SAP ERP Reviews

From my experience with SAP ERP, it is being used for many things. I started from a manufacturing company where it implemented finance, material management, production planning, project system, HR, and plant maintenance. We implemented it in an oil company where we have a specific product called Joint Venture Accounting, which is dedicated finance for oil companies.

Depending on which product will be installed, you have budget management, fund management, cash management, and bank communication. From the technology side, in the old times it was called SAP Basis. Now we changed the name to SAP technology, which is responsible for the whole technical layer of the technology.

SAP ERP is particularly strong in manufacturing, from production planning to plant maintenance, then Material Management itself, and managing warehouse management and inventory control. We have what they call from stock to sell, basically ATP, which exists as order to cash.

The finance module of SAP touches all different areas from GL, AP and AR, cash management, treasury, and asset accounting. HR has been quite strong from the old time, which is why SAP bought SuccessFactors, which became part of the SAP portfolio to replace HR.

Our core with SAP solutions is ERP. We are still not in S/4HANA and will migrate soon, but there are many considerations, so we are still running in ECC. For surrounding products, we have already changed. We use Analytic Cloud, SuccessFactors, Ariba, MDG, Signavio, BW and BO, which is in the process of moving to the Analytic Cloud, and process orchestration is in the middle of migration to Integration Suite BTP.

SAP ERP is not really real-time. We use the HANA database which is supposed to be memory data in memory, but we are still not very happy. It is supposed to be real-time and come very quickly, but in reality, it still takes time to run. That is why we use BW of SAP, Business Objects, and now we have moved to the Analytic Cloud where we start using predictive AI. SAP recently implemented Databricks, and they started investing significantly in the analytic environment.

SAP ERP has been left behind as they moved to S/4HANA with the HANA database. They restructured the whole table structure of SAP ERP, introduced simple finance, simple logistics, and moved HR to SuccessFactors. They have the BTP layer where they manage everything from integration to master data management.

The challenge with SAP is that they move very fast to different products and buy different products. It requires significant investment and many skills to catch up because all of these have different sets of technology. The fundamental has changed differently. It is not monolithic anymore but different products under one name, SAP.

You have to buy it model by model for additional models. Products such as SuccessFactors, Ariba for procure to pay, Concur for travel, and Facility Management use totally different technology. They try to integrate with each other, but it remains a challenge for SAP to make them have the same management, technology, and operational approach.

I started using SAP ERP in 1998 when it was still on disk and CD. It was version 2.2, then we upgraded to 3.1. It was called SAP R/3, R/2, R/3. Then we moved to Enterprise, and after that, the ECC version.

The stability of SAP ERP can be considered as 8 out of 10.

The scalability of SAP ERP is excellent. Many customers have terabyte databases running properly with thousands of users. I have been in a project with Xerox Europe in the UK where there were between 6,000 to 10,000 users working with the same ECC. The application server is scalable depending on how many users you would want to deploy. The database can run in parallel if needed. The performance is good because besides the database, SAP has a cache in each of the application layers.

SAP technical support follows a German style approach. They are good, but you must follow their structure and SLA. It is not easy to justify something as high priority unless the system is completely down. From a customer perspective, high priority comes from a different angle. SAP has very clear restrictions. The technical support is good, but you do not get it from the beginning as you must go up the ladder.

Positive

The significant aspect about SAP compared to others is their strong R&D, which has helped them catch up with global changes. When distributed technology emerged, along with AI and memory databases, and the shift from centralized to distributed environment, SAP adapted well. They have evolved three times since the 90s. They have managed to survive what they call the S-curve, where some products fail to evolve. SAP has successfully navigated that transition three times in its journey.

Having worked with SAP ERP for so long, I rate it as an 8 or 9 as a solution. The overall review rating is 8 out of 10.

SAP is considered for enterprise use and falls into the expensive category, rating 8 or 9 in terms of cost.

Currently, I am not working with any AI technologies with SAP ERP. There is Joule, which I think will be in S/4HANA. We have experience in the Analytic Cloud AI and have activated the SuccessFactors AI. For S/4HANA Joule, I have seen the demo but have never used it in operations.

