The primary use case of SAP ERP is for taking care of financials, procurement, production planning, and project systems for CapEx budgeting, sales and distribution, and from there to management accounting and human capital management. I'm the head of digital transformation.
Head - SAP & Digital Transformation at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Offers very good production planning features and regular updates
Pros and Cons
- "The solution provides good production planning."
- "Could be more user friendly."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
SAP has the edge over other solutions in the sense that they have better production planning. When it comes to CapEx budgeting they have an edge over NetSuite. In terms of manufacturing in the automotive sector, most companies in the industry use SAP. They've recently included some good new features.
What needs improvement?
Our customers initially find the solution quite complex and not very user-friendly so that is something that could be improved. It takes some time for them to get used to it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for 15 years.
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SAP ERP
November 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. SAP has a lot of experience and has evolved over time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a very scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is as you would expect and could be improved.
How was the initial setup?
I've carried out deployments for about 10 customers. For those without experience, the implementation can be quite cumbersome and complex, although, over time, they realize that all the business processes are properly mapped. Maintenance requirements depend on the number of users, which modules are being implemented, and the like. It really depends on the scale and size of the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are several licensing options including paying an annual subscription or taking out a perpetual license.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the solution for those in the manufacturing space. I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Account Manager at Cadmium
The solution helps plan resources and execute deals
Pros and Cons
- "I like the solution's ability to close plans and resource requirements in deals."
- "SAP ERP was not very user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We use SAP ERP mainly for CRM.
What is most valuable?
I like the solution's ability to close plans and resource requirements in deals.
When I entered or itemized closing plans step by step on how to close deals, the solution helped me to materialize how I wanted to close the deal. It forced me to think about how to do it. If you have a vague idea of how to do it, different ways appear when you put it on paper or type it on a keyboard. The solution also monitors if I'm executing all the steps that I define necessary to closing a deal.
What needs improvement?
SAP ERP was not very user-friendly. Some features and functions are quite obsolete. For example, we had some scoring where the total had to be 100%. I could only enter figures from 100 to 150 or just only 90. There was a lot of manual work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have worked with SAP ERP for nine years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Companies in certain segments find the solution scalable. For companies that require SAP, where employees are required to have high flexibility in changing processes, SAP ERP is not the right software. However, the solution is very scalable for large companies with 1,000 employees and more.
When I was using SAP, there were 80,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
The first line of support has low-skilled people who just resolve some problems. They hand the problem over to the second level if it is more sophisticated. Unfortunately, as a customer, you often have to describe your issue or problem again to those on the second level.
Likewise, if support is 24/7, there could be different support centers, and you might have to describe your problems to different support centers across the globe again and again.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
From the user's point of view, the solution is easy to set up. You don't need to modify anything while setting up the solution. I rate the initial setup a nine out of ten.
The time taken to deploy the solution depends upon many factors, such as the number of modifications, change requests, and the complexity of data migration. It also matters if it is for one or a few small countries. Setting up SAP ERP can take half a year or several years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate SAP ERP's pricing a six or seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend SAP ERP, but it depends on where you are. I'm from the Czech Republic, and SAP dominates the local market. But that's not because of the product but because of the number of available consultants and their experience. By comparison, Oracle has a great solution, but no one has experience with implementation. We didn't know about all the functions and features. Likewise, if you don't have a critical mass of customers, you cannot get experience from implementation.
There are about 700 certified consultants in the Czech Republic for SAP ERP.
I rate SAP ERP an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
SAP ERP
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP ERP. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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Manager at Mitsubishi Electric in India
It is a scalable solution and adapts to different business requirements
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable solution."
- "The solution's UI could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to manage our organization's financial supply chain and customer interactions.
What is most valuable?
The solution provides a lot of essential features to meet our business goals.
What needs improvement?
The solution's UI could be better. Also, they should improve the initial setup process.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution; our organization has around 250 solution users.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup process is complicated.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is less expensive than its competitors. But it is costly for ERP services.
What other advice do I have?
