We performed a comparison between Infor M3 and SAP S/4HANA based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two ERP solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."It's very stable, and it handles all types of industrial and manufacturing businesses in very good ways. I've found it to be easy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is highly customizable."
"The user interface and user experience were good."
"It's simple to use. You don't need any complex training to use it."
"The most valuable feature of Infor M3 is the level of detail it has about the different manufacturing processes compared to other ERP solutions. Other ERP solutions provide the same level of integration as Infor M3, but Infor M3 specializes in several functions, such as planning and manufacturing."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"Its ease of use is most valuable. Inquiries are transparent, and it shows good information on each screen. We don't have to go to 14 different screens to find out about one item, which is a big advantage."
"M3 has several useful features for managing supply chains, production, and customer orders. It's an excellent system that helps me meet all my requirements for fixed costs."
"SAP S4HANA is a stable solution."
"The infrastructure resources are also effectively used. It is very optimized; used in a very optimized manner."
"It is a very scalable solution. We have enterprise-level businesses using this solution."
"SAP S/4HANA is a very easy-to-use and user-friendly solution."
"The solution makes its use and the management of our infrastructure easy."
"A user-friendly UI with good documentation."
"I have found the user interface very modern and it has simplified many user jobs, such as the embedded logistics. They have introduced central finance which has been a benefit."
"The tool's most valuable features are ease of use, high availability, and connectivity."
"Sometimes, M3 alone cannot handle all the planning functionalities required by a customer. It has to be used along with industry-specific planning tools because M3 doesn't have all the features. However, no product can handle all the requirements of all the industries. There will be some shortcomings in all the products. Though this is an area for improvement, it is not a very serious shortfall or limitation. It can be covered by using third-party planning applications that integrate with Infor M3."
"The solution must provide more learning documents."
"We can't make modifications to fit the client's requirements."
"It should be improved in terms of procurement of the supply chain and business intelligence analysis. We have the Infor BI tool, but it's more complex to use than, for example, Power Pivot or QlikView in the market."
"The solution's technical support is an area with shortcomings that need improvement, especially the support for the product named M3 rather than the support offered by Infor as an organization."
"I would like to have some kind of dashboard to show an overview of different data on the same dashboard or on the same screen instead of moving to BI."
"The solution is stable but not agile."
"The product's technical support has certain shortcomings. Sometimes, my company doesn't get a proper response from their end."
"The solution could be more user-friendly for regular users and developers."
"SAP S4HANA could improve by having a more seamless easier integration, faster integration. The overall implementation timelines should be reduced."
"We are always looking for a better user experience. We would like to see more consolidation in SAP S4HANA because of all the financial compliance and regulatory changes."
"The product's use of resources could be improved, as it is quite intensive at the moment."
"During parallel preparation of go-live processes, SAP B1 and S4H transactional data alignment can be difficult to track."
"We found that the implementing partners themselves are struggling with S4HANA's features. It's not an exact translation of the older ECC, so SAP has taken a new route to do things with S4HANA. Maybe it's a good product, but the implementing partners also like to have an in-depth understanding of the full feature set the product offers."
"So, there is room for improvement in pricing. HANA is not a simple product; it's quite complex by design."
"If I can highlight one point that could be improved, when we talk about other ERPs, like Oracle, nowadays these ERPs provide free integration with other ERPs. For example, there is an API for banks integrated into every tool and every product form requires that bank integration in order to give real time data into the ERP. But SAP is charging a lot for that particular bank integration scenario and I think it should be free because other ERPs are providing this feature built in to the ERP. People always ask us about the integration and how much it will cost to go with that solution, so people are thinking about this."
Infor M3 is ranked 12th in ERP with 13 reviews while SAP S/4HANA is ranked 2nd in ERP with 75 reviews. Infor M3 is rated 8.2, while SAP S/4HANA is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Infor M3 writes "The solution is a reliable, stable, and cost-saving ERP". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP S/4HANA writes "The solution is highly scalable, with solid performance and integration". Infor M3 is most compared with SAP ERP, Infor LN, Infor CloudSuite, Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, whereas SAP S/4HANA is most compared with SAP ERP, SAP Business One, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Oracle E-Business Suite and Epicor ERP. See our Infor M3 vs. SAP S/4HANA report.
See our list of best ERP vendors.
We monitor all ERP reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
I can only base this on selections done a couple of years ago and I may be off by a version or two.
SAP tends to have more functionality and lends itself to modification and customization for large companies. M3 is really good technology and where it works, offers a price usually 1/4 that of SAP - EU consulting teams are really good with M3 given it's Swedish heritage and EU acceptance. It's really hard to find US teams who are at the same implementation volume as their EU cousins.
