SAP S/4HANA OverviewUNIXBusinessApplication

SAP S/4HANA is the #2 ranked solution in top ERP tools. PeerSpot users give SAP S/4HANA an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. SAP S/4HANA is most commonly compared to SAP ERP: SAP S/4HANA vs SAP ERP. SAP S/4HANA is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 49% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 26% of all views.
SAP S/4HANA Buyer's Guide

Download the SAP S/4HANA Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: May 2023

What is SAP S/4HANA?

SAP S4HANA is an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system that uses sophisticated technologies including machine learning and AI. It is most commonly used to integrate and manage business functions and is an ideal solution for large enterprises. The platform includes supplier relationship management (SRM), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and product lifecycle management (PLM) functionality.

SAP S4HANA offers three different deployment options:

  • On-premises
  • Cloud
  • Hybrid

SAP S4HANA Features

SAP S4HANA has many valuable key features, including:

  • Customizable
  • ERP, CRM, SRM, SCM, PLM co-deployed
  • High throughput
  • Fast analytics and reporting
  • Smaller total data footprint
  • SAP HANA multi-tenancy
  • All data: social, text, geo, graph, processing
  • New SAP Fiori UX for any device (mobile, desktop, tablet)
  • Unlimited workload capacity
  • High-volume transaction processing (OLTP)
  • High volume real-time analytical processes (OLAP)
  • Service Management
  • Digital Boardroom Integration

SAP S4HANA Benefits

Some of the benefits of using SAP S4HANA include:

  • Speed: S4 HANA applications leverage speed, context, and data accessibility to ensure you can stay up to date with rapidly evolving technology.
  • Improved performance: With SAP S4HANA, you can plan, execute, or generate reports and analytics based on live data to increase performance.
  • Simplicity: SAP S4HANA’s whole infrastructure was designed with simplification in mind — from the management of the solution to the administration of the IT landscape. The solution serves as the digital core for business process simplification and enables the centralizing of hardware and network resources.
  • Cost effective: SAP S4HANA is a cost effective solution. It provides the ability to bring together all the analytical and transactional capabilities of a variety of systems in one location, enabling better decision making.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by SAP S4HANA users.

A Mechanical Engineer at a construction company says, “It is a very powerful, highly customizable tool. The most valuable feature is that the reporting is fast. We can see the results from that in that our commissions come in fast. That is the main advantage.”

Another reviewer, a SAP Technology Manager at a financial services firm, mentions, "It is more or less a very, very smooth and seamless product. Day by day they are increasing their technology features and they are keen to resolve the issues. India has a complex business scenario and SAP is thinking about that and resolving the issues day by day. In terms of the features I have found most valuable, I don't think that there is any lack or any gap process-wise. SAP is a very good tool."

A Project and Service delivery Manager at a tech services company comments, "One of the most valuable features, which we used the most, was the FI module, for finance. It involved controlling, account receivables, account payables, and complete financial steering."

A Senior Architect at a construction company states, “The POD applications are very useful to us. There are a few POD apps which we are using for different business scenarios. They are quite interesting.” He also adds, “The initial setup is pretty straightforward. The documentation is very good. The solution can scale well. The solution is stable.”

SAP S/4HANA was previously known as SAP S4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA Customers

Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.

SAP S/4HANA Video

SAP S/4HANA Pricing Advice

What users are saying about SAP S/4HANA pricing:
  • "This is not the cheapest solution on the market, so you need to invest seriously in it. As a solid product, it has a solid price. It's definitely one of the more expensive tools on the market, but it's also one of the best products on the market."
  • "Pricing is one area where S/4HANA has room for improvement. It's too costly for many people. They have come up with"
  • "The solution often does not survive our shortlist round because it is very expensive when compared to other products."
  • "SAP is a costly product in terms of maintenance for an organization who has reached a particular level."
  • SAP S/4HANA Reviews

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    SAP Technology Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
    Real User
    Smooth and seamless product with flexible licensing models
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is more or less a very, very smooth and seamless product. Day by day they are increasing their technology features and they are keen to resolve the issues. India has a complex business scenario and SAP is thinking about that and resolving the issues day by day."
    • "If I can highlight one point that could be improved, when we talk about other ERPs, like Oracle, nowadays these ERPs provide free integration with other ERPs. For example, there is an API for banks integrated into every tool and every product form requires that bank integration in order to give real time data into the ERP. But SAP is charging a lot for that particular bank integration scenario and I think it should be free because other ERPs are providing this feature built in to the ERP. People always ask us about the integration and how much it will cost to go with that solution, so people are thinking about this."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are implementing SAP S/4HANA for our customers.

