SAP ERP vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud comparison

The compared SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA Cloud solutions aren't in the same category. SAP ERP is ranked #2 in ERP , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 20.0% mindshare in the category. SAP S/4HANA Cloud is ranked #3 in CE , with an average rating of 8.1, and holds a 19.2% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of SAP ERP users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SAP S/4HANA Cloud users who would recommend it.

SAP ERP

Read 104 SAP ERP reviews

15,213 Views
13,712 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Read 52 SAP S/4HANA Cloud reviews

1,645 Views
681 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SAP ERP

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA Cloud based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP.

To learn more, read our detailed ERP Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ERP

March 2025

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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 ERP

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

104

Ranking in other categories

ERP (2nd)

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud ERP (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP ERP is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 20.0%, down 23.0% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 19.2% mindshare, up 12.4% since last year.

ERP

Cloud ERP

Featured Reviews

Srinivasan Kuppuswamy

Founder Partner & Chief Consultant at Sagesse Abundance

The amazing, robust framework with unlimited scalability earns its #1 status

The solution is not ready for the current e-commerce environment. Its was built for large enterprises who need to predictably optimize their human, material, and financial resources. ERP has evolved and businesses are changing. There are not many large corporations. Most are small enterprises with the capabilities of large enterprises through networking and platform integration. Some companies promote products but get things done with other enterprises as a network. Companies do not want to create new capacity but want to leverage existing capacity with innovative products. They do not want to spend resources on duplicating capacity or facilities. I do not think any ERP product is ready to support this environment so ERPs as a whole might end up being used for back-office functions only. It is not easy to evolve an ERP product because its intent is to integrate functions and processes within an organization. Whereas, in the new business model, processes are not limited to one's own enterprise but cut across different enterprises. There is no enterprise solution as this point in time for the current e-commerce environment so companies must integrate with many solutions.

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Sajid Farooq

Head of Professional Services at HCC - Technology & Advisory

Provides seamless integration of different modules in one place

Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud. SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't provide a quality control module. SAP S/4HANA Cloud does not have its own payroll and HRMS system. The partners develop their own cloud and integrate with the solution. There are certain modules specific to some industries, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't deal with those modules. Every partner of SAP S/4HANA Cloud has to develop its own and then integrate and certify with that solution. We can't say that these modules are part of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. There is a little area of improvement that SAP has to opt for particular types of solutions like QC, payroll, and HRMS. The graphics of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are not user-friendly. They don't look like they belong to a branded solution that costs too much. The solution's user interface is not appealing or user-friendly. On a scale from one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I rate the solution's user interface a five out of ten. SAP S/4HANA Cloud has built-in reports that are hard-coated. We have to alter or modify built-in reports in different marking segments, but there are no options for that. We have to build complete reports from scratch, and SAP-developed reports are not used in the market. SAP should provide a tool for customizing its developed reports so that there should not be a process of reengineering or reinventing the process.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Control and governance are the best features."

"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 codes for accessing specific functions."

"It automates transactional processes."

"Well-integrated multilingual technology."

"The stability and performance are good."

"The best feature of SAP ERP is the full integration."

"ERP can help manage all enterprise resources. It brings them together and provides some analytical data to inform management decisions."

"Everyone who uses SAP ERP has benefited from the functionality."

More SAP ERP pros

"I like the SAP offerings and the standard best practices included in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud version."

"The product's most valuable features include its real-time data storage and integration capabilities through SAP connectors."

"It was easy to implement."

"SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides easy database access."

"What I like the most about SAP S4HANA is how reliable and powerful it is."

"It is good in data analytics and helps in data analytics."

"The most valuable features of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are the ease of use from the cloud, CapEx analysis report, and everything being connected together well."

"The solution is versatile with various integrated tools such as connecting with finance modules, controlling parameters, and creating universal journals."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud pros

Cons

"It is very expensive to customize to meet compliance with regulations in some countries."

"One thing that is lacking in ERP is a good user interface. It is currently very clumsy and complex. Another thing is that reporting capability of SAP ERP is customizable, but it is not very good. Its development time is also very high if you require specialized technical services. If you want to do any changes to the report or develop a new report, you need people with specialized skills. Business processes are very straightforward and standardized as per the industry standards. However, the way it works is a bit complex, and you need to know a lot of things. There are different things that can be complex for a general user. A lot of information is being provided in ERP. A general user doesn't require all this information, and it creates a lot of confusion. Its learning curve is very high."

"Customizations are a bit expensive."

"It could always be cheaper. There is no doubt about it."

"There is room for improvement in the integration of the solution, especially in the payroll area."

"The product is less intuitive and cumbersome for certain tasks."

"This solution could be made more user-friendly for development teams."

"Their support should be improved. Instead of giving a general solution, their consultants should first try to understand the problem and then resolve the same. They should properly investigate the issue before providing the solution."

