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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 10.2%, up 9.5% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 11.9% mindshare, down 16.3% 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

"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 like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"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."
"The standard system is stable."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"Only SAP payroll products can handle data management in IT and HR, processing millions of payrolls monthly for big organizations. S/4HANA payroll can manage massive volumes of data, process payroll in minutes, and provide outcomes. Other applications cannot process more than 4000-5000, but SAP S/4HANA payroll has been proven for 30-40 years."
"The key modules that I find most valuable are material management (MM), financial accounting and controlling (FICO), and human resources (HR)."
"SAP S4HANA has good performance and has allowed us to combine our systems."
"The finance module is the best thing. It integrates well with other modules, which makes it the best ERP available."
"The tool's most valuable features are ease of use, high availability, and connectivity."
"The most valuable feature is the detail in all of the processes. The solution captures our policies and enables us to implement our policies in SAP. There are different models that address our needs."
"I am really happy to use HANA since it is highly syndicated with public office systems."
"I have found the most valuable features are the interface, which is very good for all users, and the database performance is good."
 

Cons

"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"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 database needs to be more customizable."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in areas such as security features within SAP S/4HANA, which could further enhance the overall usability and effectiveness of the platform. To make SAP S/4HANA better, there's a focus on enhancing responsiveness and reducing operational costs. This includes improving automation within the system to address strategic needs and accommodate users who primarily speak English, which is an ongoing effort."
"With the public cloud, now everything is being pushed into BTP. This has created challenges, as it requires us to redo our coding and development."
"Technical support has been declining. They aren't as responsive as they used to be."
"We would like to see more DevOps capabilities in the future."
"SAP S/4HANA could improve by making the interface easier to use."
"The solution could have a better user experience. However, they are working a lot on the user experience and they have come up with various applications, such as mobile applications. This was lacking over the last two years."
"SAP is good, however, SAP users should have the knowledge to tackle SAP effectively."
"During parallel preparation of go-live processes, SAP B1 and S4H transactional data alignment can be difficult to track."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"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."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"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 rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"It is on a quarterly basis. There are no additional costs. There is just the standard fee."
"The solution might be expensive."
"The solution's license cost is on the higher side."
"The solution is expensive."
"The product is expensive."
"I don't think any company would find the product expensive"
"The solution often does not survive our shortlist round because it is very expensive when compared to other products."
"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
25%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
32%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
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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