We are using SAP ERP for the whole company for sales, finance, HR, and production planning.

These are our only use cases.

We use it for Human Capital Management.

From a user perspective, the integration of the modules of the whole platform is valuable. When working with the sales department and making invoices, this information is available in the finance department. This complete integration is quite handy.

SAP ERP has impacted our organization positively because it is highly customizable to build any process we have in our companies and to write programs. I don't think any other software has those capabilities to customize according to the processes which are in the company.

The main advantage for us is the flexibility. We have the capabilities to build every process we have in our company and construct or customize it in the software.

SAP ERP is fine as it is at the moment.

It is difficult to comment on improvements for this version. I know HANA has improved regarding user interface and other functions, but we don't use that particular version at the moment. We are using version 6.0 and it meets our needs.

We have been working with SAP ERP for more than 20 years.

The solution is very stable.

Stability and reliability are most important with SAP ERP.

Production processes would be on hold without stability, so it is quite important that the software is very stable.

It is difficult for me to evaluate how scalable SAP ERP is because we have only 75 users, so we don't need any particular scalability features. From what I understand from the technical point of view, it is very scalable.

We have communicated with the technical support of SAP ERP.

The support was excellent. It was very quick, and we didn't have many tickets, but every time any issues arose, they were very quickly resolved.

We used custom-made software before SAP ERP.

It was a management decision to switch from the previous software to SAP ERP. I wasn't in the company at the time when they decided to make the switch.

I started working when SAP ERP was already implemented.

I did not participate in the initial setup of SAP ERP.

SAP ERP did provide value for money. We are getting exactly what we're paying for.

I am aware of the pricing of SAP ERP.

The pricing depends on our company size. We only have 150 employees and for our company size, SAP ERP is more on the pricier side. For a big company with thousands of users, the prices are reasonable.

Small and medium companies can struggle with the pricing.

We are an end user of the product.

We don't use SAP ERP for real-time data insights or operational efficiency contributions.

The usage of SAP ERP has not made any impact on decisions we made in the last couple of years. It is primarily used for payrolls and similar functions.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate SAP ERP a 9.

I work with use cases in some industries like retail and assembly for SAP ERP. I do not have experience with what my users usually use SAP ERP for in general, but we help our customers to use it.

My experience involves big data and SAP HANA database regarding the features and capabilities of SAP ERP that I have found most valuable so far. I find features such as robotic automation to be the most useful and valuable in SAP ERP. The robotic automation I find useful reduces the need for our operations people to perform their regular processing.

SAP ERP's real-time data insights are valuable. These real-time data insights are useful for my customers in the sorting and sales areas, where they use them for forecasting and analysis. The SAP HANA database with its in-memory technology is particularly beneficial. All of this feedback on SAP ERP comes from my experience with both our company and our customers.

I do not know how to give feedback regarding SAP ERP's analytics tools. The usage of analytics tools is not very popular among our customers, as some functions are not very modern. Customer study time is too long, so they accept older functions to use. User friendliness is not a priority for them.

My thoughts about SAP ERP's functionality for human capital management are not clear and not positive, as I have not researched this area extensively. I believe that SAP ERP needs to include AI functionality now, as I think it would be a significant change that could improve and enhance the product.

I have been working with SAP ERP for about ten years.

I usually communicate with the technical support team of SAP ERP when we have bugs. They are professional, and my experience with the technical support has been fine and very good.

I work only with VMware and not with IBM or IBM PowerVM. I do not work with VMware vSphere Foundation either, as I am not familiar with this product. My experience is only in ERP consulting and infrastructure. I am not an expert in vSphere.

I think we need to study with more experienced consultants and train our customers to follow the standard process and standard operating procedures. SAP ERP has best practice standard documents for the initial setup that should be followed.

I cannot present this clearly, but I can say my experience is in SAP products. I mean SAP ERP in particular. We have functional consultants to train customers and provide on-site assistance to help them use the analytics tools of SAP ERP. My customers do use analytics tools almost always. I have no experience with SAP ERP's financial management capabilities. I would rate this review as ten out of ten.

