SAP SuccessFactors is an AI-powered, cloud-based HR suite supporting over 100 countries, providing real-time insights and integrated solutions across core HR, payroll, talent, learning, analytics, and employee experience.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| SAP SuccessFactors | 8.5% |
| Workday | 8.6% |
| UKG | 4.8% |
| Other | 78.1% |
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Cloud HCM | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SAP SuccessFactors vs SAP HCM | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SAP SuccessFactors vs Oracle HCM Cloud | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workday | 4.1 | 8.6% | 92% | 58 interviewsAdd to research |
| UKG | 4.0 | 4.8% | 89% | 125 interviewsAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 18 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 10 |
| Large Enterprise | 56 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 535 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 225 |
| Large Enterprise | 638 |
Trusted by over 10,000 organizations, SAP SuccessFactors elevates people processes, decisions, and experiences by empowering employees. It offers AI-driven tools enhancing self-service, learning, performance, and development, unifying people and skills data to align talents with business goals. The platform ensures compliance with legal updates and speeds up results using HR best practices and a robust partner network. Its modular design, seamless integration, and mobile access stand out, supporting global accessibility and talent management. Role-based permissions and automated compliance offer flexibility and security, catering to diverse industries.
What are the most important features of SAP SuccessFactors?Organizations implement SAP SuccessFactors for Performance Management, Talent Acquisition, Learning, and HR core functions, streamlining recruitment, onboarding, records management, goal setting, and performance evaluation. It extends to time management, compensation, and talent development, integrating across geographies for centralized data management, reporting, and analytics, enhancing HR operations and employee engagement.
SAP SuccessFactors was previously known as SuccessFactors.
City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skril
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences | 4.5 | I find SAP SuccessFactors valuable for HR tasks like reporting, goal setting, and analytics, with helpful AI features, though improvements in time management tech are needed; overall, it's reliable, efficient, and worth its higher cost. |
| Chief Executive Officer at Orane Consulting Pvt Ltd | 5.0 | I've used SAP SuccessFactors for three years, finding it stable, scalable, and impactful for HR and talent management, though analytics need improvement. We've mastered its features, with benefits and customization standing out, while payroll implementation is still in progress. |
| HR at McDonald's | 3.5 | I've used SAP SuccessFactors for two years mainly for reporting and learning management, but it lacks in reporting depth, AI features, and UI modernization. It's suitable for large companies, though improvements are needed in integration, analytics, and support. |
| Vice President & Group Head People & Workplace Management at PLDT Enterprise | 3.5 | I handle SAP HR sub-modules and switched from an in-house portal to SAP SuccessFactors, which improves employee experience by offering cloud-based features. However, the interface needs better advisory placements, and despite high costs, financial benefits aren't clear yet. |
| Head - Shared Service Operations and HR Systems at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees | 3.5 | I use SAP SuccessFactors for employee lifecycle management, finding its salary and onboarding modules strong but lacking in AI capabilities. While it offers good talent management features, areas like document and goal management need improvement. The ROI is satisfactory. |
| SVP at Krungsri | 3.5 | I primarily utilized SAP SuccessFactors for HR processes as the main ERP system. After working with it for five years, specific cost savings or employee performance improvements were not detailed, and the deployment provider was not specified. |
| Center of Excellence H2r Head at Iconn | 4.5 | I use SAP SuccessFactors for comprehensive HSM services, valuing its standardized procedures that align with industry best practices. However, its user interface isn't as friendly as Oracle or Workday, with a steep learning curve and a five-year ROI. |
| Deputy Manager at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited | 4.5 | I evaluated SAP SuccessFactors, noting valuable features and areas needing improvement. However, I didn't specify a use case, return on investment, previous solutions, or cloud provider, indicating further analysis is needed to determine its suitability. |
| Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees | 2.5 | I primarily use SAP SuccessFactors for Performance and Learning Management. While its AI-driven recruitment features are valuable, user-friendliness needs improvement. The initial change management was poorly handled, and comparisons were made with Oracle and Workday before consideration. |
| PM at Squadron Energy | 3.5 | I use SAP SuccessFactors for various HR tasks, including payroll and recruiting. Its most valuable feature is integration with ERPs, but it needs better compatibility internationally, especially for payroll. I didn't consider other solutions and use a different cloud provider. |
Since I am in the HR department, we have been using SAP SuccessFactors for our employees. We use Employee Central as well as PMS. In my past organization, I have also used the payroll module. I am an end user of this system.
