Epicor Prophet 21 is an ERP for distributors, allowing companies to manage their supply chain with one ERP, with industry-specific functionality, cloud-based applications to modernize operations, connected ecosystems to ensure visibility across the organization and AI-infused solutions to drive efficiencies.
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SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
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SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a modular ERP that enables users to run mission-critical operations in real time from anywhere, introduce new business models in any industry, and expand globally. SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a SaaS product and can also be deployed in a hybrid landscape for quicker time to value. SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a foundational component of the SAP…
Good for distribution organizations with warehousing. Can also support both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, although a more thorough Accounting package is recommended. Is strong when it comes to integrating bar codes and scanners, particularly for warehouse maintenance. Prophet 21 does include a basic CRM offering. However, it is very basic, and for any real Customer Resource management, a third-party tool is best (even recommended by Epicor.)
The software reduces the stress of managing multiple departments in the supply chain sector. It offers great performance for both small and large businesses. With the built-in AI, it improves the overall efficiency of the organization and helps in reducing maintenance. The product customer care and support services are available 24/7.
Prophet 21 could use better management tools for its own data. The database has a tendency to bloat and over time can grow exceedingly large without administrative intervention.
The UI can be cluttered at times and the windows tend to jump into focus or drop from focus when it isn't expected causing user confusion and data entry errors.
Branding on forms and the UI is almost nonexistent. Customizations of screen aesthetics and form layout options should be easier and not require custom programming.
I've used Epicor Prophet 21 for about 12 years (in various iterations). It started out as CommerceCenter by Prophet 21 then became Prophet 21 by Activant and then Prophet 21 by Epicor. So frequently, when a software company is acquired, it stops being great. That has not been the case with Epicor Prophet 21. Over the years they've been under Epicor, the product has just gotten better and better, with major extensibility enhancements and new mobile components coming online.
The cost of SAP as an ERP is quite high and the switching costs associated with ERP systems are even higher. That being said moving from one ERP to another only happens once in a great while for large organizations. Those switching costs include retraining, IT hardware requirements, outside consultants and more
I don't believe there is much you can't do in Epicor Prophet 21. Some of the processes, though, are fairly rigid with customizations and would either need to be tailored for another approach or the internal process would need to be changed to match how Epicor Prophet 21 is designed.
Day to day data insight is more accurate for manufacturing industry to procure as per forecasted from supplier. Supply and fulfillment cycle becomes more easier. I would say more about performance as we are using this new server so we can see clear difference between SAP S/4HANA Cloud and ECC. Also it has customized business extensions for rapid development.
When hosted locally, you don't have to worry about outages unless the power goes out and the battery backups fail. It can also be hosted in the cloud which is as reliable as your internet connection. There's really no concern for outages in the software by itself. Outages are controlled by external factors.
I would rate SAP S/4HANA Cloud’s availability as 10 out of 10. The system is generally reliable and accessible whenever needed, with minimal unplanned outages. Occasional minor application errors or brief maintenance windows can occur, but overall the platform provides a high level of uptime and stability, which supports continuous business operations effectively.
I do feel like there are some screens and reports that could be streamlined. Prophet 21 likes to load features all at once when going into a program but a quicker load time into order entry, for example, is worth having a little latency while a non-essential tab that doesn't get used very often is opened.
I would rate SAP S/4HANA Cloud’s performance as 10 out of 10. Most pages load quickly, and reports generally complete in a reasonable time frame, even for complex queries. The system handles integrations with other software smoothly, though in a few high-volume scenarios, certain reports or dashboards may take slightly longer to process. Overall, performance is strong and meets the needs of most business operations effectively.
The support is some of the worst I've seen across all the 122 software vendors we work with. Everything is offshore and it is always vague answers, links to wiki's that don't apply, and when we pay for project support they charge $200 an hour for someone who works remote from Mexico to call you on a poor quality VoIP connection that isn't all that well trained and often doesn't have basic IT skills
The support system I find great as whenever I run into problems they rectify them quickly as possible they never reacted late the support is just up to the mark for me. They provide many solutions to the problems I faced the [technical] team support is always amazing they [listen] to mean work accordingly.
The on-site training was great. I give it a 9 because the trainer was a chain smoker who had to excuse herself a lot to smoke. Kind of unprofessional. She was a very good trainer though.
I had a great time with the online training. Most of the online trainings were live which meant you had opportunity to interact with instructors. I liked trying to derail them by posting funny comments to the chat window. The only complaint I had about these is they weren't recorded for later use. Well, another complaint is that they were sometimes too short.
I gave this rating because the SAP S/4HANA Cloud trainings were well-structured, comprehensive, and practical. They provided clear guidance on system functionality, hands-on exercises, and real-world scenarios that made it easier for our team to understand and adopt the platform. At the same time, there’s room for improvement in providing more role-specific or advanced scenario trainings, which would further enhance learning for specialized users.
The overall implementation is smooth. Prophet 21 sends someone on-site for as many days as you need them to step through the initial implementation. Data conversion is the biggest trick. Make sure you get help with that portion of implementation. Also, be sure to offer plenty of training incentives to keep people coming back for more training. A little money spent up front will save you tons of headaches later.
SAP requires a lot of internal and external resources to complete its successful implementation. The cloud version requires a deeper understanding of the different capabilities of the local systems (hardware) and the connection towards your local IT team. We found several problems on our systems that we couldn't foresee before the implementation and roll out.
I have not looked at them in detail, but have received a lot of positive comments through out the industry, we're on the fence in regards to viability of cloud based solutions, but from the information we have received it seems like NetSuite has developed a good solution for the industry.
In our quest for an ERP solution, we evaluated alternatives such as Oracle ERP Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics 365. However, SAP S/4HANA Cloud's reputation for advanced analytics, scalability, and seamless integration with other SAP solutions made it the natural choice for our organization's digital journey.
Prophet 21 is very reliable. The database is robust and well designed. The application is also hard to break. If there's one feature I don't like, it's that they haven't accounted for the dreaded single quote. That's kind of the bane of Microsoft SQL's existence. They need to escape that character in every field that will accept it in the system. Otherwise, the system throws all kinds of errors and many times will crash.
The platform is highly flexible and cloud-based, allowing deployment across multiple departments, locations, and business units with minimal infrastructure constraints. It supports growth, additional users, and new business processes efficiently. The only reason for a 10 that it’s a perfect that certain highly specialized integrations or legacy system migrations can require extra planning to scale seamlessly, but overall the platform handles expansion very well.
I would rate the professional services for SAP S/4HANA Cloud as 10 out of 10. The team was highly knowledgeable, responsive, and provided valuable guidance throughout the implementation process. They helped with system configuration, best practices, and troubleshooting, ensuring a smoother deployment and faster user adoption. The only minor area for improvement would be slightly faster turnaround on certain non-critical queries, but overall, the services greatly contributed to the project’s success.