Positive

I have been using SAP ERP for posting journal entries and analyzing the P&Ls and the financial close.

By posting in FBL3N in SAP ERP, I can verify my journals and review how they were posted. In F.01 I can analyze the P&L and the balance sheet.

I can easily analyze the income statement in SAP ERP as it categorizes information in greater depth.

SAP ERP categorizes sales sections such as returns and discounts in much greater detail in F.01.

Compared to another ERP system I used earlier, SAP ERP has been very effective and efficient for our project.

SAP ERP is highly scalable and is designed to support organizations from mid-size companies to very large global enterprises.

SAP ERP logged out in slightly less time than expected.

Updates to the SAP UI would be useful.

I have been using SAP ERP for two years.

SAP ERP is stable in my experience.

The customer support is very good.

Before choosing SAP ERP, my organization considered solutions such as Oracle ERP, Microsoft Dynamics, and a few industry-specific ERP systems.

I have not used anything other than SAP ERP.

The advice is to learn the process, not the transaction when using SAP ERP. Understand business processes and do not just memorize T-codes. That reduces errors and rework. I gave this product a review rating of 10.

Our business is completely integrated into SAP ERP, including all our machines and processes, such as vendor sales, customer support, production, and quality management. We currently use a bunch of modules in SAP.

The best feature of SAP ERP is the full integration. Each model in the SAP system works with the same data. You have only one single point of truth, considering the data. You can automate many things in SAP, like workflows and some APIs to send and receive EDI (electronic data interchange) documents from our customers and suppliers.

The solution's graphical user interface (GUI) is outdated and could be improved.

I have been using SAP ERP for five years.

SAP ERP is an extremely stable solution.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

Around 60 to 70 users are using the solution in our organization.

I rate the solution an eight to nine out of ten for scalability.

We currently don't have direct support from SAP because they are outsourcing it to other consultants. However, we are quite happy with our consultant.

The solution's initial setup is difficult. You need a lot of knowledge and consultants to have a full view of the whole SAP system. If you change on one side a little bit, it affects the other modules. The learning curve for the setup process is extremely steep. It is possible to set up the tool if you have the knowledge and expertise, but it takes a lot of time.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a three to four out of ten.

A greenfield implementation of SAP ERP will take about 12 to 18 months.

The best benefit of SAP ERP is the automation inside the system. You don't have to check each line or what the employees are currently working on. You can have all the information with just one button.

SAP ERP is an expensive tool.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten.

I recommend that users think more than twice about the implementation because it requires a lot of personal resources and time to implement and configure SAP ERP. You also have to consider the forwarding costs for the license and renewing the hardware every four to five years. You will also need a lot of expertise and personal resources to administrate the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Our company helps customers integrate the solution for interface resource planning and cutting across different functions. The solution manages end-to-end processes for sales, material or inventory management, material or production planning, quality management, human resources, financial management, and cost accounting. 

We have 100 consultants scattered across the globe including 30 in the United States, 45 in Latin America, and the rest in India. We have many large customers in North America and one of the leading telecom providers in Latin America. 

We help with rollouts, maintenance, and acquisitions. We are also in the process of becoming a silver partner with the solution. 

The solution's framework is amazing because it is architected to follow the principles of cost and financial accounting. 

The accounting module's record and report process is closely integrated with almost every other process. Any event happening across any function of the business is automatically updated in the accounting reports. 

The solution is quickly expanding its hybrid cloud and cloud-to-cloud integrations. Its new tool called Business Technology Platform catches integrations. It provides a single platform for development with the SAP-owned ABAP and other technologies like Java or open source. Integrations are available for systems both within and outside of the enterprise. 

The solution is not ready for the current e-commerce environment. Its was built for large enterprises who need to predictably optimize their human, material, and financial resources. 