The solution caters to different business requirements. If you have a good user base and many business processes to manage, you should opt for SAP ERP.
I rate the solution as an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Vice President at Abacus Consulting
A complete business solution that is continuously transforming and innovating
Pros and Cons
- "I like the solution’s features in finance, supply chain, sales, and distribution."
- "I would like to see more integration with other partners. Some of our customers already use specific or in-house applications for their business processes. They do not want to replace those applications."
What is most valuable?
I like the solution’s features in finance, supply chain, sales, and distribution.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more integration with other partners. Some of our customers already use specific or in-house applications for their business processes. They do not want to replace those applications.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the tool a nine out of ten. The tool is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable and I would rate its scalability a nine out of ten. We have around 40 customers for the solution.
How are customer service and support?
There are different teams based in various regions. They are available 24/7. You can raise a ticket either day or night. The support is very good and they respond within a short period of time. Our customers are comfortable with it.
How was the initial setup?
The tool’s setup is straightforward. From the technical perspective, we can complete the solution’s deployment in less than a month. However, on the business side, the deployment depends on the customer’s requirements such as finance, supply chain, etc. It can take around four to six months for those aspects to complete. We follow the SAP Activate methodology for the tool’s deployment. This methodology has different phases to deploy the solution. Apart from the methodology, we use a tool called Solution Manager for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The on-premises licensing model comes with annual maintenance whereas the cloud-based licensing model is a yearly subscription. The tool’s pricing is normal and not expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. This ERP solution is useful for large enterprises and companies with complex code structures. A lot of manufacturing companies in my country use SAP ERP. They have a lot of integrations with other products and legacy systems. The tool is a complete business solution that is continuously transforming and innovating. There is no comparison for SAP ERP.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Manager, Business Analytics, BI Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Useful features for financial management but technical support could be better
Pros and Cons
- "The features are very useful for finance."
- "In previous generations, SAP was stable and the roadmap was very predictable, but currently it's very difficult."
What is our primary use case?
I use this solution for finance and procurement.
The solution is deployed on-premises and on a private cloud, and it's running on the Azure platform.
What is most valuable?
The features are very useful for finance.
What needs improvement?
They frequently change their strategy with the product, which they didn't do before. There are too many versions. In previous generations, SAP was stable and the roadmap was very predictable, but currently it's very difficult.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support could be improved. I would rate them 2.5 out of 5.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was medium difficulty. We had more than 100 people working on it for two years.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution seven out of ten.
My advice is that products fail or succeed depending on the organization that is implementing the solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Development Director at Lottomatica SpA
Overall good functionality, beneficial financial modules, and highly stable
Pros and Cons
- "I have found all the modules related to finance valuable, such as account management and HR. The entire suite is very useful."
- "When evaluating the current version I am using now, the SAP GUI is old-style and needs to be replaced with something more modern and easy to use. However, the SAP GUI is very optimized for connection networks and is extremely good. Many people would like to have a WebGUI or something else to have access in a different way. Additionally, there could be some drag and drop functionality added because these features are normally in any website that this solution does not have."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution primarily to manage financial business processes.
What is most valuable?
I have found all the modules related to finance valuable, such as account management and HR. The entire suite is very useful.
What needs improvement?
When evaluating the current version I am using now, the SAP GUI is old-style and needs to be replaced with something more modern and easy to use. However, the SAP GUI is very optimized for connection networks and is extremely good. Many people would like to have a WebGUI or something else to have access in a different way. Additionally, there could be some drag and drop functionality added because these features are normally in any website that this solution does not have.
We are not using the newest version of the solution, it is difficult to say what needs to improve when the improvements could have already been made in the newer version. I did however see a demo version of the newest version and they have made improvements in the overall ability to manage with the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution stability and performance are very good we are extremely happy. We have not had any problem and when we moved from the old database to SAP HANA it provided improved performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In the company where I worked before, we had a large installation of SAP with approximately 10,000 licensed users. The solution was able to handle it without a problem and we were using the classic version of the Oracle database.
