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Apache Spark vs SAP HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Apache Spark
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Hadoop (1st), Compute Service (3rd), Java Frameworks (2nd)
SAP HANA
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (2nd), Embedded Database (4th), Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Ilya Afanasyev - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable, able to expand, and handle large amounts of data well
We use batch processing. It works well with our formats and file versions. There's a lot of functionality. In our pipeline each hour, we make a copy of data from MongoDB, of the changes from MongoDB to some specific file. Each time pipeline copied all of the data, it would do it each time without changes to all of the tables. Tables have a lot of data, and in the last MongoDB version, there is a possibility to read only changed data. This reduced the cost and configuration of the cluster, and we saved about $150,000. The solution is scalable. It's a stable product.
Jayarami Reddy Pujeri - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive system with real-time analytics for versatile industry applications
Our primary use case is working with various clients in industries such as pharmaceuticals and other services. We support clients as implementers of SAP HANA, providing expertise in functionality, finance, logistics, and processes The solution is very user-friendly and supports all kinds of…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I appreciate everything about the solution, not just one or two specific features. The solution is highly stable. I rate it a perfect ten. The solution is highly scalable. I rate it a perfect ten. The initial setup was straightforward. I recommend using the solution. Overall, I rate the solution a perfect ten."
"One of the key features is that Apache Spark is a distributed computing framework. You can help multiple slaves and distribute the workload between them."
"The deployment of the product is easy."
"The memory processing engine is the solution's most valuable aspect. It processes everything extremely fast, and it's in the cluster itself. It acts as a memory engine and is very effective in processing data correctly."
"I feel the streaming is its best feature."
"We use it for ETL purposes as well as for implementing the full transformation pipelines."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"Spark is used for transformations from large volumes of data, and it is usefully distributed."
"We appreciate that the current, redesigned version of this solution that is much more straightforward for new users, and has been well thought out with industry best practice standards in mind."
"Integration is the most valuable feature we use SAP HANA for."
"One feature I find very valuable, is the response time of the application on the database memory."
"This solution is very fast."
"The solution is extremely stable. That's the most important aspect of the solution, for our organization. There is no downtime, and the performance is very good."
"The most valuable feature of SAP HANA is the interaction it provides with external suppliers and clients."
"Anyone currently using SAP will be transitioning to HANA."
"The memory is the solution's most valuable feature. It's the main feature of HANA. Others are still the regular IT databases that are on storage and are therefore much slower than HANA. The solution is quite fast."
 

Cons

"When you want to extract data from your HDFS and other sources then it is kind of tricky because you have to connect with those sources."
"The solution must improve its performance."
"Stream processing needs to be developed more in Spark. I have used Flink previously. Flink is better than Spark at stream processing."
"We use big data manager but we cannot use it as conditional data so whenever we're trying to fetch the data, it takes a bit of time."
"From my perspective, the only thing that needs improvement is the interface, as it was not easily understandable."
"Dynamic DataFrame options are not yet available."
"The solution’s integration with other platforms should be improved."
"The Spark solution could improve in scheduling tasks and managing dependencies."
"The product lacks some flexibility in its settings and configurations."
"The installation process could be more straightforward."
"One notable issue is the difficulty in finding consultants with experience in the SuccessFactors product, a human resource management tool part of SAP's cloud-based solutions. For example, learning the Oracle database is straightforward. You can easily go to the Oracle website, download the database, install it on your laptop, and access technical resources and books."
"The relationship with a partner that sells SAP could be better. We depend much more on our own development, and the partner is for selling us the solutions, so we need them to be able to supply help and answers. The partner isn't very helpful, and we have to rely on our own knowledge and research."
"Unlike other databases, it lacks management features that legacy databases like Oracle or SQL servers have. They need to make the solution easier to manage and offer tools that make management more effective. A lot of things you have on traditional databases you have to develop into HANA."
"The openness of the system could be more developed. The solution should go into the cloud. The cloud mechanism should be more invested."
"The initial setup of SAP HANA is complex. We did the implementation of one site, and a global deployment will take another three to four years."
"The SAP HANA interface has room for improvement because it takes more work to manage than the Microsoft SQL Server interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is quite expensive. In fact, it accounts for almost 50% of the cost of our entire project."
"The tool is an open-source product. If you're using the open-source Apache Spark, no fees are involved at any time. Charges only come into play when using it with other services like Databricks."
"Since we are using the Apache Spark version, not the data bricks version, it is an Apache license version, the support and resolution of the bug are actually late or delayed. The Apache license is free."
"We are using the free version of the solution."
"Apache Spark is an open-source solution, and there is no cost involved in deploying the solution on-premises."
"The solution is affordable and there are no additional licensing costs."
"Apache Spark is an expensive solution."
"Apache Spark is open-source. You have to pay only when you use any bundled product, such as Cloudera."
"The licensing could improve."
"SAP HANA is an expensive product."
"The pricing for SAP HANA is high. You pay a lot for the license, and you also have to pay for some add-ons."
"The tool is expensive compared to other products, like Oracle R or Microsoft, but it offers a range of all the company's functions."
"The licensing cost for SAP HANA is approximately $200 per user per month."
"Setup and licensing require planning and proper budgeting, as it is not cheap."
"The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive."
"The tool’s subscription is yearly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark?
We use Spark to process data from different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Compared to other solutions like Doc DB, Spark is more costly due to the need for extensive infrastructure. It requires significant investment in infrastructure, which can be expensive. While cloud...
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
The Spark solution could improve in scheduling tasks and managing dependencies. Spark alone cannot handle sequential tasks, requiring environments like Airflow scheduler or scripts. For instance, o...
What are the biggest benefits of using SAP HANA?
Based on my work with SAP HANA, the biggest benefit that it can bring to your business is total data management. This product is by SAP - a company that serves almost all needs a client may have co...
Is SAP HANA’s customer and technical support reliable?
We have been using SAP HANA for a fairly short period of time and have only taken advantage of their customer support. So far, we have not had issues that required specialized help from technical s...
Is SAP HANA difficult to set up and start using?
SAP HANA is fairly easy to set up, however, I do not think a complete beginner can do it. You certainly need some preparation - either you need to have experience with similar solutions, or with ot...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance, HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
Unilever, NHS 24, adidas Group, CHIO Aachen, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark vs. SAP HANA and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.