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HassanMustafa - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Warehouse Consultant at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
Mature and fast with excellent graphical calculation views
Pros and Cons
  • "It's very convenient and very innovative."
  • "You cannot apply mulit-join inside the calculation views, for example, when you are joining tables."

What is our primary use case?

We have a full landscape for SAP. Currently, my customer is using it. We are using the native HANA for the non-SAP sources.

We have our data nodes for different business domains. The data is coming from non-SAP sources. The data is coming from different systems. We have a database warehouse approach.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very fast in terms of memory. It's very convenient and very innovative. It's very good at handling the input and output of the data. There is no lag.

It has become the base of building graphical calculation views. 

It is very convenient when you are working with Postgres or Snowflake. When you have modeled everything correctly, it's easy to translate the model. 

With the way native works, it builds a good platform. It's not just a database. It's much more.

It has an inbuilt smart data integrator which you can use for sourcing, researching, and loading the data. It's included in the web IDE version of the web HANA deployment. 

This is a very mature product. The performance is very good. 

What needs improvement?

I cannot think of any features that are missing at this time. 

In the calculation views, the functions that have been provided to build the graphical views should be enhanced and could be made more flexible. There should be more functionality available.

You cannot apply mulit-join inside the calculation views, for example, when you are joining tables. You have to do it in a four-node. You have to join them one by one instead of joining everything together in one step. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for six years. 

Buyer's Guide
SAP HANA
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The performance is good. It is mature and stable. I've never experienced any issues like crashing or freezing.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good. I'd rate it 8.5 out of ten in terms of ease of scaling. 

This is a good solution for enterprise solutions. 

How was the initial setup?

In terms of the initial setup, I do not know how to install it on the server itself. I don't handle the technical aspects since I am a consultant. I don't directly handle the setup process. Likely, it is installed on Linux.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

While my understanding is the product is likely expensive I do not handle the pricing. I don't know the exact costs. 

Smaller companies may not be suitable as the pricing is quite expensive. Even medium-level companies would have trouble affording a full SAP stack. An enterprise would have the budget to take this solution on.

The cloud may be more affordable, however, on-prem would be very expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a consultant. 

In terms of relational databases, this is the best option.

If you are going to work with HANA, make sure to use the latest version. It has the latest approaches.

Users should utilize the HANA platform to the fullest extent. Get the most out of it by using all of the tools, as much as possible. Don't just use it as a data model database.

I'd rate the solution nine 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.
PeerSpot user
Umair Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Administrator at Systems Limited
Real User
Top 20
Useful user administration and server management, but lacking user-friendliness
Pros and Cons
  • "As I only worked part-time on SAP HANA, I did not have the opportunity to explore the advanced features of the solution. However, I did work with basic features, such as user administration and access controls for the accounting department. The feature that stood out to me the most was the Single Sign-On and user administration, backup, and server management. My experience with SAP HANA was mainly focused on basic server improvements."
  • "In my limited experience using SAP, the process of granting access to different modules is difficult. Specifically, the requirement to assign roles and key codes to users rather than being able to assign them individually made the process more complex. It would be beneficial if there was a way to assign key codes separately, rather than having to create multiple roles. This would make managing access easier."

What is our primary use case?

In our company, we utilized SAP HANA to manage various types of information, for example, inventory, employee information, and accounting-related tasks, such as billing and employee surveys. The majority of our employee information was stored in SAP HAHA.

What is most valuable?

As I only worked part-time on SAP HANA, I did not have the opportunity to explore the advanced features of the solution. However, I did work with basic features, such as user administration and access controls for the accounting department. The feature that stood out to me the most was the Single Sign-On and user administration, backup, and server management. My experience with SAP HANA was mainly focused on basic server improvements.

What needs improvement?

In my limited experience using SAP, the process of granting access to different modules is difficult. Specifically, the requirement to assign roles and key codes to users rather than being able to assign them individually made the process more complex. It would be beneficial if there was a way to assign key codes separately, rather than having to create multiple roles. This would make managing access easier.

The grid could be made more user-friendly. While it is functional, it is not as user-friendly as other databases or accounts. In particular, I find that SAP HANA is a bit more complex for users to navigate. This could be improved to better serve the user.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP HANA for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SAP HANA is a stable tool. On and off, there were some issues, but overall the experience was good and we didn't have any sort of trouble using the setup or any other users complaining about anything.

I rate the scalability of SAP HANA a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 70 users using SAP HANA in my company. We had some shared applications which were another approximately 30 users using the solution.

The solution is scalable.

I rate the scalability of SAP HANA a nine out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

We provided support to our clients and we did not resolve ourselves we did not go to the vendor for an answer we looked online at the community support for our needs.

I rate the support of SAP HANA a seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

When comparing SAP HANA to other solutions in the same category, such as MySQL and Denodo, there are several differences. MySQL is more user-friendly than SAP HANA. Additionally, MySQL does not require a license to use, whereas SAP HANA does. However, SAP HANA does have its own advantages, such as being faster than MySQL and it is better suited for applications that require higher processing power. Ultimately, it depends on the specific needs of one's business and what they are trying to accomplish with their database which is the better solution. I find MySQL to be easier to work with than SAP HANA.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is an annual payment needed to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SAP HANA a seven 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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SAP HANA
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Vinay Lohakare - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Fast, easy to set up, and simple to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "The speed at which it gets the data is great."
  • "More standards would help in the future."

What is our primary use case?

We use HANA mostly for any live reporting directly from the ECC box or S/4HANA box. We also do some of the operational reports, where it is difficult to do or apply the logic directly in the ECC box. It's better to bring the data, do your logic in SAP HANA and do your reporting out of it. Or you can also push your data to BW as well, by doing all your logic, and you can also expose your HANA calculation directly to SAP Analytics Cloud as well as Power BI.

How has it helped my organization?

The maintenance is quick. It's analytics directly out of the box. You do not need storage. You bring the data, do your calculation, and do your reporting. That said, if you want to store it, there's a cost involved. However, if you just want to report out of it, you don't have to move your data to any other place. I won't call it a data warehouse; it's more about quick analytic reporting out of SAP.

What is most valuable?

The speed at which it gets the data is great. There's a quick response time and quick reporting.

Most of what we need is already there. 

The initial setup isn't too difficult. 

It's a scalable product. 

What needs improvement?

It's still improving there, still improving a lot. Most of the extractors that are now. Most of the standard things don't satisfy the requirements in order to go for the custom build. More standards would help in the future.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There are always stability issues. However, that is why we have SAP. I'd rate the stability eight out of ten. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale. I'd rate it nine out of ten in terms of the ability to expand. Of course, it comes down to cot. While it can scale, it will cost to do so. We have six users dealing with the product right now. Everyone in the organization is on HANA, whether it S4 or BW.

How are customer service and support?

While I haven't dealt with support in the past year, they are usually pretty good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

You do need resources specifically dedicated to the solution. However, it's not that complex. I'd rate the ease of setup around six to seven out of ten.

It is pretty quick to deploy. Deployments happen weekly or biweekly. 

One resource is enough to handle deployment, and three for maintenance.

What was our ROI?

We have witnessed a very good ROI since you don't have to install a separate box. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The main concern of every customer is the cost of the product. However, the pro is maintenance. You do not have to do a lot of maintenance on it. The number of results that you need after go-live would be less compared to any other data warehousing tool. You don't need a bunch of data engineers or data scientists, you just need a couple of business resources and a couple of analysts. In that sense, it costs less.

What other advice do I have?

We're working with the latest version of the solution. 

I really like SAP. It's the best ERP tool. If you want to implement analytics, go with HANA. Go with SAP Data Warehousing if you want to implement a data warehouse.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
ShahidAhmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer Success Executive at Thal Limited
Real User
Top 10
A product that offers multiple modules while serving as a stable and scalable database
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
  • "The only downside of the product is that it is an expensive solution that needs to consider lowering its prices to improve the product."

What is our primary use case?

There are no primary use cases of the solution in our company. We use SAP HANA as a database in our company because of the expiry deadline of our hardware, which is in January next year.

How has it helped my organization?

The benefit of SAP HANA can be observed from the fact that my entire organization depends on the solution since we use around nine to ten modules of SAP, including finance, inventory management, and SCM.

What needs improvement?

There are no weaknesses in the solution. My company tries to improve its different applications, making it one of the major reasons for us to move from SAP HANA to S4 HANA while also considering the fact that SAP may discard SAP ECC 6.0 by 2027. After that, SAP will provide us with the liberty to upgrade the product.

The only downside of the product is that it is an expensive solution that needs to consider lowering its prices to improve the product.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP for twenty years, and my company started using SAP HANA as a database for the past three years. My company uses the on-premises version of the solution. My company currently uses SAP ECC 6.0 EhP8 and SAP HANA as a database. My company is an end user of the solution.

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.

My company has around 290 users using the solution 24 hours daily.

My company has only one SAP administrator and one more person who provides support.

How are customer service and support?

Before getting support from TMC, my company used to get support from SAP Pakistan. Within the company, my team is well-equipped to look after SAP, and because of this, we don't need to opt for additional support. If there are any changes, my company approaches sAP directly. We're not dependent on the local vendors for support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My company has been using SAP since 2004, so I don't know the other products used in the past.

How was the initial setup?

Speaking about the initial setup phase, my company is still in the planning phase, and because of this, there is no dedicated person involved to look after the initial setup process.

The solution is deployed on-premises, but we plan to move to AWS in the future. We will start the migration process in the next month or after two or three months.

What about the implementation team?

The vendor takes care of the product's implementation part.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Price-wise, the product falls on the higher side of the spectrum. There is no need to pay for maintenance and support additionally. Support is available for bug fixes in the product.

What other advice do I have?

As there is no alternative for SAP in the market, I rate the overall solution a ten 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.
PeerSpot user
Vice President at StarTek
Real User
Flexible processing, overall great functionality, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The main feature is that the processes are very flexible, they are able to be adapted to the business and their departments."
  • "There could be better management for faster updates, last year there were some changes in India to the e-invoicing feature."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for database virtualization.

What is most valuable?

The main feature is that the processes are very flexible, they are able to be adapted to the business and their departments. The solution is very good and has covered all functional areas needed in this type of solution.

What needs improvement?

There could be better management for faster updates, last year there were some changes in India to the e-invoicing feature. During that time, there was a couple of updates that we had to wait until the release happened before we could do the implementation, this was a time we had to wait. They are pretty good at releasing updates but that time it was not the fastest.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for a few months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found the solution to be stable, it is very robust.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There is the ability to scale the solution by increasing capacity with no problem, it is very flexible. We have almost 34,000 users using the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We had some issue with support in the past because they did not have enough availability. However, they have improved and now they are okay. 

How was the initial setup?

Since we have been using the solution before we did not have any issues with the install. There were not any major complex operations. However, there were some challenges but we had the full documentation with us and it was not a problem. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive. If they wanted to go into other industries and sectors the cost is on the higher side. They cannot go into each and every sector. If the cost was more reasonable, then it would be easy for them to enter more markets. This would be a disruptor in the industry because it would be used more often than other solutions, which would be good for the company.

What other advice do I have?

I do recommend this solution but at the same time, it is expensive. The cost will not be able to be afforded by everyone such as medium and small scale businesses.

I rate SAP HANA an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1156443 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Regional Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
The IBP module was the most useful followed by the FI/CO and CNMM
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very stable."
  • "The initial setup was pretty complex, considering the enormous amount of data they had from an Oracle ERP."

What is our primary use case?

The client is using the solution for supply chain management, and at the same time, our enterprise uses it to track the businesses' performance. The rest of our regions are going to be using SAP ECC. We are the first region to go with HANA. We were shortlisted to show them the roadmap and guide them. Supply chain management and tracking raw materials were areas of concern.

What is most valuable?

The IBP module was the most useful followed by the FI/CO and CNMM modules.

What needs improvement?

The product could be improved in several ways.

First, before carrying out a project with this environment size, a POC needs to be carried out, for which you would have access to various environments. And those environments are something that SAP should invest in and others should provide. That would be an improvement.

Second, some good amount of handholding, guidance, or other validation or certification from SAP at different levels.  

Third, access to tools for a longer period than the pre-defined trial version license. That's something that we can ask our friends from SAP to extend or make available in a different licensing model at zero cost.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have three years of experience with the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. We would rate its stability as eight out of 10.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We would rate the scalability of the solution as eight-plus on a scale of one to 10.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty complex, considering the enormous amount of data they had from an Oracle ERP. Migration was an especially painful task, but we managed to sail through it thanks to the support of our customer. We delivered it within the timelines. We managed a few escalations. We worked with the customer. We had a weekly stand-up with the customer and various workshops and sessions to educate them and highlight the challenges. 

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was completely in-house with a team of around 18 to 22 people and a couple of people from SAP, who looked at the overall program management level, providing guidance plus certifying that best practices were being followed and implemented. 

The deployment, moving from Oracle to SAP HANA, took around eight months

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The customer took care of all the SAP license costs. Our scope was primarily implementation and migration support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Oracle ERP had the flexibility, but it didn't have the functionality that the customer was looking for.

What other advice do I have?

We would give the product an overall rating of nine out of 10.

We have an entirely SAP family, which makes it easy to manage and support. The customer opened its first, and we are doing multiple instances of SAP ECC implementations for the rest of the small countries in APAC, the Middle East, and Africa.

Around 175 to 250 people use the solution at every level of the customer's organization.

We will be providing maintenance for the next five years.

My advice would be to explore and play with the different systems available in the market. But, ultimately, look for a system with a brand, broad user usability, and support. For instance, my customer wanted to explore an open-source ERP. We persuaded him to go with SAP, primarily because they have the expertise. They adhere to the best policies. They offer support, etc. 

If you don't have all this, don't explore freebies. Go for a licensed version, recommended globally, and highly rated by Gartner or various research and consulting firms.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Gold Partners
PeerSpot user
Vinayak Shenoy Katarsal - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
A solution for data modeling and extraction but need to be moved into cloud
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can easily be modeled."
  • "The openness of the system could be more developed. The solution should go into the cloud. The cloud mechanism should be more invested."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for modeling and data extraction.

What is most valuable?

The solution can easily be modeled.

What needs improvement?

The openness of the system could be more developed.

The solution should go into the cloud. The cloud mechanism should be more invested.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP HANA for 11 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. Approximately 200 users are using this solution.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The customer support team is good because of vendor and priority.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used AWS before. Both SAP HANA and AWS are the same product.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool has a high price. I rate the solution’s pricing, one on a scale of ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap.

What other advice do I have?

SAP HANA is in the market, but there are other competitors available.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven-point five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Wael Elsagh - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at EJADA
Real User
Simple to maintain, useful modules, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SAP HANA is the modeling of the databases."
  • "The solution could improve in the handling of backup data and the administration tools."

What is our primary use case?

My clients are using a specific technique called an in-memory database that is used with SAP HANA.

The solution can be deployed on the cloud and on-premises.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SAP HANA is the modeling of the databases.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve in the handling of backup data and the administration tools.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SAP HANA for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SAP HANA is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I have received a good response from the support from SAP HANA. However, the speed of the response could be better.

How was the initial setup?

The standard way to implement the solution does not take a lot of time. However, if you need to use specific deployment options, called distributions, in the replication. It takes a lot of time for the configuration. The maximum time of deployment will be three days.

The steps taken for the implementation of the solution are sizing the resources, cloud or on-premise, and determining what modules will be required. The most important is figuring out the prerequisites and then starting the deployment. We have to check to see if all the licenses are in place, do application appraisals, and review the whole system.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a yearly subscription to use SAP HANA. There is a fee for maintenance.

What other advice do I have?

I have over 50 customers using this solution.

I rate SAP HANA an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
PeerSpot user