Alibaba Cloud vs SAP S4HANA on AWS comparison

Alibaba and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are both solutions in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category. Alibaba is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.5, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.9. Alibaba holds a 12.5% mindshare in ISI, compared to Amazon Web Services (AWS)’s 3.9% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Alibaba users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users who would recommend it.

Alibaba Cloud

Read 19 Alibaba Cloud reviews

6,754 Views
5,356 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

SAP S4HANA on AWS

Read 40 SAP S4HANA on AWS reviews

2,637 Views
2,236 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Alibaba Cloud

SAP S4HANA on AWS

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 16, 2024

SAP S4HANA on AWS and Alibaba Cloud compete in cloud computing, focusing on ERP and infrastructure services respectively. SAP S4HANA on AWS seems to have the technological upper hand with advanced features and robust database management, but it faces criticism for high costs, while Alibaba Cloud offers a more economical solution with flexibility for SMEs.

Features: SAP S4HANA on AWS offers high-performance capabilities with the HANA database, enabling efficient real-time processing and integration. Its AWS integration minimizes the need for extensive on-premises setups, enhancing scalability. Alibaba Cloud provides economical solutions with flexible tools similar to AWS, offering a user-friendly interface and appealing pricing for SMEs, especially in Asia.

Room for Improvement: SAP S4HANA on AWS could benefit from reduced complexity and a better user interface, alongside more comprehensive documentation and expanded cloud provider support. Alibaba Cloud needs to address latency issues outside China, improve technical support, and enhance its SDK services.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP S4HANA on AWS offers reliable integration across various cloud environments, supported by AWS's robust infrastructure support, although costly. User satisfaction with support varies. Alibaba Cloud is noted for its simplicity in deployment within public cloud infrastructures but requires improvements in technical support and community resources.

Pricing and ROI: SAP S4HANA on AWS is a high-cost solution justified by its advanced features and long-term cloud hosting savings. Pricing varies with licensing models. Alibaba Cloud, with its competitive pricing, is attractive to businesses in Asia, promising cost savings and a stable ROI compared to major competitors.

To learn more, read our detailed Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP S4HANA on AWS Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP S4HANA on AWS

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Alibaba Cloud

Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

8th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SAP S4HANA on AWS

Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category, the mindshare of Alibaba Cloud is 12.5%, up from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP S4HANA on AWS is 3.9%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

Featured Reviews

Aderonke Adeyegbe

CEO at Comercio Limited

Good storage, great for smaller companies, and has impressive support

We're all aware that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation, and we believe that Alibaba, due to its pedigree, has what it takes to take small businesses to the cloud. It's a game-changer, for sure. The storage is very useful. It is easy to set up. Technical support is good. It is quite stable.

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Bhavesh Shah

SAP Cloud Engineer SAP Commvault Backup Administrator- DC Migrations on AWS at CLARIANT SE

With good documentation in place, the solution offers good technical support to its users

CPU architecture is an area where the solution currently has some issues. Improvement in CPU architecture could improve the performance side and the adherence to the parameters set by SAP. As suggested by SAP, we should do HANA mini checks on a daily or weekly basis. All the parameters related to HANA should be equal to improve performance. So, some of the parameters I can see on the SAP side are related to memory, and so we have to check on each landscape whether the parameters related to SAP are properly set or not. Regarding the right CPU from AWS and SAP recommended nodes, we have to check whether the performance is good or not because we have to give this almost on HANA since, on some side, we have to be swapping that on voice level also, and so that screening part is a requirement from OS/DB side. In short, we have to check all parameters. My solution is IOPS related to EC2. So I have just done a very good optimization. I have seen some parameters related to Linux that is from SAP side, where the problem is very fast, and CPU load is very low. So that is an OS/DB recommendation parameter from the SAP that it should be set over there on all systems. As a basic start, we have to check OS/DB recommendation settings, and everything should be kept on. Those experienced in SAP S4HANA need not worry about any part. I think overlay IP should be linked to gateway web architecture. It should be in a proper way to the community for the security part. Apart from that, we have to follow Amazon and SAP books. There have to be some adjustments made from the finance and GRC side. So, we have to check some of the functional sides and whether these parameters are properly set in for SAP s1 in terms of logistics, MRV, and some of the code. I can recommend that SAP's 86 custom code should be a proper way to develop a very good experience going online for the custom tools. So, it would be good to improve such features and everything. Also, the system should not be at any end of support since it will impact its performance. I have faced some of the, you know, clients, where they have some end of support, comes into 7209, and they just back it up. I need to get some extended support from the SAP, and some software should be there. So before the end of maintenance, everybody has to awaken all the features of the solution. On a daily production side, we can do this maintenance activity, whether it may be outdated or not outdated, and support patches should be done properly.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Alibaba Cloud has lower costs and good support."

"The installation is easy."

"Alibaba support is responsive. When we create tickets in the Alibaba portal, they usually respond online or call me in five minutes."

"I rate Alibaba Cloud's scalability an eight out of ten."

"We use the product for storage and as a VPN."

"It is easy to set up."

"The most valuable feature of Alibaba Cloud is the communication it allows between two servers."

"Feature-wise, it provides many features. ECS, VM, SP, bucket object storage, and databases are the most valuable."

More Alibaba Cloud pros

"SAP S4HANA on AWS has high performance. All the data is in one place and it's real-time. When you make an entry you don't have to wait a couple of minutes, hours, or overnight as something the batch process takes time. It is instantaneous and is available to everybody."

"This product is currently the leading product within this category."

"This product is much better than most of the other products in this categaory as far as financial capabilities."

