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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud 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

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
ERP (3rd), Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 6.5%, down 6.9% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 12.3% mindshare, down 13.4% since last year.
ERP
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Sajid Farooq - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft products are very good in general. This product is flexible, easy to use, intuitive, and has good capabilities."
"It is a stable solution."
"I like Microsoft Dynamics' simplicity. The interface is excellent, and it's a highly mature product. You can hardly find any bugs in the product."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is cloud accessibility."
"The solution has good dashboard functionalities and export functionalities."
"The solution's integrations and interface are very good."
"This is readily available and affordable, as well as user-friendly and simple to use in my opinion."
"Has good integration with Power BI."
"It is a straightforward solution."
"The technical support team has been responsive and helpful, addressing issues and providing solutions promptly whenever needed."
"SAP S4HANA Cloud is one of the best products in enterprise solutions, especially in manufacturing, retail, logistics, wholesaling, and distribution."
"SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides easy database access."
"It is stable and scalable. In the S4HANA plain version, they have new dashboards and things like that."
"SAP versions used to be quite cumbersome for the end-users. Now SAP S/4HANA has a totally different approach. They use Fiori landing pages, which makes life better."
"The SAP S/4HANA Cloud has greatly improved our business processes. With SAP hosting the backend, database (HANA), and the application, we get all new features and security patches seamlessly according to SAP's schedule. Everything, including certifications and integrations, stays up to date for the customer. We achieve almost zero downtime, which is very important. The cloud setup provides redundancy, so if something happens at one site, it's seamless to switch."
"The solution links everything and allows us to integrate into our entire supply chain."
 

Cons

"I work in Pakistan, and many people want desktop solutions. They don't want to work on the cloud. They want a strictly on-premises solution."
"We need to customize more often than we would like."
"There is room for improvement in terms of compatibility."
"Customization and costs could be improved."
"There is some network issue."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV could improve the reporting."
"It would be nice if the integration process was easier."
"The solution could include the retail tool in the native version."
"We'd like to have more of a low-code platform."
"The only thing I would improve is the overall user experience, particularly the mobile app. S/4HANA is a powerful, scalable platform, but the user experience isn't positive. It's a bit complex. The look and feel aren't attractive, and the mobile experience isn't great."
"The solution's speed and dashboard could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, particularly in enhancing the application's response time."
"The product could be improved by enhancing its user interface to make it more intuitive and by increasing the customization options for tracking and reporting, which would better align with our specific needs."
"The system is very heavy and requires a lot of resources and a dedicated team."
"Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud."
"The solution is expensive. That can be an issue for clients."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The tool’s licensing is yearly. The solution is cheaper compared to other ERP products from Oracle or SAP."
"The license changes every year. Sometimes it's for fixed users, and sometimes it's for concurrent users."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The first time we tried to buy the newest version, it was expensive."
"I think the pricing is the best; it's cost effective for sure."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The deployment cost us $70,000 and we pay around $18,000 annually for support, which we find to be expensive."
"The license for S/4HANA is expensive, and the licensing structure is hard to understand. The admin license is something like 500 euros per user. Other ERP solutions allowed you to pick only the modules you need. The SAP ECC version requires you to take all the modules even if you are not using them."
"This is a pricey solution that best serves large enterprises. Be sure to ensure that your company's requirements need to be fulfilled by SAP. There are many other ERP's that are cheaper yet highly functional. However, it is still cheaper than some of the competition (i.e. Oracle, ESD, etc.)"
"I don't remember the specifics about the licensing, but it's scaled and modular. You pay for what you use. It's not a one-size-fits-all license. You have a license for every single module. It's similar to Oracle."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"The price of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is expensive. However, the benefits are good. We did not purchase any upgrades."
"The pricing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is on the higher side."
"The solution’s pricing is very high."
"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The platform offers a robust and comprehensive cycle for supply chain and inventory management, with features like minimum and maximum settings, dynamic monitoring of inventory levels, and integrat...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Implementing localizations when we use the system for multiple countries can be quite complex. There isn't a single solution available for all countries, and managing these localizations can be cha...
What do you like most about SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
The manufacturing area is a good feature.
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
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: December 2024.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.