ERP has evolved and businesses are changing. There are not many large corporations. Most are small enterprises with the capabilities of large enterprises through networking and platform integration. Some companies promote products but get things done with other enterprises as a network. Companies do not want to create new capacity but want to leverage existing capacity with innovative products. They do not want to spend resources on duplicating capacity or facilities. 

I do not think any ERP product is ready to support this environment so ERPs as a whole might end up being used for back-office functions only. It is not easy to evolve an ERP product because its intent is to integrate functions and processes within an organization. Whereas, in the new business model, processes are not limited to one's own enterprise but cut across different enterprises. There is no enterprise solution as this point in time for the current e-commerce environment so companies must integrate with many solutions. 

I have been using the solution for 21 years. I am a SAP specialist so use the solution extensively with a particular focus on the financial accounting and controlling modules. 

I started with the ECC6 on-premises version that is no longer sold. Once cloud computing concepts evolved, users dismantled their data centers and migrated to the cloud version. Similarly, 4HANA had an on-premises version that migrated to the cloud. 

I have exposure to both on-premises and cloud versions of the solution but have only completed one cloud-based project. 

The solution is stable and that is very important for SAP. 

The scalability is amazing. The solution is the number one ERP in the world and can be scaled up to any size. 

In 2004, I was working for Deloitte with a company called Rohm and Haas that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. They have since been acquired by Dow Chemicals. But at the time, they implemented the solution for 178 countries throughout the globe in one single instance. That is the level of scalability. It is huge. 

The difficulty of setup depends on the individual. I am basically a finance professional by qualification. My academics and professional career have been focused on finance functions. The principles of accounting have been extensively followed and built into the solution. It is amazingly done. 

People who do not know the subject well might find the setup more complex. For example, some users might not have a manufacturing facility so do not have exposure to manufacturing accounting. 

The financial accounting is easy. All you have to do is set up the chart of accounts or other basic requirements, integrate with other modules, and you are done. Accounting entries will automatically post. At the end of the monthly, quarterly, or annual financial period you just close the account books. 

Our company works with customers to implement the solution. 

The solution has moved from a licensing model to a rights-based, subscription model in the cloud. Licenses are a capital expenditure so they have done away with them. Subscriptions are based on the number of users. 

The solution is very expensive, no doubt about it. There are different options for different market segments such as small to medium, micro, or large enterprises. 

The solution created SAP Cloud Private Edition for large enterprises. This option might run $200,000 for the subscription with 60 user licenses. The Fully Equivalent License allows one license to be shared across two to five users. For example, the 60 licenses could be extended to accommodate 180 to 200 users. 

The Public Cloud is a good option and is intended for small to medium enterprises. 

Business By Design SAP is intended for the micro category. 

I have practical exposure to other ERP products such as Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics. Their integration features are very loose because they are not architected as a single solution. 

For Oracle, they acquired different companies and tried to integrate them together. With each architecture being different, the integrated solution is not robust. For example, Oracle will process payroll and push accounting entries into the ERP through a robot process automation. But these things were all achieved by SAP 25 years back as an integrated solution.

For Microsoft Dynamics, they too acquire and try to integrate so the end products are not robust. They have rebranded and relaunched four or five different ERPs including Acceptor, Great Plains, and Solomon.

The solution remains the number one choice in the market and I strongly recommend it. It is SAP so businesses in any industry vertical can embrace it.

The solution has all the features you need so I rate it an eight out of ten. 

Our primary use case for the product is managing financial operations, expense control, asset management, and HR operations. We leverage various modules, including the travel management system, to streamline these processes across our institution.

One of the platform's most beneficial features is the holiday request system accessible through the SAP portal. It offers an intuitive and efficient way to handle administrative tasks like budget checks and other requests.

The product is less intuitive and cumbersome for certain tasks. Additionally, integrating with other systems has been challenging due to customization needs, which may not entirely be the system's fault but rather our internal processes and integrator choices.

I have been using SAP ERP for ten years. 

The product is stable, with minimal instances of glitches or performance issues. The system's reliability has supported our day-to-day operations effectively without significant interruptions.