    We are dealing with firms who are into manufacturing, retail, and pharmaceutical.

    Nowadays, people are choosing the cloud solution only, and are probably going with AWS or Azure. It varies from case to case.

    What is most valuable?

    In terms of the features I have found most valuable, I don't think that there is any lack or any gap process-wise. SAP is a very good tool.

    What needs improvement?

    If I can highlight one point that could be improved, when we talk about other ERPs, like Oracle, nowadays these ERPs provide free integration with other ERPs. For example, there is an API for banks integrated into every tool and every product form requires that bank integration in order to give real time data into the ERP. But SAP is charging a lot for that particular bank integration scenario and I think it should be free because other ERPs are providing this feature built in to the ERP. People always ask us about the integration and how much it will cost to go with that solution, so people are thinking about this.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with SAP S/4HANA for more than four years.

    Buyer's Guide
    SAP S/4HANA
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about SAP S/4HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    710,326 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    SAP S/4HANA is stable. It is more or less a very, very smooth and seamless product. Day by day they are increasing their technology features and they are keen to resolve the issues. India has a complex business scenario and SAP is thinking about that and resolving the issues day by day.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    SAP S/4HANA is scalable, but it is scalable for those who have money. In terms of  boutique firms, nowadays they are also thinking about how to move themselves into big ERPs. But because of the cost, most of the boutique firms are choosing Microsoft Dynamics. Because of the price, SAP is not likely the highest product to be chosen, and I think SAP should think about that because if they want to benefit their customers or to increase the size of their customer base, they have to think about pricing as well.

    If somebody is asking for the two module support, it is only going to require up to two main servers, but if they are saying that we are providing you proper support and proper IT for the project then it is going to be up to four people. In India or in any country, people are pressing to do the freelance thing. The answer to this question depends on the scalability.

    How are customer service and support?

    Customer support is good. It's very nice. There are no more issues with that. When I post SAP tickets that I mark as high priority they always ask why is it high? It should be high, medium or low. From their perspective, these tickets should be  medium or low because high priority should be replied within 24 hours. If I raise any complaint in SAP as a very high priority it should be resolved within 24 hours.

    They always come up with this complaint. I faced this issue in my last project. If it is a critical thing from my business side then I need to put that remark as a very high priority. I don't know why they always question that high priority. We always want to deliver the things on a timeline. That's why we put that kind of a remark when we raise any ticket to SAP.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward. I am using SAP for more than six years, meaning SAP ERP, not SAP S/4HANA. So it is straightforward for me. But for those who are boutique and are now going from a small ERP to a bigger ERP like SAP or another one, for them the initial setup is complex.

    The implementation will take six months. It covers every process and integration for the standard part. The time depends upon if they want to integrate more tools and more processes, then it could be up to nine months. If they want a vanilla system to be implemented it is going take six months, a standard which every ERP takes if I compare with Oracle. I am not talking about any other ERP, like a homegrown ERP.

    There are three phases if somebody is going to implement the SAP. There is a pre-implementation part, there is the ongoing implementation, and then there is the post implementation part where we include the support, as well. We are also doing the quality review, but it is the same as if I'm doing the implementation and we want a particular person for a particular module. Let's take the example if somebody is implementing four or five modules in SAP - for every module we require a senior guy and a junior guy so that he or she can deliver the things on a timely basis. Because it requires teamwork, the integration of every module requires up to around 10 people for any implementation, including the project manager.

    I am talking only about the implementation part. Project support or the pre-implementation part is a different thing.

    What about the implementation team?

    In our company we have our own team for SAP implementation because we are a partner with SAP. We do hire outside people, but not from SAP. We are hiring the manpower from a third-party. If the project size is very large and we need to cover things in a short period, we prefer to hire other resources so that we can finish according to the timeline which is important for every product platform. That's why if we do the things according to the timeline they give us good feedback and the word of mouth comes into the picture and they share it with other people who then reach out to us.

    What was our ROI?