More SAP ERP cons

"When it comes to the SAP PM material's module, it would be nice to see the inclusion of predictive analytics."

"The reporting aspect needs improvement, specifically in integrating the EWM and MM modules into a single report."

"Variant configuration is needed."

"The scalability of the solution could improve."

"Integrating SAP with other products like payroll solutions should be smoother. I wish there were some tools a consultant could build according to the client's requirements. For example, say I want to process debit and credits. In SAP, we have to follow SAP terminologies and patterns. I need a template to deploy my structure according to the client's requirements. There is no structure available in SAP that a consultant can mold."

"We have encountered challenges with integration projects, particularly between SAP and non-SAP systems, which have caused delays."

"Public cloud is single-tenant so there are limitations on what can be customized."

"The reporting aspect needs improvement, specifically in integrating the EWM and MM modules into a single report."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing can vary, but for educational institutions, there are often favorable conditions."

"It is less expensive than its competitors."

"SAP is quite expensive."

"This is a costly product."

"I am not sure. However, extensions cost approximately $100,000 or$200,000."

"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."

"SAP ERP is an expensive tool."

"It could always be cheaper. They don't have a very easy model of licensing, but large entities would get the upper hand in negotiating the license."

More SAP ERP pricing and cost advice

"I don't remember the specifics about the licensing, but it's scaled and modular. You pay for what you use. It's not a one-size-fits-all license. You have a license for every single module. It's similar to Oracle."

"It's very expensive."

"The pricing is competitive with other products at that level in that category."

"S/4HANA is an enterprise solution that many can't afford. You must invest a lot to get the most out of it. It isn't cheap. I rate the price seven out of 10."

"The license for S/4HANA is expensive, and the licensing structure is hard to understand. The admin license is something like 500 euros per user. Other ERP solutions allowed you to pick only the modules you need. The SAP ECC version requires you to take all the modules even if you are not using them."

"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"The price of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is expensive. However, the benefits are good. We did not purchase any upgrades."

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP ERP?

There is a need for improvement in the business analytics aspect in financial reporting and also in sales and marketing analytics.

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

The manufacturing area is a good feature.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

The system is very heavy and requires a lot of resources and a dedicated team. It is costly to maintain, demanding trained professionals, which adds to the expenses. This makes the overall cost ver...

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP S/4HANA vs SAP ERP

Compared 16% of the time

Microsoft Dynamics AX vs SAP ERP

Compared 13% of the time

Infor M3 vs SAP ERP

Compared 12% of the time

Anaplan vs SAP ERP

Compared 11% of the time

Infor LN vs SAP ERP

Compared 9% of the time

More SAP ERP Competitors

SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 23% of the time

Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 20% of the time

SAP Business One vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 14% of the time

NetSuite ERP vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle E-Business Suite vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

More SAP S/4HANA Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SAP ERP

March 2025

Download SAP ERP product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

March 2025

Download SAP S/4HANA Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

SAP S4HANA Cloud

Overview

SAP ERP addresses the core business software requirements of midsize and large organizations in all industries and sectors. SAP ERP includes four individual solutions that support key areas of enterprise resource planning: human capital management, financials, operations, corporate services.

SAP

SAP S/4HANA stands for SAP Suite 4 HANA. It is a next-generation integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that is designed for businesses of all sizes, in all industries, that require deep and broad functionality combined with a high degree of flexibility. SAP S/4HANA was launched in 2015 and been adopted by more than 3,200 customers over a period of sixteen months. SAP S/4HANA is materially different from anything SAP has done before and represents the company’s biggest innovation since SAP R/3.

SAP S/4HANA is intended to provide a digital core for an organization. It is fully architected for the most advanced in-memory platform, SAP HANA, and is designed on the most modern design principles with the SAP Fiori user experience to create a personalized and simple feel on users’ device of choice (tablet, laptop, mobile). SAP S/4HANA aims to simplify an organizations’ system landscape and reduce total cost of ownership by shrinking the data footprint while at the same time improving productivity levels in the form of higher throughput. Timelines for cloud deployments average around six months.

SAP S/4HANA is designed to drive business innovation by connecting people, devices, and business networks in real time to support the development of new business models. It will also help accelerate the adoption of, and connection to, the Internet of Things and Big Data. SAP S/4HANA can analyze big data at unprecedented speed allowing users to access real-time information from anywhere, any way they’d like and thus help managers make truly insightful decisions. The simplified data model allows customers to reimagine their IT, helping to drive lower costs and deliver IT efficiency. This, coupled with the SAP S/4HANA prediction and simulation capabilities allow it to anticipate the impact of business outcomes. By doing all the above, SAP S/4HANA aims to provide ultimate sophistication in the simplest possible manner.

To learn more about SAP S/4HANA, visit http://go.sap.com/product/enterprise-management/s4hana-erp.html

SAP

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, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP. Updated: March 2025.

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