The product has been highly scalable for our organization. We've expanded its usage seamlessly by adding additional nodes and have encountered no significant issues regarding system speed or responsiveness.

Deploying the product in our institution was a complex process that spanned several years due to our large organizational size and intricate business processes. Each customization and deployment phase required careful planning and execution to ensure compatibility with our specific requirements.

The vendor team demonstrated high expertise and provided valuable insights during the deployment process.

Implementing SAP ERP has significantly enhanced efficiency by automating administrative tasks such as holiday requests and monthly reporting. This has freed up resources and streamlined processes, leading to tangible time and cost savings across various departments.

For other organizations considering SAP ERP, it's essential to be aware of the setup costs, which can be substantial. Licensing can vary, but for educational institutions, there are often favorable conditions. It's important to thoroughly evaluate the total cost of ownership, including future licensing fees.

We evaluated other options such as Oracle ERP and Microsoft Dynamics. However, SAP ERP was selected for its robust functionality and ability to meet our specific needs.

I recommend SAP ERP, particularly for large organizations with standardized processes. Its robust customization capabilities and comprehensive feature set make it suitable for managing complex business operations effectively.

I rate it a seven out of ten. 

We use the tool's HCM modules for human resources. If I want to see the employee master data, I can view or edit it. I can also use it to check the time and leave management modules to see how many employees are taking leave and their working hours. These are the main functions I've been using it for in day-to-day business operations.

The solution has made the most significant impact on our human resources function, specifically in HR operations and HR analytics. One feature of SAP ERP that I found most valuable is its use of codes for accessing specific functions.

For instance, using codes to view employee master data was helpful. The processing time was lengthy when dealing with a large amount of employee data. I believe SAP ERP could be faster, especially considering that my laptop's RAM is relatively low despite having a good processor. This delay in processing becomes particularly noticeable when dealing with thousands of employee records.

The tool's multi-integration system capability is good. The P30 module, which consists of employee master data, is connected to all the other modules.

The benefits of using SAP ERP are significant. All employee data is centralized at the backend, ensuring easy access and management. One of the key advantages is real-time updates. For example, changes made in the master data automatically reflect across all other HR modules, such as attendance, learning and development, training, and performance appraisal. This integration eliminates the need for manual updates and reduces the risk of data duplication or loss.

The product can be a little slow when dealing with thousands of employee data.

Stability-wise, the tool is quite stable. It works in uncertain environments and functions well on office Wi-Fi and other Wi-Fi networks. I can generate reports, download them, and save them in a self-formatted manner. This is quite helpful as it's compatible with Microsoft tools like Microsoft Teams and OneDrive, making it easy to share the reports. 

The tool is scalable. My company has around 2,000 employees. 

I haven't contacted technical support yet. 

The tool is easy to deploy. 

I rate SAP ERP a nine out of ten. I would advise individuals looking into implementing it to review the help manual available thoroughly. Familiarizing oneself with the info types within SAP ERP is crucial. For instance, understanding codes like "PA30" for viewing employee master data can be immensely helpful.

The tool's use case varies daily, involving different implementations, change requests, and records.

The valuable feature of SAP ERP is that everything is connected and under one roof, creating a unified system. During SAP implementation, we seamlessly migrate data from various ERP systems, addressing the diverse range of client applications, programs, and ERPs that require interface connections. Post-implementation, everything is consolidated into a single system.

I believe there's room for improvement in terms of user experience. Some users express frustration with the need to click through multiple steps, making the system less user-friendly. While the older SAP system lacked a visually appealing and user-friendly interface, the new interface, while modern-looking, could be better from a functional standpoint. Despite its improved aesthetics, users may find it less convenient due to the need to search for specific functions.

I have been working with the solution for over 12 years.

Yes, it's highly scalable. SAP ERP operates within an open-source framework, allowing clients the flexibility to modify anything they need. If they wish to make changes, we consult with them, understand their requirements, and then write the necessary programs to accommodate those changes.

I have worked with solutions based on client requirements.

The solution is expensive and is best-suited for large enterprises.

I have worked with UiPath.

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.