We have been using time and attendance, payroll, PMS, goal settings, learning management systems (LMS), and employee life cycle management with SAP SuccessFactors.
Report generation was really easy when we used SAP SuccessFactors. The PMS and goal setting part during appraisals, whether year-end or mid-year appraisals, was really clear. The training part as well as the setting of goals for each employee was transparent from SAP SuccessFactors. Even when we provided training for PMS goal-setting sessions, employees were clear on what was expected from them for the next year, coming years, or coming quarters. These two aspects were really helpful tools during those times.
Analytics was a really big advantage to me when I had to generate critical reports, such as attrition data. Attrition data was really critical to understand the monthly data in our organization. Since attrition is a really important metric to understand organizational goals and how they align with our employees' mindset, I had to depend on SAP SuccessFactors during that period. Analytics was really helpful in that case.
SAP SuccessFactors has a low error rate. We had many ad hoc reports that we needed to generate, and it was very easy to do so in SAP SuccessFactors. We also created many in-house reports according to our specific requirements with the help of this tool, which was a really big game changer for us. We did not depend on advanced Excel in those cases. We generated a lot of detailed reports whenever we needed them during emergency cases or board meetings. A lot of usefulness and time were saved in those cases.
I will also mention that we conducted a comparative study for some recruitment cases. We had a recruitment model where we were looking for a very niche profile. Since the job profile was really different and rare, we had to depend on analytics to understand and shortlist from a large pool of candidates that we already had in our database. Analytics was really helpful in this situation.
I really hope that SAP SuccessFactors makes some tweaking in the time and attendance part where people who do not have access or forget their ID card at home might be able to log in through face recognition. This could use face ID technology for time and attendance or biometrics. I really hope SAP SuccessFactors introduces this to their software. I think it is already there in the market, but I hope SAP SuccessFactors integrates it.
Currently I am working with SAP SuccessFactors. In my past nine years of experience, I had experience working with SAP for around three years. Roughly, I can say I have worked with SAP for about four years.
Not currently. Initially, I did face challenges because there were many technical aspects that I needed to learn when an IT solution came into the picture. The expectation from a non-IT representative is high. The challenges were really big at first. Since I have been working with SAP SuccessFactors and have worked in a corporate environment for a long time, I had an idea of what they were expecting. Maybe not fully, but it was acceptable. It was challenging, but it was manageable. I got the idea of what the expectation was and what they expected from us. So there were challenges in the initial stage, but now it is fine.
SAP SuccessFactors is 100 percent reliable and one of the biggest in the market. SAP SuccessFactors is a game changer when it comes to HRMS. Compared to other competitors in the market, SAP SuccessFactors is a really useful tool, and I should always tell other organizations to focus on SAP rather than focusing on others. I will not be able to comment on other HRMS portals. However, when it comes to ad hoc reports and analytics, SAP SuccessFactors is a very helpful tool for any HR department.
The support team is really helpful and supportive, and they usually understand what our needs are. Since they have a lot of understanding about HR metrics and KPIs, they understand what the expectations are. The support from them is really huge and it is appreciable.
