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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.3
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central boosts ROI, productivity, and efficiency, often achieving returns within six months through automation.
Sentiment score
2.2
SAP S/4HANA Cloud offers positive ROI, with efficiency gains and cost savings, though full ROI clarity may take years.
Automation makes it very easy for us, as that is a time-saving task for us.
VP Sales at Zelite Solution
The transcript suggests SAP S4HANA Cloud may offer cost and time savings.
Ho Finance Methods and Tools at Airbus Atlantic
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.1
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers good support; however, some users report slow responses and lack of experienced consultants.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAP S/4HANA Cloud support is praised for professionalism but criticized for inconsistent response times and communication effectiveness.
The response time before getting someone who can provide a relevant answer is crucial.
Owner at Numex BV
The lack of senior technical consultants means Tier 1 support sometimes has limited experience, which could be better.
Regional Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Microsoft provides real-time support, which makes a big difference compared to SAP.
Automation Engineer
My experience shows that it often requires another level or two to reach someone who can effectively address the problems.
Managing Director at Global Information Technology Corporation
If tickets are raised to the wrong team, it takes considerable time to be routed to the appropriate team.
DGM (IT) at IndianOil Adani Ventures Limited
SAP is continuously improving the functionalities towards the current versions.
SAP Project Manager at Doha Petroleum Construction Co. Ltd. (DOPET)
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is scalable for SMEs but faces challenges scaling for larger organizations and extensive users.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is scalable for large enterprises, offering modular integration and flexibility for growth, needing some competitive improvements.
We are evaluating how scalable SAP S_4HANA Cloud has been; moving to the latest version poses not much of a challenge compared to on-prem upgrades, as SAP handles the technical areas.
SAP Project Manager at Doha Petroleum Construction Co. Ltd. (DOPET)
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers high stability, improved from NAV, with occasional update issues swiftly resolved.
Sentiment score
7.2
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is praised for stability and reliability, with high availability and minimal issues, although updates may delay.
For the cloud, we have not faced any downtimes or stability issues.
Regional Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Usually SAP S/4HANA Cloud is really stable.
Partner at Deloitte
SAP S_4HANA Cloud is very stable, especially for bigger corporates that are geographically spread out.
Chief Operating Officer at Digital365
It is very flexible and can cater to every industry.
DGM (IT) at IndianOil Adani Ventures Limited
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central needs improvements in pricing, integration, automation, reporting, training resources, and system stability for better functionality.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud requires enhancements in user-friendliness, integration, customization, and support, alongside addressing pricing and scalability concerns.
There's a gap in advanced features that other platforms like NetSuite handle better.
Regional Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
A basic point of sale would help a great deal because there are certain requirements where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could fit in small retail operations, and it is quite expensive, so that addition would be beneficial.
Regional Sales Manager at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
There is a need for improvement in consolidation and multi-country master data management.
Owner at Numex BV
The challenge is that if a customer has already deployed the entire solution on-premises, it becomes difficult to immediately convert to the new product and manage new license costs.
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
This reliance on ETL experts or data engineers is necessary to ensure clean quality data, which is critical for the effective operation of the SAP S_4HANA system.
Managing Director at Global Information Technology Corporation
It should have features or facilities so customers can get audit-related queries resolved independently without requiring ticket-based service.
DGM (IT) at IndianOil Adani Ventures Limited
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central's pricing is complex, with variable costs and added expenses for implementation and customization.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud pricing is complex and expensive, with high costs that may challenge smaller businesses despite competitive ERP market positioning.
However, it was very costly due to the numerous integrations we had.
Automation Engineer
The pricing and setup cost via partner for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are very attractive, as you get the best discounts and offers.
VP Sales at Zelite Solution
The pricing for Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable.
Owner at Numex BV
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides integration, customization, and affordability, enhancing collaboration and financial management for diverse industries.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud enhances operational efficiency with real-time analytics, seamless integration, scalability, and robust customization capabilities.
The value for money is very high as it fits the business well.
Owner at Numex BV
It provides localized compliance for every country, covering VAT compliances, taxing policies, and corporate taxes.
Regional Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is scalable, as it was able to grow with increasing business demands.
Automation Engineer
Some of the most important features include data analytics and real-time data analysis capabilities.
Ho Finance Methods and Tools at Airbus Atlantic
The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless.
SAP Business Analyst at Jante
SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides integration, controls, efficiency, visibility into business operations, and collaboration, especially for geographically spread operations.
Chief Operating Officer at Digital365
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
ERP (5th), Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 3.4%, down 6.2% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 10.9% mindshare, down 19.1% since last year.
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central3.4%
SAP ERP9.0%
SAP S/4HANA5.8%
Other81.8%
ERP
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud10.9%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP18.5%
NetSuite ERP18.2%
Other52.400000000000006%
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

BN
VP Sales at Zelite Solution
Streamlined sales pipeline has improved daily task tracking and clarified client follow-ups
The best features Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers for me is that this software makes my life very easy, as I have a complete snapshot of my pipeline and a complete snapshot of my daily activities, where I can see what the status of my leads is, where I am standing in terms of closure, and the aging of my opportunities, which tells me how much time there is in the opportunity. Out of all those things I mentioned, the pipeline view and day-to-day activities feel the most valuable to me in my day-to-day work. There are AI-driven insights through Copilot, which is worth mentioning. Email communication and everything I receive is tracked with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and the best feature is that I can access everything on my mobile, so I do not have to open my laptop and the application every time. It helps me with my sales forecasting also, and predictive analysis is one of the best features for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. We have more insights and more clarity about our sales, our pipeline, where we are standing, and we have more clarity on our leads. Becoming a process-centric organization helps us a lot to keep us accountable, so Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has made our life easy in terms of sales.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Extensive real-time analytics and superior support enhance decision making but continued product evolution impacts existing investments
Improvement is needed, and they need to slow down. When I say slow down, they need to do more validation. Things are going rapidly and changing fast. For example, they moved from SAP SRM product to SAP CLM. They bought IBM CLM and marketed it as SAP CLM. Shortly after, they bought SAP Ariba and discontinued the SAP CLM product. Now they state that SAP SRM is outdated and has reached sunset. The challenge is that if a customer has already deployed the entire solution on-premises, it becomes difficult to immediately convert to the new product and manage new license costs. From a consulting perspective, it appears that SAP's biggest competitor is itself, as they sometimes discontinue their own products to promote new ones.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
8%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

Is it advisable to purchase Dynamics CRM in addition to NAV 2016?
Short answer: depends on your sales needs. NAV 2016’s built-in CRM is very basic. It’s fine for simple contact management and basic sales tracking, but it lacks: Proper pipeline management Adva...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The pricing and setup cost via partner for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are very attractive, as you get the best discounts and offers. Implementation, which depends on partner to partner...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The only thing that could be improved is integration with WhatsApp, which I can see for Microsoft that it has to be available, and that becomes a challenge sometimes. Everything else is perfect.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is very expensive, both to purchase and maintain. It's important to evaluate the costs of recruiting and maintaining trained personnel as it's not just a one-time payment yet requ...
What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
A lot of my clients are complaining about the SAP license policy. I think that is quite intransparent and obviously quite expensive. I think that is a usual complaint. And also the flexibility to s...
What is your primary use case for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
SAP S_4HANA Cloud is still used for ERP, so enterprise resource planning, and I would say the true core of SAP S_4HANA Cloud is truly the financial planning, the financial transactional accounting....
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and others in ERP. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.