Microsoft Dynamics SL vs. SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Dynamics SL
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics SL is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family. This product was acquired from Solomon 2000. The product is typically used by SMBs, particularly in project-based businesses (e.g. construction). It has strong accounting and project management capabilities.N/A
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a modular cloud ERP software designed for every business need – powered by AI and analytics. SAP S/4HANA Cloud enables users to run mission-critical operations in real time from anywhere, introduce new business models in an industry, and expand globally. It can be deployed either on premise, in the cloud, or in a hybrid combination for quicker time-to-value.
$0
per month FUE users*
Pricing
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Custom Pricing
per month FUE users*
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details* FUE = Full user equivalent, which allows flexible customer choice among: 1 Advanced user, 3 Core-users, or 30 self-service users per FUE. Minimum purchase is 35 FUEs.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Dynamics SL

No answer on this topic

SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is an improved and integrated suite that before any competitor will always be a long-term option for the benefit of a company.
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
8.5
2 Ratings
16% above category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
7.6
248 Ratings
5% above category average
Pay calculation9.62 Ratings7.3208 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.01 Ratings7.4209 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.2210 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
6 Ratings
19% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
7.2
361 Ratings
1% below category average
API for custom integration6.06 Ratings7.2346 Ratings
Plug-ins6.04 Ratings7.2319 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
7.3
9 Ratings
11% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
8.2
416 Ratings
1% above category average
Single sign-on capability7.49 Ratings8.5389 Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.38 Ratings8.0409 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.8
9 Ratings
2% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
7.3
420 Ratings
5% above category average
Dashboards7.15 Ratings7.2390 Ratings
Standard reports7.19 Ratings7.6414 Ratings
Custom reports6.19 Ratings7.2387 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
7.4
10 Ratings
3% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
8.3
415 Ratings
9% above category average
Accounts payable7.610 Ratings8.1413 Ratings
Accounts receivable6.07 Ratings8.0395 Ratings
Global Financial Support6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers6.63 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations7.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes7.32 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
4.3
5 Ratings
58% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
7.9
360 Ratings
1% above category average
Inventory tracking6.05 Ratings8.1351 Ratings
Location management1.02 Ratings6.9295 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings7.8305 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.7
3 Ratings
15% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
8.0
376 Ratings
3% above category average
Pricing6.02 Ratings7.9356 Ratings
Order entry6.03 Ratings8.5365 Ratings
Credit card processing7.02 Ratings7.523 Ratings
Cost of goods sold7.02 Ratings8.1345 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
5.8
3 Ratings
24% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
-
Ratings
Billing Management6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management7.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting6.32 Ratings00 Ratings
Period Close7.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
4.7
3 Ratings
47% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
-
Ratings
Budgeting and Forecasting7.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Costing6.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost Capture2.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Capital Project Management8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition2.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.3
1 Ratings
18% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
-
Ratings
Award Lifecycle Management6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
1 Ratings
23% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
-
Ratings
Production Management6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics SL
6.0
1 Ratings
19% below category average
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
-
Ratings
Inventory Planning6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Small Businesses
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
6.6
(17 ratings)
8.5
(477 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
5.4
(8 ratings)
8.9
(9 ratings)
Usability
1.8
(6 ratings)
8.1
(370 ratings)
Availability
9.9
(2 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
1.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(4 ratings)
8.3
(75 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(4 ratings)
7.3
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.4
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Dynamics SLSAP S/4HANA Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
For a small to mid-size business, MS Dynamics SL is effective. We are capable of managing our finances with a very low risk of error. We have worked with MS Dynamics for almost 15 years and have more than doubled the size of our business in that time with very few issues from the program. We have exponentially increased our revenue and reporting demands and have found SL to be very dependable and stable. The program does have the occasional glitch and those are sometimes outside of the realm of expertise of our IT department. SL support is excellent, but their timeliness is not as urgent as ours.
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SAP
SAP S/4HANA Cloud leverages an in-memory database, allowing for real-time data processing and analytics. This enables organizations to make informed decisions based on up-to-the-minute information S/4HANA Cloud integrates various business modules, including finance, procurement, sales, manufacturing, and supply chain. This integration facilitates seamless data flow across different functional areas
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Provides flexibility for complex project based cost accounting
  • Strong and flexible allocation processer for cost allocations, markups, and pricing
  • A "Flexible Billing" module under the project controller series that allows for multiple billing formats ranging from fixed price schedule of values, T&M or Cost Plus, and scheduled billing.
