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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
7.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (5th)
SAP S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
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 10.9%, up 10.0% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 12.9% mindshare, down 16.1% since last year.
Cloud ERP
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Majid-Mustafa - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides custom versions of reports personalized for users
For AI initiatives, you need to purchase a separate AI license to integrate with SAP Business ByDesign. I'd recommend SAP Business ByDesign for large companies that want to check data graphically, especially for monthly income, expenses, and taxes in the millions or trillions. Overall, for large-scale companies, I'd rate it ten out of ten.
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"I have found the consolidation of the business and group reports very useful. There is plenty of features and the manufacturing and finance aspect of the solution are strong."
"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"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."
"We use the solution for a retail customer. As an administrator, my activities involve system installation, troubleshooting, and performance management."
"It is a full-fledged, stable solution."
"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."
"It is more or less a very, very smooth and seamless product. Day by day they are increasing their technology features and they are keen to resolve the issues. India has a complex business scenario and SAP is thinking about that and resolving the issues day by day."
"The processes have been reduced from almost 10 steps to four or five steps. It's really been simplified."
"In SAP S/4HANA, an interesting feature is the quality inspection and delivery process within the ERP system. For instance, if there is a delivery for a project part that requires quality inspection and receives feedback from the customer, this can be recorded through the mobile application. The responsible person can visit the site, open the system using the mobile app, and add remarks and notes directly into the system without the need for paper or extensive communication."
"The processing time has been reduced, and the screens have become more intuitive, leading to a faster user experience."
"The use of a memory-based database makes it more efficient."
 

Cons

"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 solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"With SAP S/4HANA, you can design your release strategy and modify it to include as many people as possible, which is missing in SAP Business ByDesign."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"Scalability is difficult."
"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."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting capability. To use it properly, you need intensive IT support. You cannot write your own reports."
"The integration could be made a little simpler in terms of design and implementation."
"It requires a lot of planning to implement the product correctly."
"I'm not a big fan of SAP S/4HANA because it needs a lot of hardware. It is really fast, but it needs a lot of hardware. The hardware for S/4HANA is too expensive."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The solution could improve by making customization easier. The on-premise version is a lot more flexible."
"The licensing of SAP S/4HANA needs to be improved"
"The product's use of resources could be improved, as it is quite intensive at the moment."
"SAP is good, however, SAP users should have the knowledge to tackle SAP effectively."
 

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."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"We have to pay yearly."
"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."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"It is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to five, with five being the most expensive, I would rate the price at four."
"The price could be lower."
"People concerned about the costs need to evaluate whether implementing this system is profitable."
"The tool is expensive."
"Though we are talking about a competitively priced model, the pricing could be more cost-effective."
"The price of this product is an issue for some customers."
"I rate the pricing a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is too expensive. It is an expensive tool."
"I feel that the product is a bit expensive."
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Answers from the Community

RB
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
Jun 28, 2021
Hello @Terry Jones ​, @Sanath Premachandra ​, @Ben Melchionno ​and @ASalman. Can you please assist in answering this question?
PB
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
24%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
38%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones.
What needs improvement with SAP Business ByDesign?
There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth.
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?
There could be a bit more competitiveness in their licensing and pricing.
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
It is a great product to be implemented for different industries for my customers. Can it be used globally?
 

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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