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SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA 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

SAP Business ByDesign
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (5th)
SAP S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
ERP (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP Business ByDesign is designed for Cloud ERP and holds a mindshare of 9.6%, down 10.3% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 14.4% mindshare, down 15.6% since last year.
Cloud ERP
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Majid-Mustafa - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides custom versions of reports personalized for users
For AI initiatives, you need to purchase a separate AI license to integrate with SAP Business ByDesign. I'd recommend SAP Business ByDesign for large companies that want to check data graphically, especially for monthly income, expenses, and taxes in the millions or trillions. Overall, for large-scale companies, I'd rate it ten out of ten.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"When comparing SAP Business ByDesign to much larger ERP solutions, such as SAP ECC 6.0 or SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business ByDesign is more user-friendly and easier to implement."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"The most helpful feature is the integrations. Integrating the tool with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is easy, facilitating implementation and deployment. The runtime analysis checks for real-time analytics to see if the software works properly. This is a powerful feature."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"The most valuable feature is the inbuilt standards included in SAP that customers can adopt easily. Also offers to customize it based on the specific requirements."
"We use the solution for a retail customer. As an administrator, my activities involve system installation, troubleshooting, and performance management."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the detail in all of the processes. The solution captures our policies and enables us to implement our policies in SAP. There are different models that address our needs."
"It's reliable and the performance is good."
"The user interface of SAP S/4HANA is user-friendly."
"The processes have been reduced from almost 10 steps to four or five steps. It's really been simplified."
"I would recommend SAP S4HANA because it is a known solution that is stable and widely used by customers, thus making it reliable."
 

Cons

"I would like the tool’s interface to be better. Currently, we use a client application to access the product. I want that to be replaced with a web version. I would like to improve the tool’s internet availability. I also want the product’s setup to be easier."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting capability. To use it properly, you need intensive IT support. You cannot write your own reports."
"SAP Business ByDesign can improve the flexibility and user-friendliness of the reporting during the implementations. Customizing the reports inside the device requires a lot of knowledge and most of the time a developer level is needed. For example, if you want to have a more specific reporting layout."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"SAP Business ByDesign is a very vast product, but it has to be a bit more centralized. All the models need to be more centralized for a better experience."
"I would say budget controlling needs improvement. I mention this because it does not have all the functionalities that we need in terms of managing the budget."
"The tool needs to improve its interface and functionalities."
"The theory-side of the solution needs to be improved."
"There could be a bit more competitiveness in their licensing and pricing."
"I'm not a big fan of SAP S/4HANA because it needs a lot of hardware. It is really fast, but it needs a lot of hardware. The hardware for S/4HANA is too expensive."
"Introducing better functions to our customers with the Fiori app is not easy for consultants."
"The initial setup was kind of complicated."
"Documentation could be improved."
"I think that the cost is a big area of concern, considering what users get out of the tool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"We have to pay yearly."
"The price of SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"The price of the solution is on the higher side compared to others."
"This is not the cheapest solution on the market, so you need to invest seriously in it. As a solid product, it has a solid price. It's definitely one of the more expensive tools on the market, but it's also one of the best products on the market."
"The product is expensive"
"The licensing format is complicated for SAP S/4HANA"
"We're not sure yet. I think it was six figures a year, over 100,000. It has straight-up licensing fees."
"SAP S4HANA is expensive and for smaller businesses, it is very difficult for them to have the budget."
"The price of SAP S4HANA could be cheaper."
"The solution might be expensive."
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Answers from the Community

RB
Jun 30, 2021
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud. So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per us...
See 2 answers
EB
Jun 28, 2021
Hello @Terry Jones ​, @Sanath Premachandra ​, @Ben Melchionno ​and @ASalman. Can you please assist in answering this question?
PB
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud.  So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per user on the cloud.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
University
13%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
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 SAP Business ByDesign?
The most valuable features of SAP Business ByDesign are customer invoicing and cost and revenue, from which I get the data for my project reports.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Business ByDesign?
The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones.
What needs improvement with SAP Business ByDesign?
There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth.
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

No data available
SAP S4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Standard Bank of South Africa, AOK Bundesverband, PT XL Axiata Tbk, Tvoy Dom, Schaidt Innovations GmbH & Co. KG, DeLaval International AB, EMC Corporation, Lenovo, Castle Importing Inc., Unilever, Rifle Paper Co., RAK Ceramics, Rough Country, B&G Manufacturing, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
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