IFS Cloud Platform vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud comparison

The compared IFS and SAP solutions aren't in the same category. IFS is ranked #11 in ERP , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 2.4% mindshare in the category. SAP is ranked #3 in CE , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 15.3% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of IFS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SAP users who would recommend it.

IFS Cloud Platform

Read 31 IFS Cloud Platform reviews

2,628 Views
1,650 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Read 52 SAP S/4HANA Cloud reviews

1,714 Views
740 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IFS Cloud Platform

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IFS Cloud Platform and SAP S/4HANA Cloud based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed ERP Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ERP

February 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

IFS Cloud Platform

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM (15th), Customer Experience Management (7th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (9th), ERP (11th), 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 Cloud

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud ERP (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. IFS Cloud Platform is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 2.4%, up 2.4% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 15.3% mindshare, up 12.5% since last year.

ERP

Cloud ERP

Featured Reviews

Brendan Fisher

IFS Applications Consultant at Zest Business Process Management Ltd

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.

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Sajid Farooq

Head of Professional Services at HCC - Technology & Advisory

Provides seamless integration of different modules in one place

Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud. SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't provide a quality control module. SAP S/4HANA Cloud does not have its own payroll and HRMS system. The partners develop their own cloud and integrate with the solution. There are certain modules specific to some industries, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't deal with those modules. Every partner of SAP S/4HANA Cloud has to develop its own and then integrate and certify with that solution. We can't say that these modules are part of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. There is a little area of improvement that SAP has to opt for particular types of solutions like QC, payroll, and HRMS. The graphics of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are not user-friendly. They don't look like they belong to a branded solution that costs too much. The solution's user interface is not appealing or user-friendly. On a scale from one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I rate the solution's user interface a five out of ten. SAP S/4HANA Cloud has built-in reports that are hard-coated. We have to alter or modify built-in reports in different marking segments, but there are no options for that. We have to build complete reports from scratch, and SAP-developed reports are not used in the market. SAP should provide a tool for customizing its developed reports so that there should not be a process of reengineering or reinventing the process.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform is reliable and stable."

"One of our favorite features is the "Info-Zone", which provides operational intelligence in flight and in context to guide both business users and support teams to productivity."

"IFS Applications' best feature is the user-friendly interface that has a .NET Framework application in the front end and an Oracle database and WebLogic middleware."

"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."

"There are fewer fields on the user screen compared to other products."

"The main reason for the ERP project was to bring together our fourteen sites, which had until then worked in separate silos."

"The most valuable feature is the distribution module."

"When it comes to financing, the solution has helped us to concentrate finance functions like accounting processes in one system. This includes about 70 internal entities around the world."

More IFS Cloud Platform pros

"The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless."

"The product's most valuable features include its real-time data storage and integration capabilities through SAP connectors."

"For supply chain management, we are using WMS. When you go to public cloud, you get a full-fledged EWM."

"Speed has improved and getting analytical reports has been simplified."

"The most valuable aspect of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is its ease of deployment and the reduced hassles of infrastructure support."

"Managing the server and taking advantage of the services provided by SAP itself is the most valuable feature."

"The integration is very stable."

"The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud pros

Cons

"It would be ideal if, in the future, the product could incorporate IoT and blockchain elements. We'd like to explore more of these types of features going forward."

"The user interface can be improved. When you're clicking through the screens, there are some icons or symbols that really need updating and would be more useful and noticeable if they are aesthetically pleasing."

"IFS Applications is not robust enough to handle high-volume transactions, so it's not suitable for larger enterprises."

"Documentation-wise, they need more."

"Technical support could be improved."

"The solution needs to improve its documentation and user-friendliness."

"IFS Applications can improve the reporting capabilities and increase the speed of feedback time in the IFS Applications. This would help with the overall performance of the solution and provide better experiences for customers."

"The solution's reporting tools still require improvement."

More IFS Cloud Platform cons

"The implementation time for S/4HANA Cloud could be reduced."

"The system is very heavy and requires a lot of resources and a dedicated team. It is costly to maintain, demanding trained professionals, which adds to the expenses."

"S/4HANA isn't ideal for managing contracts and subscriptions. There isn't a feature to notify us when a contract for a service we need is approaching its end or a product is no longer supported. You need a separate solution for that."

"I'd like to share my experience during the migration from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA in the cloud. My primary challenge in this migration was the requirement to open a ticket for every request during the project phase, not during operational or post go-live phases. Despite this, I must acknowledge that overall, SAP has proven to be very reliable. To clarify the issue, after migrating to SAP S/4HANA, I opted to host my SAP solution on the private cloud by converting the license to SAP Cloud. The drawback I encountered during the project phase was the insistence on opening a ticket or service request for any issue or query I had within the project's activities. Looking ahead, I hope that SAP streamlines and simplifies this process for future customers, making it more user-friendly and efficient than my experience."

"Customer service and support's response time is really long."

"Generally, there's not much noise or many issues, but we sometimes open tickets. These are mainly due to underestimating business needs at the beginning of deployment or sudden changes in the business. For example, when we suddenly open branches in other countries, add many users or the business grows fast, we might need more memory or disk space. We sometimes underestimate our needs from the cloud. This isn't a problem with the cloud or the vendor but more about our estimation. We raise tickets for things like increasing memory, dealing with one-time errors, or issues with space utilization. We might need to increase resources or improve performance."

"The scalability of SAP S/4HANNA is an area that could be improved."

"Integrating SAP with other products like payroll solutions should be smoother. I wish there were some tools a consultant could build according to the client's requirements. For example, say I want to process debit and credits. In SAP, we have to follow SAP terminologies and patterns. I need a template to deploy my structure according to the client's requirements. There is no structure available in SAP that a consultant can mold."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for a license to use the solution, which is not very expensive."

"Ask for all-inclusive pricing, as they are pretty flexible if you ask for custom models."

"There are varying license levels that you can purchase."

"I consider it to be a well-priced solution compared to other mid-range or high-end ERP solutions."

"There's an additional yearly cost for support."

"The pricing is relatively high compared to competitors."

"The pricing of the solution may appear to be expensive for smaller companies with only tens of users; however, for larger and mid-size industrial companies, IFS is able to win deals and the pricing is competitive in the market."

"It is better to buy implementation services from IFS than from partners"

More IFS Cloud Platform pricing and cost advice

"I'm not directly involved in the pricing discussions; it's more of a concern for the finance team."

"The pricing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is on the higher side."

"The solution’s pricing is very high."

"Its pricing is way over any of the other ERPs. I'd rate it one out of ten in terms of pricing."

"The price of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is expensive. However, the benefits are good. We did not purchase any upgrades."

"The licensing process for SAP S/4HANA Cloud has worked well."

"The solution's costs have significantly increased, and we have not seen any anticipated cost savings."

"The solution is affordable."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Educational Organization

Construction Company

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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,...

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

The manufacturing area is a good feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

SAP S/4HANA Cloud is very expensive, both to purchase and maintain. It's important to evaluate the costs of recruiting and maintaining trained personnel as it's not just a one-time payment yet requ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

The system is very heavy and requires a lot of resources and a dedicated team. It is costly to maintain, demanding trained professionals, which adds to the expenses. This makes the overall cost ver...

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP ERP vs IFS Cloud Platform

Compared 22% of the time

SAP S/4HANA vs IFS Cloud Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs IFS Cloud Platform

Compared 12% of the time

IBM Maximo vs IFS Cloud Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Salesforce Service Cloud vs IFS Cloud Platform

Compared 2% of the time

More IFS Cloud Platform Competitors

SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 26% of the time

Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 22% of the time

SAP Business One vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 16% of the time

NetSuite ERP vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IFS Cloud Platform

February 2025

Download IFS Cloud Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

January 2025

Download SAP S/4HANA Cloud product report

Also Known As

IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud

SAP S4HANA Cloud

Overview

IFS is the world’s leading provider of Industrial AI and enterprise software for hardcore businesses that make, service, and power our planet. Our technology enables businesses which manufacture goods, maintain complex assets, and manage service-focused operations to unlock the transformative power of Industrial AI™ to enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. Industrial AI is IFS.ai.

IFS Cloud is a fully composable AI-powered platform, designed for ultimate flexibility and adaptability to our customers’ specific requirements and business evolution. It spans the needs of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), and Field Service Management (FSM). IFS technology leverages AI, machine learning, real-time data and analytics to empower our customers to make informed strategic decisions and excel at their Moment of Service™.

IFS

SAP S/4HANA stands for SAP Suite 4 HANA. It is a next-generation integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that is designed for businesses of all sizes, in all industries, that require deep and broad functionality combined with a high degree of flexibility. SAP S/4HANA was launched in 2015 and been adopted by more than 3,200 customers over a period of sixteen months. SAP S/4HANA is materially different from anything SAP has done before and represents the company’s biggest innovation since SAP R/3.

SAP S/4HANA is intended to provide a digital core for an organization. It is fully architected for the most advanced in-memory platform, SAP HANA, and is designed on the most modern design principles with the SAP Fiori user experience to create a personalized and simple feel on users’ device of choice (tablet, laptop, mobile). SAP S/4HANA aims to simplify an organizations’ system landscape and reduce total cost of ownership by shrinking the data footprint while at the same time improving productivity levels in the form of higher throughput. Timelines for cloud deployments average around six months.

SAP S/4HANA is designed to drive business innovation by connecting people, devices, and business networks in real time to support the development of new business models. It will also help accelerate the adoption of, and connection to, the Internet of Things and Big Data. SAP S/4HANA can analyze big data at unprecedented speed allowing users to access real-time information from anywhere, any way they’d like and thus help managers make truly insightful decisions. The simplified data model allows customers to reimagine their IT, helping to drive lower costs and deliver IT efficiency. This, coupled with the SAP S/4HANA prediction and simulation capabilities allow it to anticipate the impact of business outcomes. By doing all the above, SAP S/4HANA aims to provide ultimate sophistication in the simplest possible manner.

To learn more about SAP S/4HANA, visit http://go.sap.com/product/enterprise-management/s4hana-erp.html

SAP

Sample Customers

China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia.

La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.

Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP. Updated: February 2025.

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