    Regarding ROI, in India there are more startup firms and ROI is only an issue for people going for SAP to get funding because it's a very good tool and more business tycoons are looking for those companies who are using SAP. So in my experience, if somebody is using SAP there are more chances for ROI.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    SAP licenses are more costly than others. But now SAP provides flexible models for licenses for users who are in a higher position or only have to give approval or check things.

    What other advice do I have?

    On a scale of one to ten, for me SAP S/4HANA is an eight.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Project and Service delivery Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    It's stable and has all the modules and functionalities you may need
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most valuable features, which we used the most, was the FI module, for finance. It involved controlling, account receivables, account payables, and complete financial steering."
    • "S/4HANA could be improved with better integration. At the moment, a main issue I see is that there's so much growth in the functionality, complementary modules, and cloud solutions which were acquired by SAP and which extend the functionality of the SAP ERP suite. It looks to me that they tend to acquire more and more functionality from acquisitions, but they don't invest enough effort into making them integrated with S/4HANA or ERP. I would say that the functionality is great, but integration is something which still needs more attention. Instead of focusing on acquisitions, they should invest, integrate, and better the existing portfolio of products in SAP. It would help us, as implementors, to have a more complex or compact solution."

    What is our primary use case?

    I used S/4HANA as a classical ERP system, so I used it to manage the data feeds of enterprise companies. One of them was an IT services company and the other was in the pharmaceutical business. They were two different businesses, but S/4HANA has so many modules and adjustments that you can generally adjust it to any kind of a business. 

    S/4HANA can be cloud-based or deployed on-premises, but in both of my implementations, it was on-prem. 

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable features, which we used the most, was the FI module, for finance. It involved controlling, account receivables, account payables, and complete financial steering. 

    What needs improvement?

    S/4HANA could be improved with better integration. At the moment, a main issue I see is that there's so much growth in the functionality, complementary modules, and cloud solutions which were acquired by SAP and which extend the functionality of the SAP ERP suite. It looks to me that they tend to acquire more and more functionality from acquisitions, but they don't invest enough effort into making them integrated with S/4HANA or ERP. I would say that the functionality is great, but integration is something which still needs more attention. Instead of focusing on acquisitions, they should invest, integrate, and better the existing portfolio of products in SAP. It would help us, as implementors, to have a more complex or compact solution. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I used S/4HANA for about half a year, for two projects that I was running. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I would say that S/4HANA is more of a stable product than a top-performing product, but that's because I don't have the same use cases with similar tools to compare it to. It's not fair to judge the performance if I don't have a like-to-like comparison with anything else. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is scalable. 

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support of SAP really depends on where your ticket is resolved. Sometimes you are lucky and you get an expert on the first trial, directly from Europe, and you get good advice very quickly and can continue with your progress. However, sometimes your tickets get stuck and maybe sent to India or sent to less experienced consultants, and you need to chase it to get your ticket resolved. It's hard to make a judgment on this because I've experienced both circumstances, either getting great support in a short amount of time or having to escalate the ticket for a couple of weeks because it's hard to reach the right expert. It's hard to compare because it depends, case by case. 

    I'd say their technical support falls in the middle of the scale: it could be better, but it could be worse. At the moment, it's satisfactory, but unfortunately, this isn't always the case. 

    How was the initial setup?

    Implementation is definitely not straightforward. It's straightforward if you have a proper expert in your sub-base team, but it's not installing Windows or Microsoft Excel. It's a corporate enterprise management system, so there are a lot of parameters you need to set up. The installation itself is the easy part, but the configuration for the business use case is complex. Typically, the installation took about one week. For the configuration, making it compliant with the business use cases, and setting up all the security and users, it took months—typically three to six months, depending on the size of the company. 

    The team needed for deployment and maintenance depends on the size and complexity of the customer's business processes. It also depends on how far they would like to go with customizations because almost nobody is purchasing such an enterprise solution to use it as a standard. Almost every customer has some specific features they need to get configured, adjusted, or developed in the solution. From that point of view, it will decide the size of your team. 

    If you have a small- to mid-size company—one hundred employees, compact business processes—then you can do it in a couple of months with five people. If you have an enterprise company with thousands of employees around the globe, then it takes almost an indefinite number of consultants because it depends on the complexity of your setup. So the minimum team of five could set it up in a couple of months for a small- to mid-sized company, but it could be a team of twenty to fifty people if you have a complex environment. 

    What about the implementation team?

