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SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA 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:
 

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 S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
ERP (1st)
 

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 5.3%, down 6.8% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 6.4% mindshare, down 14.8% since last year.
Cloud ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Business ByDesign5.3%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP16.2%
NetSuite ERP14.4%
Other64.1%
Cloud ERP
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP S/4HANA6.4%
SAP ERP11.6%
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central4.4%
Other77.6%
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.
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head- IT Shared Services at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Implementation simplifies ERP management with comprehensive data integration and visibility
A lot of people would say the pricing. SAP is seen as quite expensive even now. It doesn't work for smaller or medium optimizations. The licensing and pricing could be looked at. In Brownfield migration, the trade-off between greenfield and brownfield means you either keep it clean or match the business requirements. Sometimes, it's not possible to do both. While ValixAPI provides significant support in making those decisions and the SAP consultant is very useful, we are still dependent on past history and how it was originally set up. I wouldn't call that a real disadvantage, yet more accessible consulting would be beneficial. Incorporating all other cloud products, like APO or IPP, into the S/4 house might also help.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"The standard system is stable."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"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 most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"The most helpful feature is the integrations. Integrating the tool with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is easy, facilitating implementation and deployment. The runtime analysis checks for real-time analytics to see if the software works properly. This is a powerful feature."
"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."
"Its analytics capabilities are valuable as they enhance data analysis and insights."
"The in-memory processing capability is most valuable."
"The solution makes its use and the management of our infrastructure easy."
"The use of a memory-based database makes it more efficient."
"The biggest benefit of SAP S_4HANA is that you can manage all ERP systems effectively; if you're a production company, you can track product costs, manage profitability easily, and define sales prices."
"The tool's most valuable features are ease of use, high availability, and connectivity."
"We use the solution for a retail customer. As an administrator, my activities involve system installation, troubleshooting, and performance management."
 

Cons

"Scalability is difficult."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"The Purchase to Pay process could benefit from further sophistication and additional functionality. It would be helpful for the user community to receive clearer information about the future roadmap of the business. Unfortunately, there were some confusing articles in the German press towards the end of last year about the future of SAP Business ByDesign. Therefore, more clarity is needed in the support function to address this."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"The cost of their support services could be more affordable."
"If I can highlight one point that could be improved, when we talk about other ERPs, like Oracle, nowadays these ERPs provide free integration with other ERPs. For example, there is an API for banks integrated into every tool and every product form requires that bank integration in order to give real time data into the ERP. But SAP is charging a lot for that particular bank integration scenario and I think it should be free because other ERPs are providing this feature built in to the ERP. People always ask us about the integration and how much it will cost to go with that solution, so people are thinking about this."
"The solution could improve by making customization easier. The on-premise version is a lot more flexible."
"The product should improve its cost."
"Documentation could be improved."
"You will not see convenient user experiences with SAP S4HANA's website or application."
"Introducing better functions to our customers with the Fiori app is not easy for consultants."
"The cost of their support services could be more affordable. It's currently an expensive proposition."
 

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 pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"We have to pay yearly."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"I would rate the pricing at around six to nine out of ten depending on the edition and deployment type."
"The solution's license cost is on the higher side."
"The solution's pricing depends on customers and how much discount they can get. However, the list price is expensive."
"The product is expensive"
"The problem with SAP is that it offers two licenses, namely runtime license and enterprise license. If you have a runtime license, then you are doomed since you can't take any data out from the tool."
"We're not sure yet. I think it was six figures a year, over 100,000. It has straight-up licensing fees."
"It is costly in computing because these VMs have a huge CPU and utilization."
"Though we are talking about a competitively priced model, the pricing could be more cost-effective."
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Answers from the Community

RB
SAP Practice Manager at Data-core systems
Jun 30, 2021
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud. So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per us...
See 2 answers
EB
Director of Community at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
Jun 28, 2021
Hello @Terry Jones ​, @Sanath Premachandra ​, @Ben Melchionno ​and @ASalman. Can you please assist in answering this question?
PB
Project Delivery Head - MENA at WMS Middle East LLC
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud.  So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per user on the cloud.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Healthcare Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise53
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP Business ByDesign?
The most valuable features of SAP Business ByDesign are customer invoicing and cost and revenue, from which I get the data for my project reports.
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...
Are there any advantages of SAP S4 HANA over SAP Business One (SAP B1) apart from the cost?
SaP Business One is a complete solution for business management. The software applications are broad, ranging from accounting to project management and human resources. It is very versatile and com...
What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA?
In my opinion, areas of SAP S/4HANA that have room for improvement would be in AI and insights generation, which would be a good enhancement for the future. Currently, this analytics is still drive...
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
My experience with SAP S_4HANA involves working on several projects helping customers prepare their transition from ECC to SAP S_4HANA. My role was to study the gap and technical feasibility by exe...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA
 

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
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
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