SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs Smartsheet comparison

SAP Portfolio and Project M...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

SAP Portfolio and Project Management and Smartsheet are competing products in the project management space, with each offering unique advantages. Although SAP appears to deliver a more comprehensive solution, Smartsheet’s flexibility and ease of use often make it the preferred choice for many organizations seeking a balance of features and accessibility.

Features: SAP Portfolio and Project Management focuses on enterprise-level project oversight, resource management, and integration with other SAP systems, making it suitable for large organizations. Smartsheet provides a user-friendly platform with customizable templates, collaboration tools, and integration with third-party applications, appealing to teams looking for a flexible solution.

Room for Improvement: SAP can benefit from simplifying its interface and improving integration with non-SAP systems. Additionally, enhancing usability for non-technical users could broaden its appeal. Smartsheet could improve by expanding its functionalities for larger enterprise-scale operations, enhancing reporting features, and strengthening its offline capabilities to better serve diverse environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP’s deployment is notably complex, requiring significant time and technical resources, though it is backed by strong customer support. Smartsheet’s cloud-based model facilitates a quicker, less resource-intensive deployment, making it a favorable option for organizations with limited IT resources. Smartsheet's responsive support enhances its appeal for organizations prioritizing ease and speed.

Pricing and ROI: SAP Portfolio and Project Management involves higher initial setup costs and a longer timeframe to achieve ROI due to its complexity and scope. Smartsheet offers a lower cost of entry and quicker time to value, making it attractive for organizations seeking faster returns. Smartsheet’s competitive pricing and rapid deployment increase ROI potential for many enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: April 2025).

SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs. Smartsheet

April 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

SAP Portfolio and Project M...

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

9th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Smartsheet

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Management Software (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Project Portfolio Management category, the mindshare of SAP Portfolio and Project Management is 6.6%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 8.4%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Portfolio Management

Featured Reviews

Nalin Kumar

Quality Assurance Group Lead at Samsung

End-to-end project management capabilities and offers seamless vendor and client contract alignment

The system is old, so there are several issues that arise when we fetch data from integrated systems. Sometimes the data gets stuck, and there are instances where we need to access multiple pieces of information simultaneously. This creates problems that I have personally experienced. Therefore, these aspects need to be much more free-flowing and seamless. If something gets stuck, it takes time to resolve, and during the contract phase, we have Service Level Agreements (SLAs). If those SLAs are breached, it becomes problematic. Given that there are approximately 3000 projects running concurrently worldwide, utilizing the system with a vast database and numerous activities taking place. It could benefit from decentralization. Currently, it operates as a central system, but if it could be centralized for specific subsidiaries, it would be easier for us to manage.

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PaulDiaz

Project Manager at Amgen

Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating

I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.

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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

"SAP is gradually introducing more flexibility and customization options to the system, allowing users to adapt it to their specific needs."

"It improves productivity, cash flow management, and inventory control for clients."

"The integration portion with SAP models is valuable."

"It is a stable and scalable solution."

"As I am in the corporate legal department, I have to deal with a number of contracts and sometimes it's hard to keep up with email transactions. Having the tracker sheet and being able to build dashboards and workflow has been quite valuable."

"The most valuable feature of Smartsheet is it can be highly customized."

"The solution is scalable."

"Granting access to Smartsheet is much simpler. Anyone can access it with just a link and password. Smartsheet also offers intelligent forms, allowing us to collect project proposals easily. Before our first meeting, I can review initial project ideas submitted through these forms. Additionally, attaching files is straightforward - no need to navigate through menus. The search function is also nice."

"For doing project plans what was really valuable is the ability to do a predecessor."

"I think Smartsheet would scale fine."

"Smartsheet is stable."

More Smartsheet pros

Cons

"The platform's support structure needs improvement."

"The system is old, so there are several issues that arise when we fetch data from integrated systems. Sometimes the data gets stuck, and there are instances where we need to access multiple pieces of information simultaneously."

"It would be valuable if SAP integrated seamlessly with some products like Jira and Bitbucket."

"It would be beneficial to enhance user-friendliness and make it less complex while maintaining its overall excellence as a product."

"Smartsheet could improve the UI and integrations. Some of Smartsheet's competitors have more than 2,000 integrations while Smartsheet only has approximately 40 integration applications."

"I would like if Smartsheet allowed more formulas in its sheets. I don't think working with formulas is as intuitive as it is in Excel. I use Vlookups and index matches in some of my sheets, and I had to find an outside consultant to help me build out those formulas."

"There isn't much automation at this time."

"I'd like to see them add more features to their automation."

"Asana has a modern look and feel, particularly its agile project management interface featuring movable cards between columns."

"I want to improve baselines, predecessor-successor relationships, and the ability to use manual starts and stops while keeping relationships intact. Changing dates and durations can be convoluted, unlike in Microsoft Project. There are many things I'm used to in other software that don't happen in Smartsheet. It's offset by how easy it is to link sheets and pull data at higher levels, but figuring out why I can't change data sometimes can be frustrating."