    I have implemented this solution for two customers. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    This is not the cheapest solution on the market, so you need to invest seriously in it. As a solid product, it has a solid price. It's definitely one of the more expensive tools on the market, but it's also one of the best products on the market. 

    You need to pay for licensing. There are multiple models, but typically, it's a yearly subscription. Usually, when you implement it from scratch, you don't just purchase it for the first year, but for three or five years. 

    What other advice do I have?

    Compared to similar products, I rate SAP S/4HANA an eight out of ten, because it can always be better. 

    I would definitely recommend S/4HANA to those considering implementation. The greatest and biggest enterprises use SAP solutions. If you have a really serious business and you're looking for a rock solid solution with all the modules and functionalities you may need, then SAP is definitely one of the best options. On the other hand, you need to have a business which is profitable because this solution is not cheap, and implementation projects are neither cheap nor fast. You need to invest seriously in such a solution, but it pays off because there are no risks of malfunctions. You have enough contractors on the market who can help you with the solution, so you can always get support. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    SAP S/4HANA
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about SAP S/4HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    710,326 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    VARUN-JAIN - PeerSpot reviewer
    Associate Manager - Strategy and Transaction at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    The solution is highly scalable, with solid performance and integration
    Pros and Cons
    • "S/4HANA is so much faster today than it was before. High performance is one of the best features, but the backbone of S/4HANA is its integration capabilities. They've also shifted to a focus on user experience."
    • "SAP support provides resolves all our problems, but the response time is slower than our customers expect. Maybe it's because they have such a large customer base and are always occupied, but that's one area all our customers mention."

    What is our primary use case?

    There are a lot of options for deploying S/4HANA. It depends on the industry and the customer's budget. It is usually deployed on-premise in the public sector, but tech companies mostly choose the cloud option.

    SAP provides you with single-tenant and multi-tenant options when you opt for the public cloud. When it is a single tenant, it's typically a private cloud managed by SAP, but the customer's budget also factors in. If they're working with a large budget, a customer might opt for a public cloud, but government clients might opt for a completely on-premise solution because of data security regulations. 

    Most of our customers plan to move to S/4HANA. We usually start with central finance and later prepare a migration plan. By the time we're ready to deploy, SAP may have released a new version, so the customer might choose the latest edition depending on their budget go for the latest version, or they may only be interested in whatever version was on the market when we were in the planning stage.

    What is most valuable?

    S/4HANA is so much faster today than it was before. High performance is one of the best features, but the backbone of S/4HANA is its integration capabilities. They've also shifted to a focus on user experience. 

    The UIs used to be slightly boring, but the user experience has dramatically improved since the acquisition of Sybase, Callidus, and several other companies. SAP stays ahead of the curve and is constantly improving. If you want a feature, they're already working on it. It's one of the best ERP solutions on the market.

    What needs improvement?

    The ERP market is competitive, and other solutions may have advantages over S/4HANA in some industries. I work in fintech, and central finance is essential to all industries. S/4HANA provides all the features there, but when you talk about ranking the industries, manufacturing would be No. 1.

    Initially, S/4HANA was getting bested by PeopleSoft in the HR sector. Now, they are catching up. In particular, SAP wasn't strong in expense management, but they acquired a company last year and Ariba several years back. Their SRM was not hit. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using S/4HANA for the last two and a half years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    S/4HANA is stable. Many companies were skeptical because it was costly and untested. It has proven far more stable than people had expected. People thought they would only switch to SAP in 2025 once the solution had matured and provided services, ECC, etc. However, customers are now willing to spend on S/4HANA because they see it's stable and stacks up well against other ERP solutions.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    S/4HANA is highly scalable because of the cloud, and it integrates with various publicly available software, it is highly scalable. S/4HANA has always been scalable, and now you have more ways to scale up with the subscription model as well as the multi-tenant and the single-tenant deployment options. Scalability is never a question.

    How are customer service and support?

    SAP support provides resolves all our problems, but the response time is slower than our customers expect. Maybe it's because they have such a large customer base and are always occupied, but that's one area all our customers mention.

    How was the initial setup?

    S/4HANA implementation is always complex because you need to configure it to work with your infrastructure. SAP only provides the license, not hardware, but they will connect you with a partner like HPE or IBM.

    It's extremely costly if you ask for SAP to implement it, but you can deploy through some vendor like HCL, TC, Infosys, or Capgemini, and then you need to enlist a hardware partner. 

    The complexity also varies by industry. If it's a small industry with $40 million of revenue annually, the business processes will be simple. However, deployment is tricky for heavy manufacturing, energy, etc.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Pricing is one area where S/4HANA has room for improvement. It's too costly for many people. They have come up with the subscription-based model also. The annual cost is $3,000 per user.

    The only other expense is maintenance, but if you're paying for a subscription, you don't need to pay anything. However, there is a minimum commitment of $100,000.

    Maintenance is always calculated as a percentage of your annual spending. For example, if you have implemented the solution, and it costs you $10 million in your first year, roughly 20 to 25 percent will be the operating cost. That is the maintenance fee SAP will charge. You will pay $2 million on a $10 million budget. 

    You can think of that $2 million as $100,000 you would pay per employee to a team of consultants. If a company is relatively small and only implemented a few million, then we would recommend that they buy SAP business and outsource all the non-SAP activities.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate SAP S/4HANA nine out of 10. If you want digitization in your organization, go for it. S/4HANA is advanced and highly integrable. It's one of the best ERP solutions, but it depends on your budget because SAP is always costly.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Consultant
    PeerSpot user
    System & Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Good for vertical customizations but too costly and complex for other use cases
    Pros and Cons
    • "The finance solution and procurement functionalities are good."
    • "Items that impact the TCO should be improved because the solution is very complex to integrate and keep running."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our company implements the solution for customers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. We manage transformational projects that include selection, upgrade, or replacement of systems that require ERP solutions. 

    Our biggest implementation was for a chemical company's software hub that was custom-built on an AS/400 mainframe and they wanted to move to an ERP system.  After a six-month package selection process, we chose the solution combined with extensions provided by an implementation partner that added specific functionality and narrowed down customizations. 

    Across all of our projects, there are 5,000 users of the solution. 

    What is most valuable?

    The finance solution and procurement functionalities are good. 

    What needs improvement?

    Items that impact the TCO should be improved because the solution is very complex to integrate and keep running. 

    Integration with a portal or front end is needed. For example, the online collaboration part of SAP with vendors lacks functionality. Integrating with sales or service processes with a CRM or cloud for customers uses three different SAP systems. Customers typically choose Salesforce instead because the SAP system is not good.

    There is a very large learning curve for different domains from an end user perspective. Some things are easy to understand and other things are complex. Users receive cryptic error messages when they do things that they do not fully understand. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the solution for seven years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable with no complaints from customers. 

    On occasion, users get cryptic error messages that they cannot resolve themselves. Someone else has to assist which results in downtime from the IT side and that has a negative impact on business performance. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Implementation partners handle issues with support staff and response times are very high. Support staff know the product in most cases and are good. 

    It might take time for implementation partners to be notified of issues and then reach out to support for assistance. This support chain is expensive because the customer is invoiced based on the number of total support hours needed.

    I rate technical support an eight out of ten. 

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup requires advanced knowledge and can take two to three days. In some cases, setup can take several days before demo mode is available.  

    What about the implementation team?

    Implementation partners handle setups and our company handles project management and quality assurance from the customer's perspective. 

    Customers do not manage the complex environment on their own but rather depend on service providers such as Deloitte or Capgemini. The price of operational support only makes sense or is efficient in instances with two or three FTEs. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution often does not survive our shortlist round because it is very expensive when compared to other products. It is only appropriate or selected for very specific use cases and types of companies. 

    In some cases, the solution is ten to twenty-five times more expensive than competitors like Dynamics because it requires licensing, cloud environment costs, and contracts for maintenance and support. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Our company recommends various ERP systems depending on use case and customer environment. We have worked with Dynamics 365, NetSuite, Unit4, N4, Baan, and Vision. We work on transformation trajectories for customers who use ERP systems and want to replace, upgrade, or do a greenfield approach.

    The solution is a good fit for use cases where customizations are required on top to cover sector-specific business needs, as opposed to custom greenfield implementations of Dynamics 365 with much custom development. The solution reduces the amount of customization that needs to be implemented.

    Use cases for domains with no vertical solution built on top are not a good fit for the solution. 

    The solution is complex to learn and user acceptance of NetSuite is ten times faster.

    What other advice do I have?

    It is difficult to rate the solution. For some customers, it is a seven and for others it is a one out of ten. It really depends on the sector and fit gap between needs and business processes. 

