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SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP ERP comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Business ByDesign
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (6th)
SAP ERP
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
ERP (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP Business ByDesign is designed for Cloud ERP and holds a mindshare of 3.7%, down 6.9% compared to last year.
SAP ERP, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 8.7% mindshare, down 16.2% since last year.
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Business ByDesign3.7%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP20.7%
NetSuite ERP20.7%
Other54.900000000000006%
Cloud ERP
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP ERP8.7%
SAP S/4HANA6.0%
Oracle E-Business Suite4.0%
Other81.3%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Divisional Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Valuable features enhance sales and service capabilities while performance improvements are needed
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handling. My feedback about the modular architecture and customized features of SAP Business ByDesign is that it is only good, but we have not explored much on this one. The initial setup for SAP Business ByDesign was complex. One disadvantage was that we had the legacy system, SAP Business One, and we could not migrate our data to SAP Business ByDesign. They should have provided a migration path.
Achmad Dimyati - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Long-term adaptation and evolution meets changing technology trends
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When comparing SAP Business ByDesign to much larger ERP solutions, such as SAP ECC 6.0 or SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business ByDesign is more user-friendly and easier to implement."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"The standard system is stable."
"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"When we were using it, we did see an immediate benefit, especially in the inventory on consignment issue. We were a biotech pre-revenue company and most of our manufacturing was outsourced. So being able to track inventory within the system without creating a financial impact was very key for us."
"The solution is quite scalable."
"We run our entire business from order receipt to invoicing, and we also do manufacturing, purchasing, invoice control, billing, and reporting on SAP."
"After implementing SAP, these processes are being incorporated with a very high level of satisfaction."
"SAP ERP is the best product for managing all back-office processes in a large organization."
"Most customers prefer to implement SAP because of the customization it offers."
"Their tech support is always good."
"I find it to be very stable in comparison to other systems, with no downtime, which is important to us because we have companies around the world and need it constantly running, and it can do that beautifully."
"In every aspect, SAP is an enterprise solution that has a lot of customization and, as a hospital, it offers us tremendous help that supports our processes."
 

Cons

"SAP Business ByDesign can improve the flexibility and user-friendliness of the reporting during the implementations. Customizing the reports inside the device requires a lot of knowledge and most of the time a developer level is needed. For example, if you want to have a more specific reporting layout."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"I would like the tool’s interface to be better. Currently, we use a client application to access the product. I want that to be replaced with a web version. I would like to improve the tool’s internet availability. I also want the product’s setup to be easier."
"SAP Business ByDesign is a very vast product, but it has to be a bit more centralized. All the models need to be more centralized for a better experience."
"Scalability is difficult."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"Scalability can be an issue. That is why SAP Business ByDesign needs to be more customizable and more flexible."
"I would say budget controlling needs improvement. I mention this because it does not have all the functionalities that we need in terms of managing the budget."
"I think the license fees are too high."
"The production system must be upgraded."
"Implementing SAP ERP can be very costly, particularly for smaller organizations with limited resources."
"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."
"SAP needs to be more intuitive. It should be easy to use, mobile, and employee-friendly."
"I believe there's room for improvement in terms of user experience."
"Although I have had problems with stability, so does every product."
"The only feature that is not available in our current version is web access."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"The tool’s subscription is yearly. There is no flat pricing involved and everything has a range. Pricing depends on the functionality that you would use. You need to also pay for the additional hosting and maintenance costs."
"We have to pay yearly."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"The price of SAP ERP is high, but it is worth the money. The maintenance and support can be expensive. There should be a different price model for businesses that are not as large to be able to afford it."
"I rate SAP ERP's pricing a six or seven out of ten."
"The solution is expensive so I rate cost a five out of ten."
"The licensing costs are slightly on the higher side. They need to make it more competitive."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"When you have a solution that is stable, reliable, and has a high performance as this solution, the price is going to be expensive. However, when you evaluate the service you are paying for the cost is quite reasonable for this solution."
"My company makes early payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. There are no additional costs apart from the charges paid toward the subscription-based license offered by SAP."
"SAP ERP is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
13%
Construction Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise78
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Business ByDesign?
The price is high, as every year SAP increases the price by 3.5%.
What needs improvement with SAP Business ByDesign?
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handl...
What is your primary use case for SAP Business ByDesign?
Our use case for SAP Business ByDesign is our dealer team accessing their system to perform sales and service; these two functionalities are done through SAP Business ByDesign. SAP Business ByDesig...
Is Anaplan better than SAP ERP?
There are different aspects of both Anaplan and SAP ERP that I like and dislike. Anaplan improves forecast accuracy and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
To make the product better, I notice that deployment must improve, and so should performance; it should be faster, along with pricing.
What is your primary use case for SAP ERP?
I have not actually used SAP ERP's analytical tools, but I leverage SAP ERP for human capital management. I am using SuccessFactors for that, and SAP ERP's real-time data insights have contributed ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Standard Bank of South Africa, AOK Bundesverband, PT XL Axiata Tbk, Tvoy Dom, Schaidt Innovations GmbH & Co. KG, DeLaval International AB, EMC Corporation, Lenovo, Castle Importing Inc., Unilever, Rifle Paper Co., RAK Ceramics, Rough Country, B&G Manufacturing, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town
B&G Manufacturing, Unilever, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town, Bhopal Municipal, Corporation (BMC), adidas Group, Butcher & Packer Supply Company, Franklin Valve L.P., Evoshield, Prime Meats, a Norsan Group company, EMC Corporation, Varian Medical Systems Inc., FC Bayern Mªnchen AG, AkzoNobel Chemicals B.V., T¾V Rheinland, Pacific Drilling S.A., Fire & Rescue New South Wales, University of Amsterdam, Pa_alon S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, SAP, NetSuite and others in Cloud ERP. Updated: September 2026.
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