Positive
Currently we are using SAP HCM module for payroll. In my previous organization, I used the SAP ERP module, not SAP SuccessFactors. I did not have the privilege to use SAP SuccessFactors for the payroll part. However, I have used ERP and am familiar with the ERP process. It is a long and time-taking process because the module is data and server-based and not cloud-based. It was a challenge, but I hope in SAP SuccessFactors, the challenge will be mitigated. In the future, when I am using payroll for SAP SuccessFactors, I will be able to provide feedback on that.
I have participated in the setup and implementation of SAP SuccessFactors.
Pricing is a bit high and on the higher side. However, it is worth it based on the services they provide.
I have worked with Darwinbox.
The AI part that I will focus on is whenever we enter any query in SAP SuccessFactors regarding goals. For example, when we use a manager as the prime appraiser in some cases, and we are making changes in SAP SuccessFactors regarding the appraising part, such as setting goals for a particular designation. In the coming days, when we move to lower grades below managers, SAP SuccessFactors, which is very much integrated with machine learning and AI, was helpful. Whenever there were common questions like communication skills or similar skills that appeared in both the manager and below manager cases, AI and machine learning helped me identify and mitigate the time usage in those cases.
During attendance management, particularly at the end of the year in the 2025 December to January 2026 period, we had to generate PL and CL as earned leave data. Leave summary data was very important in closing the last year's leave cycle. In these cases, AI helped me a lot to take the data and consolidate it into one particular format. I depended on AI in this case, and it helped me a lot. SAP SuccessFactors is a really useful tool when it comes to machine learning and AI. The chatbot also helps many employees in my company whenever they have any doubts regarding the usage of the portal.
Talent management was also a really great thing and deserves appreciation. However, I have not used a lot of the talent management modules during my tenure. I hope in the coming days I will be using that. It is better not to comment on that since I have not used the whole TM module. We have used parts of it, like LMS and PMS. I might be able to provide more information regarding that in the future.
SAP SuccessFactors might adapt to machine learning and AI in the coming days. Hopefully, in the coming days, it might not depend on human interference. In those cases, SAP SuccessFactors might work on its own rather than depending on a lot of coding. I really hope that in the coming days SAP SuccessFactors might solve the problem of human intervention, such as in time and leave management where leaves are being utilized on a large scale and people are not regularizing their time on time. AI might come into the picture and ask the employee to focus on their time and attendance in order to avoid any loss of pay.
Another example is that based on organizational needs, there might be changes in goal setting. Whenever goal setting comes into the picture, every year onwards, based on the organization's needs, the goal setting might be integrated and tweaked with the help of AI. SAP SuccessFactors might do something in that and not focus on human intervention. SAP SuccessFactors can have some impact on goal settings when it comes to using AI and machine learning for year-on-year goal setting. One year there might be one kind of goal setting, and the second year there might not be manual human intervention. The next year, based on what the organization needs and what the CEO is expecting from us and what the expectations will be in the coming quarters, the goals might be integrated by AI and rolled out to all employees. I give this review an overall rating of 9 out of 10.
We are using SAP SuccessFactors to sell it to customers such as banks, manufacturing, and engineering construction companies.
We have utilized the Talent Management module in SAP SuccessFactors and have mastered it, so we understand performance, succession, and LMS. We understand the whole cycle of the transactions in Employee Central through workflows, holidays, leave, the entire talent management in terms of benefits, performance, succession, CDP, and LMS. We are absolutely comfortable.
We have taken advantage of benefits in SAP, and payroll we have just started.
For us, benefits are the game-changer in terms of rules and setting up multiple benefits for employees, from medical to leave on pay-day basis, where many other benefits are given. We have configured more than 70 benefits for a customer, which is a large bank, which is not an easy case. For the last one and a half years, we have done enough to understand the intricacies of benefits very well. Payroll is the first use case we are trying now.
On the predictive side, we have completed the workforce analytics machine learning using Python. We tried, but there are some limitations in terms of accessing data as a 360. A lot of effort goes into that. Over time, we will understand more. Now we are implementing more agentic AI, which SAP refers to as Joule, and we are trying to make it much easier for customers as a platform in terms of agentic AI. Machine learning is a constant process, and we are working on both predictive and agent aspects.
The best features of SAP SuccessFactors are workflows, the storyboard, the workforce analytics, and customization in terms of doing those portlets and MDIs, which are much simpler.
SAP SuccessFactors has positively impacted our organization as attrition has decreased, employee satisfaction in terms of help desk processes has improved, and the data transition from Excel, PowerPoint, or Tableau has become much more real-time. Use cases on case management, in terms of compliances, have identified many improvements. Overall, from operations, management, compliance, decision-making, core HR processes, and employee engagement have improved.
In terms of customizations in specific modules for industry requirements, SAP SuccessFactors is much more generic and does not comply many times with industry requirements as a vertical.
In my experience with SuccessFactors' analytics capabilities influencing decision-making, workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations. It does not provide flexibility in terms of analytics, and we have to customize extensively.
For the future of the product, I would like to see more AI implementation, Python integrations, and GPT integrations.
I have been working with SAP SuccessFactors for three years.
We do not currently face challenges when installing the solution as we have mastered it. Initially, we had some roadblocks six to nine months ago, but now we don't experience any challenges.
We previously faced challenges with multi-tenant databases when creating instances, as we were not very clear about the process. Sometimes data would get locked during extensive customization, which was a normal database issue, not an application instance problem. All of these issues have been resolved now, and as a team, we have enough experience to handle them.
The solution is absolutely stable. Very stable.
SAP SuccessFactors is scalable. We have implemented it for 25,000 employees, scaling from 7,000 to 25,000 using the same set of rules, and it was not difficult.
Positive
Installation takes three to five days, and then setting it up is a process of configuration, which might take eight to twelve weeks for full configuration.
Three engineers from our team took part in the application deployment.
The licensing cost is not expensive now. It is much more competitive.
At the moment, we don't want to work with other vendors besides SAP. We have worked extensively with Cornerstone (CSOD) in the past, but as of three years ago, we have stopped working with any other solutions.
For the payroll functionality, I should provide feedback after six months once we have good experience implementing it. We are currently implementing it for a customer who has 11,000 employees. This is our first experience. We have been working with SAP payroll previously, and it appears to be very similar with no significant differences.
I rate SAP SuccessFactors 9.5 out of 10.
The primary use cases are mostly reporting and learning management that comes with reporting and deeper analysis, including computation and competency features.
The competencies when integrating together are the best, but the reporting functionality is lacking in the system.
The connectors, marketplace connectors, edge input templates, reporting, and content players in SAP SuccessFactors need improvement, particularly in how content launches in-line.
SAP SuccessFactors needs significant improvements in AI and modernization, especially in machine learning capabilities such as course suggestions.
The analytics capabilities are not very in-depth. While you can get reports, there are limitations when retrieving specific data such as questions from SCORM 1.2 or 2004; the system can only retrieve answers but not questions.
SAP SuccessFactors needs to modernize their UI by learning from competitors. The complexity is another issue that needs addressing. They should implement soft connectors through a marketplace for virtual learning integration with platforms such as Teams, Cisco, and Webex, rather than relying on hard connectors using APIs.
Additional AI-driven features would be beneficial, such as AI-driven homepages and competencies that suggest based on previous completions.
The technical support of SAP SuccessFactors always has room for improvement.
I have been working with SAP SuccessFactors for two years.
I worked with Cornerstone and Saba before using SAP SuccessFactors.
I have experience with SAP SuccessFactors and follow their recent enhancements that occur on a quarterly basis, particularly regarding reports.
The price of SAP SuccessFactors was out of my scope as it was implemented before I joined.
I did not participate in the implementation of SAP SuccessFactors.
I am currently evaluating how the market and talent situation is with SAP SuccessFactors compared to competitors, though we don't have specific plans yet.