    There are many cases or exceptions where the solution is not a good fit, so I rate it a four out of ten overall. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Other
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    Flag as inappropriate
    PeerSpot user
    Chief Executive Officer at Biz Tech Resources
    Real User
    It's relatively stable, but it still needs time to mature
    Pros and Cons
    • "S4HANA is relatively stable."
    • "We found that the implementing partners themselves are struggling with S4HANA's features. It's not an exact translation of the older ECC, so SAP has taken a new route to do things with S4HANA. Maybe it's a good product, but the implementing partners also like to have an in-depth understanding of the full feature set the product offers."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are consultants who help supervise our customers' implementation projects. Two of our customers use S4HANA. The older ones are on the ECC platform.

    What needs improvement?

    We found that the implementing partners themselves are struggling with S4HANA's features. It's not an exact translation of the older ECC, so SAP has taken a new route to do things with S4HANA. Maybe it's a good product, but the implementing partners also like to have an in-depth understanding of the full feature set the product offers. There are areas where even the implementer has to go back to set, which takes time, so that's one of our major concerns.

    The older implementations were cloud-based, but one is happening now in one of the larger utilities, which sells services to around 4 million consumers. That's an ongoing project that hasn't gone live yet. This will be the real test. In a year, we'll know, and we can give more feedback.

    Another complaint I have is that the screen source is disjointed. When I say this, I'm speaking from a user experience perspective. I don't know the S4HANA database, so I can't say if it's good or bad. I am sure that S4HANA would have certain limitations compared to Oracle, which is the gold standard for databases. Maybe there are some challenges in the backend, but I don't dwell on those because I'm not a technician. But the graphical interface requires improvement, and its flow should be very smooth. 

    Also, the Fiori app is very basic. They need to become richer because people tend to use Fiori to access the S4HANA application to save on license costs. Fiori gives you access because it's a web client, and they market it as an app. It's not really a full-fledged app, but the roadmap has to be cleared from SAP. And when its capabilities improve, it gives a native app experience when people use Fiori.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I haven't been using S4HANA for long. It's been two years now.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    S4HANA is relatively stable, but it's not as stable as ECC was. ECC had a long time to mature, so S4HANA still has a few years to go before it can achieve the level of stability that we've come to expect from SAP.

    How are customer service and support?

    We've primarily relied on the local implementers for support, and there are challenges whenever they need to refer back to SAP's own technical support. It usually takes longer than expected in many cases. Sometimes they're pretty fast, but they're usually not, which is a serious concern.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We've worked with three of the biggest products in the ERP segment: S4HANA, Oracle EBS, and Microsoft Dynamics AXMicrosoft Dynamics is pretty straightforward. It's not as complex and offers a good user experience, whereas SAP through Fiori gives a certain level of user experience, but that's not as good as what Microsoft offers. But the rich line where you go through the desktop license — that user interface is still cumbersome. It's not as user-friendly I must say. On the other hand, Oracle is the middle of the two. I won't say that it's as good as Microsoft's user experience. However, while it is a bit more complex than Microsoft, it's not as complex as SAP. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I would currently rate S4HANA seven out of 10. We tell our clients that SAP's roadmap shows us that S4HANA will mature in time. It won't happen tomorrow. They have to make an informed decision whether they want to live with certain delays in getting certain fixes or go with another solution. SAP is such a big name, so half the time, people are willing to live with those delays with the expectation that things will get better in a year or two. SAP is a trusted name, and I'm sure they must be doing something now to get S4HANA up to speed. I hope they understand that.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Sahil Doshi - PeerSpot reviewer
    Associate director at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    ERP business solution that offers built-in comprehensive functionality for all major departments
    Pros and Cons
    • "S/4HANA offers a lot of additional capability with respect to performance due to its in-built architecture for many functions including finance, production, quality, manufacturing, inventory or sales distribution and logistics."
    • "The integration could be made a little simpler in terms of design and implementation."

    What is most valuable?

    The features you have access to when using this solution depends on which format or version you use. If an organization uses the SAP ECC version, this is an older version and multiple things would be the same at a process execution level and architecture level. However, S/4HANA offers a lot of additional capability with respect to performance due to its built-in architecture for many functions including finance, production, quality, manufacturing, inventory or sales distribution and logistics. SAP offers many capabilities with respect to enhanced functionalities, process improvement and better analytics.

