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SAP S/4HANA 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

SAP S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
ERP (1st)
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. SAP S/4HANA is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 14.4%, down 15.6% 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

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.
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

"It is really fast. It is also very stable."
"A user-friendly UI with good documentation."
"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."
"It seamlessly integrates with all the SAP Business Suite products such as IoT, AI, Analytics and all other SaaS solutions. The product is very robust and comprehensive."
"The solution's most valuable feature is integration."
"The integration is quick to implement and very user-friendly."
"The user interface of SAP S/4HANA is user-friendly."
"The performance of the solution is excellent."
"SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides easy database access."
"The most valuable features of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are the ease of use from the cloud, CapEx analysis report, and everything being connected together well."
"SAP S4HANA Cloud is one of the best products in enterprise solutions, especially in manufacturing, retail, logistics, wholesaling, and distribution."
"The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless."
"The most valuable feature of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is the new UX design."
"SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides integration, controls, efficiency, visibility into business operations, and collaboration, especially for geographically spread operations."
"I like that it saves every transaction, so anything is traceable."
"I like the SAP offerings and the standard best practices included in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud version."
 

Cons

"Starting out on the solution can be a bit complex and difficult."
"Items that impact the TCO should be improved because the solution is very complex to integrate and keep running."
"It requires a lot of planning to implement the product correctly."
"SAP is seen as quite expensive even now. It doesn't work for smaller or medium optimizations."
"The problem with the tool is that its complexity is very high."
"The cost is quite expensive."
"SAP S4HANA could improve by having a more seamless easier integration, faster integration. The overall implementation timelines should be reduced."
"In an upcoming release, it would be beneficial to have more practical intelligence in the system, such as protective maintenance, or artificial intelligence."
"Difficult to install and difficult to test. Testing needs to be improved. Scalability of this solution also needs improvement."
"I would like to see a feature where it allows integration with more platforms."
"The user interface of SAP S/4HANA Cloud needs to be improved because it is not as good as other applications."
"Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud."
"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."
"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 pricing is high."
"It's a huge software, and they need to make it look less complex and more user friendly. They need to work on user stories and user experiences."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As for pricing, it depends on the business size and flow. If it's a medium-sized business, it might seem affordable, but for larger businesses with complex processes, it could be considered expensive."
"The pricing is a five out of ten, with ten being expensive and one being cheap."
"It's quite expensive. However, it can be expensive to maintain the solution."
"The price of the solution is on the higher side compared to others."
"The tool is expensive."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is on a quarterly basis. There are no additional costs. There is just the standard fee."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"The licensing process for SAP S/4HANA Cloud has worked well."
"The pricing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is on the higher side."
"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
"The solution’s pricing is very high."
"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."
"SAP S/4 Hana isn't cheap, but its value depends on how much you can leverage from it. It's not just about the system but how well your people are trained to use it and adapt to derive benefits."
"I'm not directly involved in the pricing discussions; it's more of a concern for the finance team."
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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
Educational Organization
40%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
4%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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

SAP S4HANA
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
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