The rational choice between the two generally comes down to 'we can customize a process that saves time for 1,400 worldwide sales reps' with SAP. Notice I said 'rational'. The actual choice is more like 'SAP is better known and represents less percieved risk to deploy' also - the career building aspects - an IT team with SAP experience has better future career choices - and I suspect that drives SAP selection as well.
M3 is a lower cost option - and with the right implementation and support team, performs very well -
However, they are both Tier One solutions and will require sufficient budgets, support staff internally, and a good partner.
I'd suggest a fully formed selection process and if M3 suits your requirements, it's a great choice. SAP projects are what they are, long (M3 won't be shorter by a large factor) and upgrades and audits are historically pricey.
It really comes down to your cost justification and if you have the internal team to achieve the project goals (which happen well after go-live). You'll be much better off with a clearly defined cost/revenue model prior to selecting either and a numerical goal to achieve with either software package.
(And Alex's comments regarding Netsuite are valid, we do see more overall clients selecting Netsuite than any other platform - however - Netsuite cannot do process manufacturing - especially in FDA validated environs where M3 and SAP play, so in those cases, SAP and M3 are solid choices - though I might include DynamicsAX in the mix - but that was not the original question.)
first, you need to distinguish different deployment options: S/4HANA on-permise is different from S/4HANA public or manage cloud. Cloud solutions are much more restricted.
Secondly, you need to take the release planning into consideration: currently S/4HANA includes only Simple Finance but time flies and soon more and more "Simple" components become available. All this is described in the roadmap and needs to be mapped to the customer's project timeline.
Third, taking "Simple Finance" as an example, the installation is not a classic add-on but a so called "Exchange Innovation" which changes and/or removed SAP code and database tables! You also get Fiori apps... So functionaly these are not the same.
Disclaimer: I am a NetSuite employee.
From my own experience as a former SAP employee I would be very through in investigating the marketing/messaging , indirect access challenges (non compliance audits) and maturity of SAP S/4 Hana.
Here is an example of messaging and maturity of S/4 HANA that is not publicly touted:
The latest public figures SAP shared in October 2016 put the number of S/4HANA customers who have licensed the in-memory-based business suite at more than 4,100, 350 of whom are live on S/4HANA. Typically, SAP talks about its ERP customer base being around 37,000, so there’s a long way to go before everyone is live on S/4HANA. We’ve heard both SAP and ASUG members describe S/4HANA as being “a journey.”
www.linkedin.com
On INFOR I would express concerns at the AWS environment where they are hosted (not true cloud) and that that INFOR ION middleware adds complexity as it must reconcile data between various models and databases. NetSuite uses a single database and there is no reconciliation process so when data is changes all modules access the current data
In a totally biased plug I would like to mention that at Netsuite (where I work) our motto is 100 days to the cloud, our 99% client retention rate and a large number of awards for excellence in the ERP space.
I would welcome the chance to offer a third perspective if their is an appetite for further information or if not I wish you the very best in your future ERP investment.
I suggest the following like to be used for the requested comparison:
www3.technologyevaluation.com
SAP S/4 HANA is the best Manufacturing ERP, it has in memory processing. Uses huge amount of RAM to process reporting specifically BI. Whereas M3 Lawson can be said as one the best suited products for Process Manufacturing from Infor.
I have no direct answer to your question from my recent experience with S4 HANA are
- In memory processing
- best practice process with proven from large company
- many capable implementer available in the market (and to support as well)
- industry expertise with IFRS roadmap develop to support future
Not very much heard about M3, guess Infor buy too many ERP solution to thier house and roadmap / R&D might be unclear.
Most of supply chain functions should be almost the same. Finance and Accounting are areas that you can compare implementers skills. Bring your critical business requirement, be open mind and listen to what they offer.
I’m sorry, but I can’t actually comment on Infor Lawson M3 as I have no experience with that application. If there are specific questions pertaining to S/4HANA functionality, I would be happy to offer perspective.
1. With respect, an analysis needs to start with the customer’s requirements (industry, revenue, headcount, geography, business goals, budget, timeline, risk assessment etc) before any meaningful analysis can be undertaken.
2. Why wouldn’t the Customer start with what’s already in the public domain (see below) AND
3. Why wouldn’t the Customer ask for each vendor to provide their own analysis of their product and the target competitor product, and then go from there with data sets 1. 2. and 3. respectively?
httpsr://rsupply-chain-management.softwareinsider.com/compare/31-32/M3-Supply-Chain-Management-vs-SAP-ERP
erp-systems.zone
www3.technologyevaluation.com