All Learning Management Systems have their strengths and weaknesses. SAP SuccessFactors is a strong option, but organizations should choose based on their specific needs.
I would recommend SAP SuccessFactors particularly for bigger companies.
I work as an admin with SAP SuccessFactors and other SAP products.
On a scale of 1-10, I rate SAP SuccessFactors a 7.
I use the solution in my company, including the entire employee life cycle management.
RCM for recruitment is end to end, ONB 1.0 and 2.0 are there for candidate onboarding and offboarding management, EC is utilized fully, Compensation module for salary and increments, LMS for internal and external content, SP-CDP for talent management.
The plus points of having this system are better control on ELC, automation of processes, improved analytics and reporting, structured and continuous processes, single source of truth for employee data.
However, to get these benefits, one has to make sure that there is discipline in data management and offline transactions are minimal.
The solution's most valuable features stem from its completeness, but the pain points remain. The tool is not very nimble or customizable. In general, it is a strong tool. Some of the modules in the tool, like EC and PMGM, are pretty strong. In terms of RCM, it is not one of the best products.
SAP EC is pretty strong. My skills in terms of database management are pretty good. The center of competencies is pretty good. The links to SAP SuccessFactors Career Development Planning (CDP) are pretty good. SAP SuccessFactors Career Development Planning (CDP) itself is not one of the great things to talk about, and it has many limitations. Several AI-related things are available in other tools, which are not yet available in SAP SuccessFactors in terms of internal jobs, skill matching, and so forth. I understand that the tool is coming up with the aforementioned features in terms of AI capabilities. As for now, the tool has certain shortcomings in the AI part.
There are quite a few things, like goal management, in terms of transferring goals from manager to subordinates, which is probably not one of the best ways to look at SAP SuccessFactors, making it an area that could have been done better. Route management and template management are pretty good areas. The reporting in the tool is not as great as I would want it to be from a PMGM internal management perspective.
I just hope that SAP SuccessFactors comes up with a payroll tool that suits India. I don't see it as one of the best tools for the Indian scenario.
I would love to see much better document management in the system, like onboarding. Onboarding has document management, but if I want to report through it, there is not much that I can do about it. DMS in SAP would be great since, in most places, DMS is maintained outside the system. I would have loved to see better DMS in SAP SuccessFactors. In terms of the reporting, I understand that since everything is moving to SAP SAC. Even without SAP SAC, it would be great if we could have better analytics within SAP SuccessFactors.
I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for six years.
It is a very stable solution.
It is a very scalable solution.
Around 4,000 people in my company use the tool, along with an HR community of 60 people.
I have an implementation partner and a maintenance partner who deals with the technical support of the solution.
Neutral
Homegrown barebones HRIS solution.
The product is not very simple to implement.
I have been using SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding 1.0, which is fairly cumbersome. I have implemented SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding 2.0, so I am expecting things to be better.
I rate the tool's ROI as a seven or eight out of ten.
Probably, it is one of the priciest products, and is very costly to put up and maintain but because it is a good solution end to end, people take it.
I have looked at different solutions, but my organization opted for SAP SuccessFactors. As an HE and tech person, I know three or four solutions that are pretty good, and they all have pluses and minuses, just like SAP SuccessFactors. It's not that there is any product that I can describe as good. In the upcoming products, HONO is very good, or for a smaller scale, HROne is good enough. Workday is good, but a couple of modules are not great. Otherwise, Workday is a good end-to-end tool. Oracle HCM is a great product, but comparable in cost to SAP SF.
Regarding how compliance management has supported clients with the industry specifications, I would say that we don't run the payroll part in the tool as it is always outsourced. Most of the compliances we look at for the employees are for payrolls and we don't have that in the system at all which is why most of the compliances are not dependent on SAP SuccessFactors.
I have a couple of integrations, but I only have downstream systems. I don't have any issues with the downstream part, and there are APIs in the tool that I can use.