"There are two main features that we find very valuable. One is the interface and the new user experience. That's really, really helpful for the end-user. The second is the HANA database itself because it speeds up the process. In other solutions, like Oracle, there is a lot of redundancy that slows things down."

"I would rate this solution as a nine out of ten because it covers all the fields, has a big maturity, and has something other solutions are missing, which is speed."

"It's easy to use and user-friendly."

"The tool covers many modules, like production, planning, management, and finance. It is a very scalable tool that can be beneficial for any company."

"The most valuable feature of SAP S4HANA is Fiori. It allows users to access information quickly and easily, without having to navigate through unnecessary screens or transactions. Additionally, the ability to retrieve data more efficiently is helpful. Furthermore, the pre-delivered videos and functionalities within the solution allow for easier application building."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS pros

Cons

"Users use websites as a tutorial. However, the Alibaba Cloud website has the content, and the scripts are copied from Amazon Web Services. We had received customer feedback where the customer asked us to get formulate original content instead of copying from Amazon Web Services. It’s very odd and awkward."

"Alibaba Cloud needs to increase availability in Thailand."

"The support offered by the tool is ridiculous."

"The flexibility of the solution could be improved."

"A big area for improvement in Alibaba Cloud is its support. Another area for improvement in Alibaba Cloud is SDK-based service because sometimes, the SDKs don't work correctly. Support for API-based services also needs improvement in Alibaba Cloud because, at the moment, it's not that stable."

"Alibaba Cloud has some problems related to latency and connection issues. If you go for a cloud solution provider, you will need to access the Internet, which may result in latency and bandwidth issues, leading to slowness in operations."

"The majority of the tools and processes, in general, have a lot of room for improvement."

"Regarding security issues, Alibaba Cloud is more complex and better suited for developers and R&D teams. On the other hand, Google Cloud is more convenient for new users."

More Alibaba Cloud cons

"The documentation isn't clear enough."

"The user-friendliness is questionable. The interface and interaction with the technical team require intensive training."

"Doesn't have a common development environment."

"I would rate my experience with the initial setup a three out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy."

"The manufacturing application system, it's not as user-friendly in S4HANA."

"Over the last three to four years, I haven't encountered significant issues with SAP S/4HANA. While occasional system bugs are normal in software, the overall experience has been positive. As a business partner, it stands out as a reliable ERP solution."

"The product's implementation phase can be very complex for customers."

"I would like scalability to be improved in the future for faster performance."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing is the same as AWS'."

"Alibaba Cloud is cheaper."

"I don't know the exact cost. It is cheaper than AWS."

"The cost is better than similar solutions."

"The price of Alibaba Cloud is good. If I was to use Microsoft Azure I would have to pay 30 percent more."

"I noticed on the pricing that it's quite expensive. It is the price you pay for making a practical choice for enterprise-level companies since it has so many features and it fits an enterprise-level company just like our company right now."

"The product is not that expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

More Alibaba Cloud pricing and cost advice

"Compared to its competitors, SAP S4HANA on AWS is a costly solution."

"The licensing of the product is reasonable but the cost of the hardware is exorbitant."

"The pricing is a little bit high."

"We pay an annual subscription fee for the solution, which is slightly expensive."

"The pricing is on the higher end."

"SAP S4HANA on AWS has reasonable pricing."

"We pay a monthly fee for the use of SAP S4HANA on AWS for approximately five years. That's the time of the contract."

"It is a significant investment, around six hundred thousand dollars, and it involves both a one-time on-premises installation on servers and a cloud subscription with different flavors for SAP S4HANA."

More SAP S4HANA on AWS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alibaba Cloud?

ECS is the most valuable feature of the solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alibaba Cloud?

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Alibaba Cloud?

Alibaba Cloud needs to improve emails. Its pricing can also be lower. Regarding security issues, Alibaba Cloud is more complex and better suited for developers and R&D teams. On the other hand,...

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP S4HANA on AWS?

With extensive data and a sizable client base, this ensures seamless operations, responsiveness, and overall reliability, addressing our enterprise-scale needs effectively.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S4HANA on AWS?

SAP is not cheap, with many hidden costs encountered during implementation. On a scale of one to ten for expense, SAP is a nine out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA on AWS?

There are many things already there. There just needs to be a document approval workflow, which is not limited to procurement and other documents. There might be an additional document approval wor...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 30% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 11% of the time

Tencent Cloud vs Alibaba Cloud

Compared 11% of the time

More Alibaba Cloud Competitors

Microsoft Azure vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 68% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 9% of the time

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud vs SAP S4HANA on AWS

Compared 7% of the time

More SAP S4HANA on AWS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud

April 2025

Download Alibaba Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP S4HANA on AWS

March 2025

Download SAP S4HANA on AWS product report

Also Known As

No data available

SAP S/4HANA on AWS

Overview

Alibaba Cloud offers a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to support growing enterprises worldwide, including data storage, relational databases, big-data processing, and content delivery networks.

Alibaba

SAP customers of all sizes can fully realize all the benefits of the SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition on the AWS Cloud. With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition on the AWS Cloud you can:

Achieve faster time to value with the AWS on-demand infrastructure
Rapidly provision infrastructure for SAP S/4HANA with no upfront cost or long-term commitment
Pay for only what you need Don't spend upfront costs purchasing hardware for what you can't forecast
Test and evaluate SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition with a free trial offering from SAP on AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

Schneider Electric, BorderX Lab, Royal Philips, Catchpoint, Conversant, Blogmint

Brigade Group, DoHome, Royal FloraHolland

Buyer's Guide

Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP S4HANA on AWS

April 2025

Free Report: Alibaba Cloud vs. SAP S4HANA on AWS

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