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IFS Cloud Platform vs SAP S/4HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.6
Users reported improved operations and financial reporting with IFS Cloud, seeing up to 4.5x ROI over 18 months.
Sentiment score
6.6
Organizations see varied ROI timelines with SAP S/4HANA, benefiting from cost efficiencies, long-term value, and competitive advantages.
We have observed a good return on investment, with calculations based on a five-year ROI plan.
There is an ROI, otherwise I would not buy it.
It's not the best, primarily since the significant investments and the timeline it takes to recover those investments, but it's better than many alternatives.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Australian support is strong with expert consultants, but timeliness and service consistency vary, impacting resolution times and communication.
Sentiment score
6.6
SAP S/4HANA support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but needs improvement in response speed and ticket escalation.
A traditional challenge with SAP support is that SAP teams only support the standard functions, which are part of the product.
Establishing the right channels was a challenge, as BTP was new to everyone, including our SAP contacts.
The quality of technical support from SAP can be rated as eight out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
IFS Cloud Platform is scalable for businesses of all sizes, though some face complexity in updates and dependency management.
Sentiment score
7.8
SAP S/4HANA is ideal for medium to large enterprises, offering scalability and flexibility, especially with cloud-based deployments.
SAP S/4HANA scales exceptionally well.
It is very easy to scale within businesses, especially when a new business falls within the range.
Scalability is a key strength of SAP, especially for HANA, compared to all the other ERPs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
IFS Cloud Platform is praised for stability and reliability, with rare downtime, and depends on client maintenance and setup.
Sentiment score
7.7
SAP S/4HANA is stable and reliable, with issues often due to implementation, not inherent flaws, thanks to continuous updates.
The SAP HANA system is not very easy to unlock, and it's something strange as, compared to other databases, when transaction logs are full, you stop the system, run the transaction log backups, and then restart.
We relied on a private cloud, and accessibility became literally impossible whenever the cloud service provider experienced downtime.
In comparison to ECC, definitely, because of some of the simplification and eliminating some moving parts, it is better.
 

Room For Improvement

IFS Cloud Platform requires usability, integration, and support improvements, along with enhanced customization, AI, and simplified user experience.
SAP S/4HANA users seek improved UI, integration, customization, lower pricing, better AI, streamlined implementation, and comprehensive support documentation.
There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products, especially Maximo.
Organizations face challenges like adapting to new technologies rapidly, and whether customers are early or late adopters influences their experience.
I can perform a lot of data manipulation directly on SAP using S-One, without having to resort to Excel, unlike with View ID.
The performance of the SAP interface could be improved.
 

Setup Cost

IFS Cloud Platform offers competitive pricing, best for large enterprises, with scalable value similar to SAP and Oracle.
SAP S/4HANA is costly with complex licensing, often challenging small businesses compared to Oracle and Microsoft pricing.
It's higher compared to similar peer solutions.
It's not easy to have a clear understanding of the price and the value, especially if I talk about the business transaction platform.
There is always a push from clients saying that the total cost of ownership is quite high compared to other products.
 

Valuable Features

IFS Cloud Platform offers customizable pricing, robust integration, intuitive interface, and excels in enterprise management with adaptable features.
SAP S/4HANA features robust finance and integration, user-friendly interface, real-time analytics, scalability, and extensive customization for enhanced ERP capabilities.
There are fewer fields on the user screen compared to other products.
It enables the posting of transactions and allows us to see the impact across various application scenarios, providing significant benefits for business.
The way SAP has helped our customers is by establishing a discipline where industry-specific operations and SAP's standard processes work hand in hand, improving resource utilization, material movement control, and cost control.
The insights given help us make strategic decisions.
 

Categories and Ranking

IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in ERP
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
CRM (15th), Customer Experience Management (7th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (9th), Activity Based Costing Software (7th), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (2nd), Local Government CRM (4th), IT Asset Management (8th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (6th), License Management (3rd)
SAP S/4HANA
Ranking in ERP
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the ERP category, the mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 2.4%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP S/4HANA is 14.4%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Brendan Fisher - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, customizable, and modern
IFS is a very large and complex software, and implementation of IFS can be challenging and may lead to a difficult lengthy project. It can take between 12 and 24 months in some cases to deploy. I have found that not all clients are fully aware of how big the task is that they're undertaking when they make a decision to move to software like this. Companies need to be more aware of the complexity of an ERP implementation project and while I fully recommend moving to IFS, it is not easy and does require business change when adopting an ERP solution. New features are a difficult ask - I work across multiple industries and everyone would probably choose a different feature. Maybe BIM in Construction or Customs link-ups for importers/exporters.
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Implementation simplifies ERP management with comprehensive data integration and visibility
A lot of people would say the pricing. SAP is seen as quite expensive even now. It doesn't work for smaller or medium optimizations. The licensing and pricing could be looked at. In Brownfield migration, the trade-off between greenfield and brownfield means you either keep it clean or match the business requirements. Sometimes, it's not possible to do both. While ValixAPI provides significant support in making those decisions and the SAP consultant is very useful, we are still dependent on past history and how it was originally set up. I wouldn't call that a real disadvantage, yet more accessible consulting would be beneficial. Incorporating all other cloud products, like APO or IPP, into the S/4 house might also help.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
40%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IFS Applications?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten since it is an extremely scalable solution that can be used for various use cases with thousands of users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IFS Applications?
The product is reasonably priced. The costs are justified by the value provided, considering the comprehensive features and minimal need for customization. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with IFS Applications?
I am not able to recall much about batch. Documentation-wise, they need more. There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products,...
Are there any advantages of SAP S4 HANA over SAP Business One (SAP B1) apart from the cost?
SaP Business One is a complete solution for business management. The software applications are broad, ranging from accounting to project management and human resources. It is very versatile and com...
What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA?
With the public cloud, now everything is being pushed into BTP. This has created challenges, as it requires us to redo our coding and development. This presents a significant learning curve for our...
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
We work in a very niche area within the livestock industry. We have a SAP-certified solution for the poultry industry, and as part of our livestock solution, we cover poultry, dairy, and fishery. W...
 

Also Known As

IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
SAP S4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
Find out what your peers are saying about IFS Cloud Platform vs. SAP S/4HANA and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.