It is easy to maintain, but it requires pretty skilled people, and what you get in the market are mostly people who deal with module-specific cases. It is very difficult to get somebody to manage SAP SuccessFactors, as it happens in the case of ERPs. It is very difficult to get somebody who knows SAP SuccessFactors end to end. In terms of maintenance and customization, it is one of the most difficult tools to maintain.
I would suggest others probably go for SAP EC and have other AI enabled modules around it.
I recommend the tool to others.
I rate the tool a seven out of ten.
The main use cases for SAP SuccessFactors were not deeply discussed as the interviewee was not fully aware of the specific implementation details.
The purpose of SAP SuccessFactors was primarily for HR processes, serving as the main ERP system for human resource management.
The interviewee has worked with the tool for 5 years.
The interviewee was not directly involved in the initial setup of SAP SuccessFactors within their company. They were unable to provide specific details about the deployment timeline, though they indicated it was not a brief process of just a couple of days.
There were no major technical issues or downtimes reported with SAP SuccessFactors.
The interviewee never needed to contact SAP technical team for support.
Neutral
SAP SuccessFactors served as the main ERP system for HR processes. The interviewee worked with the system for 5 years, though specific benefits regarding cost savings or employee performance improvements were not detailed.
The organization is planning to move to Darwinbox from SAP SuccessFactors, primarily due to pricing considerations. The interviewee mentioned that Darwinbox offers similar functionality to SAP SuccessFactors. The specific pricing differences between the platforms were not detailed. The reviewer would rate SAP SuccessFactors a 6 or 7 out of 10.
The product is used for the whole suite of HSM, covering all HR services.
It forced a standardized procedure across various business units, improving organizational discipline.
The standardized procedures and best practices embedded in the system are very valuable. The tool enforces a standard procedure which aligns with industry best practices.
The user experience and interface are not user-friendly. It does not invite the user to interact with it, unlike Oracle or Workday. The learning curve is sizable due to the complexity.
I have used it for five years.
It is stable, but in regions like Latin America, particularly in Mexico, custom fields can cause issues. However, in other regions like the USA, it is very stable.
Scalability is very good. It is suitable for large companies or companies experiencing significant growth.
With the premium service of SAP, customer service is top-notch. Issues are resolved quickly, and the support team is very responsive.
Positive
I used SAP SuccessFactors previously and am involved in evaluating Oracle HSM and Workday as potential new solutions.
The initial setup was difficult, mainly due to the complexities involved in standardizing procedures across different business units.
The return on investment is realized over a period of about five years.
The solution is expensive. However, it increases the company's value, making the cost worthwhile in the long run.
I have evaluated Oracle HSM and Workday. Oracle and Workday both have more user-friendly interfaces compared to SAP SuccessFactors.
Depending on whether you have the whole suite, both Oracle and Workday are more user-friendly compared to SAP SuccessFactors. If you have the complete suite, SAP may be advantageous.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
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Neutral
I use SAP SuccessFactors for various HR applications, including payroll, HRIS, onboarding, recruiting, learning management, talent management, and other HRA applications.
The tool's most valuable feature is its integration capabilities with on-premise ERPs and other systems.
One area for improvement is making SuccessFactors more compatible with other countries, especially in terms of payroll and other functionalities.
I have worked on 15 projects with the product.
The solution is stable.
My company has 300 admin users and 200,000 employees. The product is scalable.
We've encountered issues with connectivity, integration, and occasional service downtime, leading to ticket submissions.
Neutral
The tool's deployment is complex due to various dependencies. The steps included user training, documentation, configuration, and aligning training for end-users. Around 25-30 resources were involved in the deployment. The overall deployment rollout takes two days to complete. If it is a complex project, it can take around four days.
I recommend carefully considering other products before committing to a big ERP system like SuccessFactors. Once implemented, switching can be challenging, so it's crucial to assess the real need for such a large system. I rate the product a seven out of ten.