    SAP has introduced a lot of management functionality from a sales distribution perspective. The finance module offers a lot of reports as well as the offering of Fiori, which is a UI5 based tool which can be installed in each and every handheld devices for the purpose of approvals.

    In the transportation module, which is a part of the sales distribution, SAP offers modifications and enhancements.

    What needs improvement?

    SAP offers a lot of products now and all the capabilities are available from one service provider. However, the knowledge needed for the implementation of these capabilities isn't widely shared and so product knowledge in the market isn't comprehensive. This makes it challenging to fully take advantage of all the capabilities. We would like to have access to tutorials. 

    The integration could be made a little simpler in terms of design and implementation. SAP should integrate easier with other third party systems. Industry specific retail or FMCG related industries can't directly rely on SAP with respect to the POS integration or the eCommerce integration. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used this solution for ten years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This is a stable solution. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This is a scalable solution but some companies face challenges in terms of migration when it comes to the material ledger, COPA cockpits or the introduction of the actual costing. It again depends upon the expertise of the consultants who are doing the implementation but is not part of a product bug.

    How are customer service and support?

    We have consulted directly with SAP when it comes to completing the initial implementation. When it comes to going live and if we encounter any major issues which cannot be resolved by implementation partners, then we contact the platinum consultants at SAP. 

    There is an option to pay for managed services and support from SAP.

    How was the initial setup?

    The complexity of the setup depends on the organization. If the organization is using ECC then the setup is straightforward. If the organization is using another product like Oracle or Microsoft Dynamics, it is a big change migrating to SAP S/4HANA.

    The size of an organization and volume will also impact the complexity of the setup. A mid-size organization would require an in-house team for maintenance. This maintenance is important as lack of specific activities or tasks could cause mishaps in the entire system. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    SAP is a costly product in terms of maintenance for an organization who has reached a particular level. For organizations, like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, they rely heavily on this solution and cost is not as issue for companies of that size.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I complete a comparative analysis when an organization is running on a legacy ERP. We provide the review services and pre-implementation services where this is a very common question. We complete a feature comparison analysis for Oracle versus SAP or Microsoft Dynamics 365 versus SAP. The most common outcome is that SAP is the best product overall. 

    What other advice do I have?

    This solution can be implemented in multiple ways. One is the on-premise model where the organization has to manage servers and administration related activities on their own. The second is the cloud deployment model that requires some kind of public cloud or private cloud. There are multiple service providers who can help with cloud deployment. The third option is a hybrid model. You can complete a cost benefit analysis and have a mix of this kind of development.

    I would rate this solution a ten out of ten. 

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner/Integrator
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    PeerSpot user
    Senior Partner at AGLC Consulting
    Real User
    Solution that can be used on all levels
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is the most stable solution provided by SAP and can be used on all levels."
    • "Their yearly licensing is expensive. Improvements are needed on the user experience level and digital work."

    What is our primary use case?

    Most of my clients use it for controlling finances and for BI (purchasing and sales). Depending on the activity, we can also use it for logistics and plan management, like in energy module ISU — it's a specific module for energy, oil and gas distribution.

    What needs improvement?

    There's lots of improvement to be made on the user experience level and digital work. Since SAP is a transactional software, you can't use it like Salesforce. It's not easy to create automated reports.

    For the user experience, they can try to get out of the strictly industrial point of view because it's an IT solution. It's not always the most fun application the use. It's pretty complicated and if you're not fully trained for it, it isn't easy to understand how it works.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using it for the last four years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    S/4 HANA is the most stable solution provided by SAP.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is very good. That's the good thing about the S/4 HANA solution.

    How are customer service and support?

    Support is quite good; they know their solutions. Over the last few years, they changed all the resources that were on the first S/4 HANA program. They're pretty efficient. There's always a contract with them for support. Normally, regular support is done internally, but when it comes to SAP bugs, when we can't solve the problem, we go back to SAP support and can rely on them.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setup is complex. SAP is the biggest ERP on the market. We like to say it's the Rolls-Royce of ERPs. So it can't be deployed without a minimum of 10 to 20 consultants, plus approximately the same kind of resources on the business level.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Licensing is quite expensive. It works with yearly licenses and it's ugly. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

    For maintenance of the solution, the number of people needed depends on how many users you have. Basically, now we use TMAs most of the time, but for smaller conditions, it would be a minimum of 10 people. It depends on the number of modules that you have. For example, with my last clients, we had a regional team of 20% plus an external team of more than 10% and it was really not a big deployment or activity.

