Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SAP ERP 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
3.8
SAP ERP enhances efficiency and saves time, offering varied ROI timelines through improved inventory management, accountability, and 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.
SAP ERP did provide value for money.
CIO at Vortella
The transcript suggests SAP S4HANA Cloud may offer cost and time savings.
Ho Finance Methods and Tools at Airbus Atlantic
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Users find SAP ERP customer service satisfactory, appreciating quick responses but suggesting improvements in knowledge and technical efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAP S/4HANA Cloud support is praised for professionalism but criticized for inconsistent response times and communication effectiveness.
SAP technical support is very good.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
It was very quick, and we didn't have many tickets, but every time any issues arose, they were very quickly resolved.
CIO at Vortella
It is not easy to justify something as high priority unless the system is completely down.
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
7.1
SAP ERP is praised for scalability by large companies, supporting growth and integration, despite initial challenges.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is scalable for large enterprises, offering modular integration and flexibility for growth, needing some competitive improvements.
It is scalable when moving from one version to another or adding additional components like warehouse management.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
The scalability of SAP ERP is excellent.
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
8.2
SAP ERP is stable and reliable, with minimal issues, satisfactory performance, and regular updates enhancing its reputation.
Sentiment score
7.2
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is praised for stability and reliability, with high availability and minimal issues, although updates may delay.
Production processes would be on hold without stability, so it is quite important that the software is very stable.
CIO at Vortella
Stability-wise, SAP ERP is the best product among others.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 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

SAP ERP needs modernization with improved UI/UX, cost reduction, easier integration, and better support for smaller businesses.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud requires enhancements in user-friendliness, integration, customization, and support, alongside addressing pricing and scalability concerns.
SAP ERP could improve by integrating additional components such as digital signatures and barcoding.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
SAP recently implemented Databricks, and they started investing significantly in the analytic environment.
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I believe that SAP ERP needs to include AI functionality now, as I think it would be a significant change that could improve and enhance the product.
Manager at Innatech
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

SAP ERP offers comprehensive features but is costly, particularly for SMEs, with high licensing and implementation expenses.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud pricing is complex and expensive, with high costs that may challenge smaller businesses despite competitive ERP market positioning.
Small and medium companies can struggle with the pricing.
CIO at Vortella
The pricing for SAP ERP is medium but slightly on the higher side.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

SAP ERP provides integrated, customizable modules with real-time data, ideal for large enterprises needing scalability, security, and efficiency.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud enhances operational efficiency with real-time analytics, seamless integration, scalability, and robust customization capabilities.
The consistent integrations and real-time data analytics in SAP ERP significantly enhance the decision-making process by facilitating follow-ups and action points.
Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
SAP ERP has impacted our organization positively because it is highly customizable to build any process we have in our companies and to write programs.
CIO at Vortella
SAP ERP is particularly strong in manufacturing, from production planning to plant maintenance, then Material Management itself, and managing warehouse management and inventory control.
IT Service Management Team Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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

SAP ERP
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
ERP (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP ERP is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 11.6%, down 20.5% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 9.9% mindshare, down 13.3% since last year.
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP ERP11.6%
SAP S/4HANA6.4%
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central4.4%
Other77.6%
ERP
Cloud ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud9.9%
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP16.2%
NetSuite ERP14.4%
Other59.5%
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which ERP solutions are best for your needs.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
7%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise77
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

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 do you like most about SAP ERP?
The solution has made the most significant impact on our human resources function, specifically in HR operations and HR analytics. One feature of SAP ERP that I found most valuable is its use of co...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
I do not know how to give feedback regarding SAP ERP's analytics tools. The usage of analytics tools is not very popular among our customers, as some functions are not very modern. Customer study t...
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?
The areas for improvement in SAP S_4HANA Cloud could be from the data storage perspective, as we are using it in a limited way and it could be a bit expensive if the data volume increases; that is ...
What is your primary use case for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
I work with SAP S_4HANA Cloud solution. We have experience with Cloud ERP as we are using SAP S_4HANA Cloud here in my current organization. We are mainly using SAP S_4HANA Cloud for recording all ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
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: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.