We performed a comparison between Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and SAP S/4HANA based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two ERP solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The initial setup is easy."
"We like the manufacturing and case management modules."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics NAV is its simplicity of accounting and receiving reports. The solution is similar to Microsoft Excel, and that similarity is good. All the functions of Microsoft Dynamics are user-friendly."
"The most valuable features of Business Central for me are its seamless integration with Power BI and the ability to create customized reports."
"The solution has good dashboard functionalities and export functionalities."
"It is easy to use, and it works very well for small-scale companies."
"It's quite reliable, and there's a good local provider who can adapt the solution for tax issues."
"NAV covers everything from purchasing and selling items to invoicing. Everything is within NAV, so it's all very neat."
"The functionality of SAP S4HANA is very good when comparing it to others, such as Oracle, Microsoft, and other ERP solutions."
"S/4HANA is so much faster today than it was before. High performance is one of the best features, but the backbone of S/4HANA is its integration capabilities. They've also shifted to a focus on user experience."
"It is a very powerful, highly customizable tool."
"It's reliable and the performance is good."
"I have been using SAP for more than 13 years and the new SAP S4HANA was not only a simple upgrade, they have made a lot of improvements. They have simplified a lot of the functions, the all-new interface gives users a better experience. The database itself is quite efficient in nature and it provides effective data queries. It is a good upgrade from the previous version of SAP R/3."
"I have found SAP S4HANA to be scalable."
"From a technology standpoint, the theory and analytics are fascinating."
"The performance of the solution is excellent."
"For a big company like us with millions of transactions, the scalability isn't enough."
"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"The solution could include the retail tool in the native version."
"In the next release, I would like to see a quality check module - Navision doesn't have one, and the industry very much requires it."
"We need to customize more often than we would like."
"They need to improve their processes."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV could improve the reporting."
"The initial setup of the solution was quite complex and the troubleshooting involved with that needs to be improved."
"Starting out on the solution can be a bit complex and difficult."
"There should be an easier way to migrate customers from all versions to SAP S/4HANA."
"The integration could be made a little simpler in terms of design and implementation."
"The procure-to-pay solution in the Contract Management angle could be better. If you look at it on Ariba, the Contract Management Life Cycle for Ariba is more robust. You can create documentation, SLAs, and NDAs. Apart from the procurement aspect of the contract, you have the legal side, but Ariba cannot do that. From what I've seen, the features of the procure-to-pay model in S/4HANA and their Contract Life Cycle Management side primarily focus on the procurement side. I believe it would be good if this solution could handle a part of the legal side. They will incorporate Extended Warehouse Management and Transportation Management into the S/4HANA cloud. Most big companies that use a solution like S/4HANA have a legal department within the organization. Suppose they can incorporate that to be in S/4HANA suites; I think it'll be good. It will be just like what we have with Transportation Management and Extended Warehouse Management. The user interface could be better. They have too much information on the interface, and our customers still keep complaining that it looks complex. Even though many things have changed, they still complain that the interface or the screen they see is a bit complex. It's only when they see the Fiori interface that their mind becomes a bit calm."
"S/4HANA could be improved with better integration. At the moment, a main issue I see is that there's so much growth in the functionality, complementary modules, and cloud solutions which were acquired by SAP and which extend the functionality of the SAP ERP suite. It looks to me that they tend to acquire more and more functionality from acquisitions, but they don't invest enough effort into making them integrated with S/4HANA or ERP. I would say that the functionality is great, but integration is something which still needs more attention. Instead of focusing on acquisitions, they should invest, integrate, and better the existing portfolio of products in SAP. It would help us, as implementors, to have a more complex or compact solution."
"In an upcoming release of SAP S4HANA, chain management should be easier."
"There should be a place where I can get the best available applications in one place. Currently, Fiori applications are available in different tiles on the dashboards. If anyone wants to check the financial, sales, and inventory reporting in one place, it is not possible in Fiori. We would have to develop a custom Fiori application. If that feature can be incorporated into the standard Fiori, it will be helpful for us."
"If S4HANA has more AI and machine learning, it will be better and easier for reporting and dashboarding."
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is ranked 3rd in ERP with 62 reviews while SAP S/4HANA is ranked 2nd in ERP with 65 reviews. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is rated 8.2, while SAP S/4HANA is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central writes "Easy to deploy, extremely stable, and highly scalable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP S/4HANA writes "The solution is highly scalable, with solid performance and integration". Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is most compared with Microsoft Dynamics AX, SAP Business One, SAP ERP, Epicor ERP and Odoo, whereas SAP S/4HANA is most compared with SAP ERP, SAP Business One, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Oracle E-Business Suite and NetSuite ERP. See our Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. SAP S/4HANA report.
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Hello Amit, I am posting this answer on behalf of Gene Hammons, a Director at a small tech services company. He says: "Hey Amit - I believe there are huge price differentials between SAP S/4 HANA and MS D365 Business Central (the new web version of the old Navision code base). In most of our clients evaluating SAP we're comparing that to the D365 Finance & Operations (the new web version of the old Axapta code base). Pricing-wise, we'd see $3m for SAP, $1.5m for D365 F&O, and $400k for D365 BC. There is Business One from SAP that would fit in the middle of those Dynamics price points - and it's all relative, a smaller company would cost less, a larger company more - but you see where the competition would play. We do get a lot of calls from companies who have licensed D365 Business Central as part of their Microsoft IT stack and try to implement it themselves. After a couple of years, they start calling around and find out you need a real consulting team to get anywhere - and that's not free. Anyway - the key is who you partner with, make sure they have plenty of experience in your size company, in your industry - and let your business requirements drive the evaluation. The pros and cons of each system are only relevant depending on the requirements of your particular business model - any of these have the ability to be a total nightmare or productivity dream depending on where you try and fit them."
Hi Amit, I have experience with both SAP S/4HANA and Dynamics. SAP is a Tier 1 system, meaning it is meant for very large multinational companies. If you are looking for a midmarket solution, Dynamics Business Central is a better alternative, if you are in a country that is supported either by Microsoft or by an ISV partner. An ISV is an extension on top of Business Central that offers productized functionality (it is as if MSFT has extended it). For your company, it is possible an ISV with business domain-specific logic is possible. With the right partner and extensions (standard products), you can reduce your ERP implementation effort by 80%. Although SAP is a very good high-end ERP solution, it has a price and implementation cost. For the midmarket, MSFT is trying to reduce this radically with a combined offering of an ERP system with a low-code extension platform (Power Platform). From my experience, never go for on-premise, always go for cloud. Also use your own cloud environment, not a partner one. It is your ERP system, never get a partner to take you hostage. I have experience in the domain your business is operating in. I know many run on a Business Central platform.
Hello Amit,
I believe I can safely recommend SAP S/4HANA as a better ERP solution for your organization. Being directly involved in multiple SAP implementation projects, I have seen organizations transform and grow with S/4HANA. The only concern is the cost as I see it because SAP S/4HANA is costly as compared with other products.
Another thing that you need to consider is the change in management in your organization. SAP encourages organizations to adopt best practices and in doing so, users are not always facilitated. So how flexible your organization is when it comes to adapting the change is a million-dollar question.
Let me know if you need further details and we can specifically discuss accordingly.
Regards,
Muhammad Tuaha Mustafeez
SAP Solution Architect & Project Manager