    For full deployment, the time it takes depends on the complexity of the deployment and the number of processes to review. In a normal situation, basic roll out would be between four to six months and a global project or program can take up to three to five years. It also depends on the number of sites because you have to deploy the solution, and once you have the core model, you need to perform a roll out on every site and do all the necessary training. I've worked on programs before that lasted five or six years with major companies where there were over 700 sites. It's difficult to do more than 50 or 60 sites per year, and even with that, it's complicated. With one of my prior clients, it was a 10-year program.

    With regular companies, there are more than five to seven thousand users and with major ones, on my biggest project, we had 30,000 users worldwide.

    The solution can be used on all levels.  On the IT level, it's a tool that we deploy to enable the tracking of client processes, but it can be used on every level. It's commonly used for finance control, sales and purchasing because those are the biggest parts when managing client TNLs. Depending on the activity, if you're not a big client, you can go down to MRP level, managing all the logistics and all the productivity. It can be used by everyone.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Director at ApON India
    Real User
    Simple to use functions, intuitive interface, and efficient database
    Pros and Cons
    • "I have been using SAP for more than 13 years and the new SAP S4HANA was not only a simple upgrade, they have made a lot of improvements. They have simplified a lot of the functions, the all-new interface gives users a better experience. The database itself is quite efficient in nature and it provides effective data queries. It is a good upgrade from the previous version of SAP R/3."
    • "It is simple to implement SAP S4HANA. If you are already in this type of environment, then the transition is not very complex. However, if you do not then it can be difficult."

    What is our primary use case?

    SAP S4HANA is used as an enterprise resource planning solution.

    What is most valuable?

    I have been using SAP for more than 13 years and the new SAP S4HANA was not only a simple upgrade, they have made a lot of improvements. They have simplified a lot of the functions, the all-new interface gives users a better experience. The database itself is quite efficient in nature and it provides effective data queries. It is a good upgrade from the previous version of SAP R/3.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used SAP S4HANA for approximately two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This solution is stable. The application runs on hardware and if you are using cloud architecture it is stable. However, there are too many factors to clearly say this solution is stable because it depends on the environment. For example, where are you hosting the solution and how are you accessing it can impact the stability. If one of these many factors is not suitable then the solution as a whole could be determined to be unstable. 

    How was the initial setup?

    It is simple to implement SAP S4HANA. If you are already in this type of environment, then the transition is not very complex. However, if you do not then it can be difficult.

    It does not matter what ERP you are using, whether it is Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or others, and even locally made or customized solutions, it is always the change management that takes all the effort. It is never technology that comes in between as the bottleneck because whatever technology you choose, configure, design architect, it does the job. The issue is the mindset of people, how to change people, how to train them, how do you make them efficient, how they will become more fluent and adapt to this change? That is the challenge, it is never technology that falls in place as a bottleneck.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I have evaluated Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, and other solutions.

    What other advice do I have?

    When trying to improve, you either implement something new and then try to improve your internal process, or there is a change in business, market, product, or scenario altogether, or maybe a merger equation that you need something which is not there. It is always a gap between the demand and supply and that is the reason the flow happens. Otherwise, if everything is saturated, then it becomes fully stable, there is no need for any movement or change anywhere. 

    There has been a lot of changes in businesses recently with COVID, the entire way we do business has changed from the way we used to do business earlier. For example, in a manufacturing company, they could have had everything configured in a certain way, and then suddenly no one was able to attend the offices or building. This pandemic has placed a lot of restrictions and yet you have to manage everything, such as productivity, people, and their time. There have been tremendous changes over the past year and a half. If you look at any supply chain or any transport company, there is a change in requirements, reporting, monitoring, and objective analysis of each and every function. It is a process that is going on that will transform the industry, the outlook, the way of we are going to be working with people. Operations are shifting from a physical presence to remote working and virtually managing. Time, demand, and businesses keep changing, and then the software and different upgrades, functionality, will change too.

    I am completely agnostic to any particular solution or vendor. My advice is if you choose SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, or another solution, all of them are equally good. They can be configured and can be customized. There is never a one size fits all solution, you will have to find what solution fits your particular business and use case. One solution might be the best for one type of use case but not work well in another. 

    I rate SAP S4HANA an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free SAP S/4HANA Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: May 2023
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    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free SAP S/4HANA Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.