"Smartsheet is a cloud-based tool similar to Google Sheets in that multiple stakeholders can work on a document simultaneously. However, unlike Google Sheets, which saves changes in real time, Smartsheet requires users to manually save their changes."

More Smartsheet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing varies based on whether the client is new or existing and the complexity of their business processes."

"For a normal license, like the one I had: I had my own Smartsheet because I wanted to play with it and I didn't want to mess with what I was doing in Verizon, so I paid $200 monthly, and it gave me all the same functionalities, so I could do whatever I wanted for $200. The problem is if you have anyone else working on it or deploying on it, it's $200 a month for every single person who's deployed on it, that's working on it as an owner or an administrator, so owners and administrators are the only ones who can change, edit, and add data to worksheets and columns. Depending on the size of your organization, Smartsheet can be costly. As for implementing its Control Center, Smartsheet forces you to have three people come in: it's a minimum of three people from Smartsheet for three months who will provide you the solutions for the Control Center side, and that's $150 an hour, so it can become very expensive. For my company, not having the Control Center would save on the setup fees and then the $20,000 a year, because the Control Center of Smartsheet is a yearly subscription of $20,000."

"I believe a licensed user costs between 300 to 400 euros."

"I would assume there is a licensing fee. I don't think that it is free."

"The tool's monthly fee is 25 dollars, which is within the range of most cloud-based project management tools. I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"It is less expensive than Microsoft Project for enterprise or Oracle Primavera by an order of magnitude. If you buy a Microsoft Project license, it's probably $300 or so by itself, whereas Smartsheet is probably less than $50 per head."

"This licensing is straightforward and they charge per user."

"The solution is expensive."

"Smartsheet only requires licenses for project managers. When we were using Asana, we had to purchase a license for everyone who wanted to access their tasks and use the system. That gets costly fast. It was one of the main reasons we left Asana. As Asana and these other tools scale, they become way more expensive."

More Smartsheet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Energy/Utilities Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Retailer

Educational Organization

40%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

The platform's support structure needs improvement.

What is your primary use case for SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

We use it for end-to-end project management as per the received requirements. There is a customized module called the Project Management System (PMS) where we receive the requirements. Once a requi...

What do you like most about SAP Portfolio and Project Management?

SAP is gradually introducing more flexibility and customization options to the system, allowing users to adapt it to their specific needs.

Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?

Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...

What do you like most about Smartsheet?

The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?

The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.

Jira vs SAP Portfolio and Project Management

Comparisons

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

Broadcom Clarity vs SAP Portfolio and Project Management

Compared 5% of the time

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Planisware vs Smartsheet

Compared 13% of the time

Broadcom Clarity vs Smartsheet

Compared 11% of the time

ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management vs Smartsheet

Compared 10% of the time

Adobe Workfront vs Smartsheet

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Project and Portfolio Management vs Smartsheet

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Project Portfolio Management

April 2025

SAP Portfolio and Project Management report

Download SAP Portfolio and Project Management product report

Download Smartsheet product report

March 2025

Also Known As

Portfolio and Project Management

No data available

Overview

Portfolio Management integrates information from existing project management, human resources, and financial systems to provide an overview of the project portfolio with easy drilldown to details for portfolio managers, project managers, and resource managers. This enables innovative and collaborative, cross-functional business processes. Project Management covers the entire range of project management activities in development and consultancy projects, from planning to implementation to project completion.

SAP

Smartsheet is a dynamic platform with features like real-time data sharing, Gantt charts, and integration with Jira and Microsoft Teams, offering valuable tools for efficient task management.

Smartsheet combines Excel-like functionality with cloud accessibility, making it efficient for tracking, reporting, and workflow management. Users benefit from its scalability and robust security, making it ideal for enterprise-level projects. However, improvements in data visibility, real-time collaboration, and user-friendliness can enhance its utility. Customizable dashboards, project management features, and seamless integrations offer great flexibility, though there is a demand for better automation, API enhancements, and new templates.

What are Smartsheet's most important features?

Real-time Data Sharing: Facilitates seamless collaboration between users.
Project Management Tools: Includes Gantt charts and task prioritization for efficient project tracking.
Integration: Works with major platforms like Jira and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive data flow.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces manual work with robust automation functionalities.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to tailor dashboards to meet specific needs.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlines workflows with tools that enhance project tracking and collaboration.
Scalability: Supports growing enterprise demands with its scalable architecture.
Security: Provides robust, secure environments for data management.
Adaptability: Offers flexibility to customize workflows for improved resource management.

Smartsheet is utilized by organizations in industries like engineering, education, and IT for project management, task tracking, and data integration. It enables planning, scheduling, and team collaboration, facilitating dashboard creation and automation of processes. Its flexibility in customizing workflows is appealing to those managing projects and programs.

Sample Customers

Joy Global Inc., Citrix, EMC Corporation, Concho Resources, Concho Resources, RZD Russian Railways, Family Dollar Stores Inc., Lenovo

Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix