This solution is an advanced, analytical database, which supports in-memory computing.
SAP Solution Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
An advanced database tool that is easy to install and straightforward to use, but lacks tools to aid legacy data migration
Pros and Cons
- "We appreciate that the current, redesigned version of this solution that is much more straightforward for new users, and has been well thought out with industry best practice standards in mind."
- "While new users to this solution have the benefit of the new design, existing ERP users may experience issues with migrating legacy data. We would like to see development of ready-made tools that allow for easy mapping when upgrading."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
We appreciate that the current, redesigned version of this solution that is much more straightforward for new users, and has been well thought out with industry best practice standards in mind.
What needs improvement?
While new users to this solution have the benefit of the new design, existing ERP users may experience issues with migrating legacy data. We would like to see development of ready-made tools that allow for easy mapping when upgrading.
There is an issue with the programming language that has been introduced in the latest updates to the product, as it does not match the language originally used to develop the solution. We would like to have development tools included as a feature of the solution to help with this.
Also, this product has seen a large amount of new features added over the last few versions, and we would like the focus to be on improving those before more functionality is added.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for more than five years.
Buyer's Guide
SAP HANA
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
912,006 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable solution in our experience. However, current ECC users may experience issues with performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The cloud-based versions of this solution is auto-scalable, which is easy to initiate.
How are customer service and support?
We have found that the support for this solution is a little inconsistent, particularly with the regular introduction of new functionality, which doesn't allow the technical teams time to become fully acquainted with the tools they need to support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for this solution is straightforward as it is all automated. The setup is also easy, except for issues with migrating legacy data.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner / Reseller
Sr. Solution Manager Consultant at Sfource AG
Stable and good support
Pros and Cons
- "SAP HANA is a stable solution."
- "The solution has been good in our use case; everything has been operating well."
- "The initial setup of SAP HANA is complex. We did the implementation of one site, and a global deployment will take another three to four years."
How has it helped my organization?
We are using SAP HANA as a single system for global solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP HANA for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP HANA is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have more than 3,000 users using the solution in my organization.
How are customer service and support?
The support is good from SAP HANA.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of SAP HANA is complex. We did the implementation of one site, and a global deployment will take another three to four years.
What about the implementation team?
We used a partner for the deployment of SAP HANA.
What other advice do I have?
The solution has been good in our use case. Everything has been operating well.
A business has to understand what processes they need to use and according to their needs, they have to activate the required configurations within the SAP HANA system.
I rate SAP HANA a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
SAP HANA
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about SAP HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
912,006 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sr Advisory Technical Specialist at IBM
Has a good modeling feature and integrates well with third-party systems
Pros and Cons
- "The feature I found most valuable in SAP HANA is modeling, and I also like that the solution has good integration and you can integrate it with any system, even third-party systems."
- "Ease of use could be improved in SAP HANA. I like SAP because SAP solutions can be used by anyone, which means even laymen can start working on SAP tools, but in SAP HANA modeling, you'll need to know some other technologies and sequel scripting, and you need a separate skillset, so if you don't have the skillset, you won't be able to work on SAP HANA. Making SAP HANA low-code would make it even better."
What is our primary use case?
We use SAP HANA as the source of SAP or SAP S/4HANA. We don't have a BW system in between, so we assess data from SAP HANA DB, and we use HANA data models in the HANA database and consume those into SAP.
What is most valuable?
The feature I found most valuable in SAP HANA is modeling. I also like that the solution has good integration and you can integrate it with any system, even third-party systems.
What needs improvement?
Ease of use could be improved in SAP HANA. I like SAP because SAP solutions can be used by anyone, which means even laymen can start working on SAP tools, but in SAP HANA modeling, you'll need to know some other technologies and sequel scripting, and you need a separate skillset, so if you don't have the skillset, you won't be able to work on SAP HANA. Making SAP HANA low-code would make it even better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using SAP HANA for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP HANA is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP HANA is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
I find the technical support for SAP HANA pretty good because if you have any issues, the team responds to you very quickly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for SAP HANA was straightforward. I don't have information on how long it took to deploy the solution because I wasn't in charge of the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have no information on SAP HANA licensing costs.
What other advice do I have?
More than three hundred people use SAP HANA within my organization.
At the moment, there's no plan to increase usage for SAP HANA.
My company does system patching every quarter, so there's no issue with maintaining the solution.
I would recommend SAP HANA to others who want to start using it.
My rating for the solution is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Is stable and scalable, and certain functions have good performance
Pros and Cons
- "Some functions have good performance."
- "On the basis of my experience, SAP HANA is better than other solutions."
- "I would like more technical documentation. I would like it to be easier to find online help or have a better launch-based service. SAP has a lot of functions, so we need more best practices and more detailed documentation on industry solutions. For example, it would be good to have documentation on why a certain process needs to be set up and which kinds of configurations need to be set up."
- "Technical support has been more helpful than before but still need improvement."
What is most valuable?
Some functions have good performance.
What needs improvement?
I think a lot of areas need improvement. There seem to be a lot of requirements.
In Taiwan, we have a general universal invoice system in our government, and we need more support for this.
I would like more technical documentation. I would like it to be easier to find online help or have a better launch-based service.
SAP has a lot of functions, so we need more best practices and more detailed documentation on industry solutions. For example, it would be good to have documentation on why a certain process needs to be set up and which kinds of configurations need to be set up.
Before SAP HANA releases the next update, they need to run more internal tests.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using it since 2016.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The 2020 version is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. We have more than 100 people using SAP HANA. Most of them are developers and consultants.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been more helpful than before but still need improvement.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup proceeds better when best practices are followed. It can take more than a week to implement the system.
We have one team that handles the maintenance of the solution.
What about the implementation team?
We used an in-house team for the deployment.
What other advice do I have?
On the basis of my experience, SAP HANA is better than other solutions.
I would recommend SAP HANA, and on a scale from one to ten, I would give it a rating of eight.
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
Senior Manager at Deloitte
Multi-layered solution with good scalability, but lacking in feedback availability
Pros and Cons
- "We have found that the Fiori Apps are particularly good."
- "The stability of this solution is extremely good."
- "I would like to see improvement on the feedback from the road-map; it is currently extremely hard to get insight in this area."
What is our primary use case?
We are currently using the solution for planning, sourcing, and ordering from a contract perspective.
What is most valuable?
We have found that the Fiori Apps are particularly good.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see improvement on the feedback from the road-map; it is currently extremely hard to get insight in this area.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of this solution is extremely good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have found it to be extremely scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex, but this was due to the nature of the current project which is large and complex. However, for smaller projects, it has been more straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was carried out in-house, and we also implement the solution for our customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of licensing is dependent on the size of the project, however, we have found that there is scope to negotiate the cost.
If the solution is implemented on-premises there may be some extra costs for hosting etc.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as a seven 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
Manager, Development, SAP Solutions at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Copes very well with high volumes and provides good integration
Pros and Cons
- "The product handles high volumes very well and provides good integration."
- "The product handles high volumes very well and provides good integration, and HANA has great databases so we are able to have a lot of custom-built features, making it the best solution for us given our high file volumes."
- "The SAP ERP processes are quite complex and it can be challenging."
- "I don't like the presentation layer tools on the analytics side, it's too complex."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to custom build features. We are customers of SAP HANA and I'm a solutions manager working for a retail company in Finland.
What is most valuable?
The product handles high volumes very well and provides good integration. HANA has great databases and we're able to have a lot of custom-built features. I think this is the best solution for us given our high file volumes.
What needs improvement?
The SAP ERP processes are quite complex for us and it's a challenge. I don't like the presentation layer tools on the analytics side, it's too complex. I'd like to see a consistent analytic system as those tools and their capabilities are not easy to select. An alternative could be for them to offer the option of access to other solutions.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I think the solution is relatively stable but in some cases, it can depend on the service provider and their capabilities. We handle about 40 promoters, all in Finland and dealing with high volumes. Our market set is very high here.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think it is highly scalable but it comes at a financial cost. We currently have around 1,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
We use the support when we need it but we have quite good capabilities ourselves. If we're having some challenges then it can take time to have them resolved or to find the root cause of the problem. We've had some ongoing challenges that have taken quite a while to resolve.
How was the initial setup?
If you have some experience, the initial setup is quite easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are always discussing ways to optimize memory usage and hence our licensing costs. The solution is quite expensive but we also get a lot of value-added because of the high level of integration. I think it's worth the money but it's a fine balance.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend SAP HANA solution for ERP but not necessarily for analytics. There is no other solution that can provide the value added that we get from SAP, despite the challenges.
I rate this solution nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Owner at LAVORO AUTOM INF E COM LTDA
Offers advanced features, helps reduce hours, and makes it easy to find what you need
Pros and Cons
- "The solution offers advanced features that the company was struggling to implement."
- "SAP saves you from asking to bring an entire assembly with a lot of parts."
- "A documents preview could be helpful."
- "The solution can be expensive."
What is our primary use case?
I was using the product for some research in technical drawings - in terms of making some drawings, the different parts, and the structure of the machinery. I don't know if it's available in the SAP HANA, however, there is a model for this to schedule the maintenance. The company wasn't using it. Sometimes the product furnishes a lot of insights, cultural insights that the company still is not ready to implement.
What is most valuable?
The solution offers advanced features that the company was struggling to implement. For example, in terms of parts, you can't implement a lot of structures of the machinery, however, you still need to use the codes. They're not related one to another, which makes them hard to find, typically. That means every time you need it to buy an entire assembly of parts, you need to know exactly which one you had. You have to use a drawing, a technical drawing, that specifies each code that you need. SAP saves you from asking to bring an entire assembly with a lot of parts. That's a powerful aspect that could help to reduce hours of work that are wasted in this way.
What needs improvement?
A documents preview could be helpful. Today we have a lot of documents, for example, in PDF formats, which we would like to preview. We'd even just like to click on an icon and have it open another tab. That way, I can see the document directly inside SAP HANA. In the company I was working with, we had a parallel system which meant we needed to go to SAP, see the code, see the drawing number, and then go to another system that is finished by Autodesk, and then find the drawing and open it. This is a lot of work.
I really would like to just have it inside this app.
I'd like the product to have more mobile aspects. Many younger users want mobility and flexibility.
The solution can be expensive. In Brazil, many companies still do pretty much everything in Brazil, and, if they want to try a new solution, they want to try it at zero cost. Many, therefore, will look for open-source solutions before they even consider SAP.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution over the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable. Sometimes it gets a little slow, however, that might be a company issue. When it came to the internet the entire site wasn't that good. Sometimes you had too many people connecting and the company was using a lot of Google solutions. You noticed that when a lot of people are in virtual meetings, we would have internet connections affected.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'm not sure about the scalability.
I don't know if you can use it in a Docker or if you can scale it in SQL and you can maintain the speed, or if you are talking about, for example, big data. The infrastructure of the company seemed to be weighed down, for example, when there were a lot of virtual meetings and it affected the internet. I can't speak to if this problem would also affect being able to scale the product.
How are customer service and support?
I would describe technical support as good. It's always worked for me and therefore I have no complaints.
How was the initial setup?
I didn't handle the initial implementation. The company furnished all the equipment needed for me to work. They gave me the computer, which Red Hat was installed on. They just give me access and showed me where to access what I needed and where to put the ID and password. I didn't do anything.
Typically there are six people that are available for maintenance tasks. They're IT technicians.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SAP solutions are typically quite expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a partner and consultant.
I'm not sure which version of the product I am on.
I'd advise new users that it's important to first find a solution that can understand the culture that's involved inside this solution. Sometimes people think that ERP software like SAP are magical things that you just install it and it makes life easier. It doesn't work like this. You need to have the culture, you have to have this knowledge. You need to understand how it works and how much it requires from you. It requires more than you think. It doesn't work like magic.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. It's very good, however, there's always room for improvement.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Head- IT at a consumer goods company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stable and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to scale."
- "The in-memory database is a good and valuable feature."
- "Technical support could be better."
- "Technical support could be better. When we have requested this, the tendency has been to instruct us to implement a note and keep them apprised."
What is our primary use case?
We work with the latest update.
We use the solution as a database. We primarily use it for the SAP application. Some of the use cases involve CDS Views, which provides a quicker processing of the report and the application.
What is most valuable?
The in-memory database is a good and valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
Since we use BW, we are required to use an SLT tool to carry out the data for generating the reports. But, when it comes to in-memory database in respect of the realtime reporting, I do not see why this report cannot be made available from the system itself. This would allow for some partitioning of the database, so that there would not be a need for the EMP in respect of the realtime data.
The initial setup was complex. I am talking about how the data is replicated to the site. We had an Oracle Database and did replication to the VR site. Yet, when it comes to HANA, we are forced to work out the method for ensuring that this replication works as it should. It is at this point that the solution becomes stable.
Technical support could be better. When we have requested this, the tendency has been to instruct us to implement a note and keep them apprised. In reality, there is no one who helps us with actual troubleshooting of the problem.
The pricing is a bit on the high side.
While I would definitely recommend the solution, I would caution that one should employ the proper resources that are geared towards the system. Unfortunately, SAP does not provide a structured training program, which means a person must rely on multiple system integrators and some service providers.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using SAP HANA for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very good and we have encountered no issues regarding it.
The initial setup was complex. I am talking about how the data is replicated to the site. We had an Oracle Database and did replication to the VR site. Yet, when it comes to HANA, we are forced to work out the method for for ensuring that this replication works as it should. It is at this point that the solution becomes stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support could be better. When we have requested this, the tendency has been to instruct us to implement a note and keep them apprised. In reality, there is no one who helps us to actually troubleshoot the problem.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had already been using SAP when we switched from it to Oracle, because all of the innovations were taking place on HANA.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex. I am talking about how the data is replicated to the site. We had an Oracle database and did replication to the VR site. Yet, when it comes to HANA, we are forced to work out the method for for ensuring that this replication works as it should. It is at this point that the solution becomes stable.
The deployment lasted six months.
What about the implementation team?
We deployed with the help of a vendor.
No real maintenance is required. Data volume management is needed and all the reports are available, based on which the maintenance is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is a bit on the high side.
The use of hardware does not incur additional costs.
What other advice do I have?
There are 40,000-plus users making use of the solution in our organization.
I rate SAP HANA as an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Account Executive at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Eases management of databases; rock solid with great functionality
Pros and Cons
- "Eases management of databases."
- "SAP is great for what it does."
- "The user interface and CRM need to be more user-friendly, it's abnormally painful."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for our CRM, and for our ERP, inventory, and supply chain management. It's basically used to run the majority of the company. We are customers of SAP HANA and I'm an account executive.
What is most valuable?
SAP is great for what it does. There are likely better solutions out there but I'm not aware of them. It's a solution for big companies and in that sense it makes management of the databases much easier for higher-level people to know what's going on.
What needs improvement?
The user interface and CRM need to be more user-friendly, it's abnormally painful. I'm a frontline user of the CRM, and it requires lots of clicks that are unnecessary. Less is more on the internet and quite often I'm clicking five, six, seven times to get where I need, and that's not effective. When an item in a certain category is not done properly, it can either lock up a system or not complete the process. We see it on a daily basis and we have to figure out a workaround to solve it. It's a technical issue that SAP's had since the beginning, and it hasn't yet been solved. With SAP everything has to be categorized. If it's not, it causes system issues and then you have to decipher the issue to try and undo it. It's an algorithm argument flaw. In the near future, I'd like to see better user interfaces and better connectors between modules.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for about eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is rock stable now. We have an SAP team and five or six people fixing day-to-day issues with up to 30 people working on it all the time. There is an additional team that implements new functionalities.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It can scale infinitely. We have 12,000 users internationally and we use the product extensively.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used Salesforce and I don't like it. It runs like a 1980s webpage in the current era.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was painful and required a lot of work. Systems would go down all the time because there were initial errors with the SAP system. but once it was up and stabilized, things were good. It still has flaws but it's a good solution as a whole. They've implemented extra modules from SAP. If you don't implement it properly you'll feel the pain. It probably took around six months to solve all the issues because SAP is so big and so integrated and so integral, it can take a while to fix the problems. You can limp along until things are solved and find workarounds, but it takes a lot of effort. SAP helped us with the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SAP is expensive but it's a good solution for what it does. You're going to get a $20 answer, for a $20 product. For all the functionality it offers, the cost is worth it.
What other advice do I have?
It's important to plan and then plan again before implementing. If you don't plan properly, you will fail. The solution requires planning the implementation, making sure your company is the right size for the product. If you're an SMB, this might not be the right product for you. It might cost you more than you think. If you're enterprise size, you should look at getting into SAP, because it is the right solution. It's a solid product despite some minor issues - if SAP were to fix them it would raise the level of the solution.
As a user, I rate the solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Engineering Manager at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees
Stable, scalable, and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to use, and the Hana Studio is pretty good."
- "The JDBC connectors are very slow."
What is our primary use case?
We are solution providers. We are a supply chain organization and we deploy and supply chain solutions for our customers.
We have a host of solutions and for each of our customers based on their environments. We customize their platform and deploy it.
SAP HANA is one of our database endpoints.
What is most valuable?
It's easy to use, and the Hana Studio is pretty good.
What needs improvement?
The main issue that we are facing is with the connectors. The JDBC connectors are very slow. We have been trying to connect with our SAP HANA database to our customers.
It's a simple Java driver and there is no proper documentation available anywhere with clear steps. We have to rely on several documents which creates confusion.
The initial setup could be simplified.
Also, we don't have to option to pull up the data from the object structure in SAP HANA. We can only pull up certain objects. It doesn't provide you with a comprehensive list.
There are limitations in connection with SAP HANA. There has to be a better or easier way to connect the databases with other platforms, maybe using Java code or other types of code. It would be very good to have the documentation on how to connect.
I would like to have flexible connecting mechanisms for connection with Java or different types of solutions to SAP HANA on cloud or non-cloud solutions.
They could come up with something similar to the SAP HANA Studio type of modeling.
I would also like to see the capabilities to extend the API. If they had specific APIs, it would be easy for us to connect.
For how long have I used the solution?
My company has been using SAP HANA for ten years.
We are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution. Because it's an on-premise infrastructure and SAP this is the best support for most of our customers, scalability is taken care of.
We are an SAP house. We have more than 1,000 people who use this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not interacted with the technical support. Other teams may have, but my involvement is more with the integration.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a bit complex. We were told to download it from the marketplace, but when we tried, it didn't work. We may have been doing something wrong, but we did not have a clear understanding of how it should be done. We also had difficulties with the trial version, it was not working.
There are two options:
- Download SAP HANA then import it
- Go to the marketplace and download the connector
For testing purposes, if they could provide us with clear documentation, it would be very helpful.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing is on a yearly basis.
We are using the paid version. We pay $200 on a monthly basis.
What other advice do I have?
I am not an expert in HANA. I build the enterprise bus that integrates with SAP HANA as well as other systems. We have built our own integrated platforms.
The recommendation of this solution would depend on the use case and the requirements, and the price will be considered.
I would 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
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