 2020
SAP HANA is a very proprietary tool and there's not as much support available for it as there is for an SQL Server (which is more popular).
George Mukira - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2019
The interface is a little bit hard to customize. You almost have to consult the SAP original developer to change it.
HP
Jun 11, 2025
Licensing costs with SAP HANA are very high. Due to high pricing, many clients are moving from BW on SAP HANA and S/4HANA to Azure SQL.
AD
May 16, 2023
SAP HANA's long run time to extract data could be improved upon.