In the company I work for currently, we do smaller installations of approximately 350 users. We have not had any problem or any issue regarding performance, it is highly scalable. However, working with S/4 HANA, where all the database is working in the RAM memory could pose some difficulties if you want to scale because you would have to have a computer system with a large number of gigabytes of RAM.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have only used support a few times for some minor issues, such as the production system blockage, and our experience was good. The support agent was very helpful and quick to answer our problems. I felt we were receiving the maximum level of support.
What about the implementation team?
I have an internal team working on SAP ERP and we are using a very large system integrator from Italy that is assisting us with the implementation, technical support, and safety. We are working together with this system integrator for any big project that we cannot manage internally. This is not for any competencies issues, we only want to increase the number of people working with us to speed up the process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When you have a solution that is stable, reliable, and has a high performance as this solution, the price is going to be expensive. However, when you evaluate the service you are paying for the cost is quite reasonable for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate SAP ERP a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Application Delivery Specialist at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Fully-integrated, very stable, and works well
Pros and Cons
- "It is an integrated application, and it has been working really well. Earlier, there were different companies for different applications for manufacturing, finance controlling, logistics, and quality. It probably was the first fully integrated application. Whenever somebody is entering any data, for example, invoice data or ordering data, everyone with a right to see this data can see it in the system."
- "We will not make any major changes, and we are not expecting any enhancements or new features from SAP because they already have a new solution. No development is happening on SAP ERP because SAP has come up with a new version called SAP S/4HANA, which is memory-based technology. We are planning to upgrade to SAP S/4HANA, but we don't know when it will happen. We are in the preparation phase."
What is our primary use case?
We are using SAP ERP for business support, business administration, and financial aid. We are also using it for quality manufacturing and logistics.
We have many applications from the SAP side. We are also using SAP BW, SAP SRM, and SAP APO.
How has it helped my organization?
We are using it for our daily operations. It is being used for handling different orders for the company. It is also used for logistics, delivery of our products, collecting cash, and controlling the business volume and business activities. It is an integrated application, and we use it quite well.
What is most valuable?
It is an integrated application, and it has been working really well. Earlier, there were different companies for different applications for manufacturing, finance controlling, logistics, and quality. It probably was the first fully integrated application. Whenever somebody is entering any data, for example, invoice data or ordering data, everyone with a right to see this data can see it in the system.
What needs improvement?
We will not make any major changes, and we are not expecting any enhancements or new features from SAP because they already have a new solution. No development is happening on SAP ERP because SAP has come up with a new version called SAP S/4HANA, which is memory-based technology. We are planning to upgrade to SAP S/4HANA, but we don't know when it will happen. We are in the preparation phase.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for 24 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are using it on a daily basis 24/7. Currently, there is no plan to add additional users. However, if we upgrade to S/4HANA, we will get new functionality and features. Most likely, we will also have more users.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support comes partially from SAP. There are also certain partner companies who are providing support, so the support is quite good.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is quite a complex task because many business people are involved from different areas. It is not a simple solution that is being used by five or ten people. In our company, it is being used by thousands of people. Its implementation requires many consultations and discussions with different business communities. It also requires customization, configuration, and testing before you start using it.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others to go for S/4HANA. I would rate SAP ERP an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head Of Information Systems at MBDA
ECC has poor ergonomics. Finance view across functions is valuable, and the platform facilitates the automation of transactional processes
Pros and Cons
- "Finance view across functions is valuable."
- "It automates transactional processes."
- "Poor ergonomics."
What is our primary use case?
European migration in the 2000's was the main reason to change. The legacy mainframe bespoke application was difficult to maintain.
How has it helped my organization?
We were able to consolidate various obsolete IT systems 15 years ago in the context of merging several companies into a more integrated business.
What is most valuable?
Finance view across functions has been valuable. The platform has been used to automate transactional processes.
What needs improvement?
The ergonomics of ECC were poor and unattractive to newcomers, as businesses expect process streamlining.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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