  • Flexible reporting with options using Crystal Reports, SSRS, a Quick Query tool, and ability to tie into MS Office tools such as MS Access and MS Excel
  • Tight integration with Financials, but also the ability to integrate with modules such as Sales Order, Inventory, and Field Service
  • Customization abilities ranging from a VBA (visual basic for application) foundation to allow customizing existing forms to the ability to use the SDK (Software Development Kit) to build more complex customizations that integrate with Dynamics SL.
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SAP
  • Complete production cycle, right from planning to final product manufacturing.
  • Keeping all documents in one place, with ability to upload important stuff against the particular entries.
  • Maintain trail of any changes made to data, validations at the right places and methodological working of each process
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Reporting in the Project module is lacking functionality. I understand that most companies have specific needs when it comes to tracking project information but the standard reports are not good.
  • I would recommend a product like Management Reporter that is for Projects only. Project Reporter should allow users to pull in all Project related data into reports.
  • Fixing suspended batches. Obviously all of us users have experienced this mess. SL knows what needs to be corrected and there could be some step by step fixes in a separate repair module to do the steps we do in Query Analyzer.
Read full review
SAP
  • The complex integration we have with ERPs make it difficult to move or upgrade to SAP S4 HANA. Reimplementing all integrations and not impact business is a challenge
  • Requires a lot of tedious testing so that no role or function is impacted
  • Very time consuming to implement or upgrade. For large corporations it would take years to slowly migrate to S4HANA
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Unfortunately, Dynamics' lack of ability to smoothly integrate with our CRM system is causing us to look at other solutions. The efficiencies that we gain by using Dynamics for our day to day accounting are lost in the constant headaches of getting sales quotes to import properly into the system for invoicing. Another major issue for us has been budgeting and reporting. We currently do all of our budgeting and board reporting in Excel, which is too time consuming and inefficient, especially when a system as robust as Dynamics should easily be able to handle this relatively simple task.
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SAP
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
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
I rate it a 10 because we have removed the fields we don't need so users can really crank the data into the system. The software was designed for the professional services firm in mind but does a tremendous job for construction firms and "blended" companies that are both distribution firms but project centric as well. Perhaps they drop ship inventory to a project where their employees or subs need to work on a project for example.
Read full review
SAP
Modern User Interface:
The system features a contemporary and visually appealing interface, promoting a more engaging user experience.
Role-Based Access:
Users access role-specific dashboards and functionalities, ensuring a personalized experience tailored to their responsibilities.
Intuitive Navigation:
Streamlined menus and navigation paths contribute to an intuitive user experience, reducing the learning curve for new users.
Responsive Design:
The platform is designed to be responsive across various devices, allowing users to access information and perform tasks on desktops, tablets, or mobile devices
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
We have had only one unplanned outage for 2 hours in the last 30 months. We shut down for 30 min to 1 hour once a month, but that is for Microsoft OS updates to the servers. Being a 24/7 world wide operation, the reliability is really important. We do get an 8 hour window on the weekend that we can be down for a short period to install Microsoft Dynamics SL updates, but we do not have many of those. On our last version upgrade, we shut the users out at 9:30 am and were fully operational in less than 6 hours. The upgrade was New SQL server, New SL server and 2 new Citrix servers.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Support is only used when needed, so unfortunately ,they get all the odd issues. It's a difficult business, but Microsoft and our firm do a great job of meeting customer needs. We get routine feedback that our support services are very good.
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SAP
The technical support received by the ITT design teams and OS implementation team has been very useful in ensuring that the SAP ERP is well-tailored to our company's specific needs and operations. This coupled with the training materials, business process maps, and concept demos (sand-box demos) makes adoption easy on end-users.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Just to let it take its course. The implementation for me once I became a part of my former organization was pretty seamless. Just get to know the basics and call the support team to ask questions if you need help on an issue, should they arise. They are ready, willing, and able to help!
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SAP
Implementation was as expected. We had minor issues with our Z* transactions, but nothing special. Some tables were extended and needed regeneration. Overall satisfactions is good.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Of the comparable mid-range ERP systems, Dynamics SL competes at the lower end based on price, but also above the high-end based on flexibility, data, and reporting. Being able to stay with the same core accounting from a $100 million dollar company to a $3 billion dollar company shows the range of capabilities.
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SAP
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.
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Scalability
Microsoft
Since the backbone of the database is MS SQLServer, the database can be easily scaled.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • More time is spent on manipulating reports which can and should be automated.
  • Lack of electronic invoicing process and other green technology features creates more cost on printing and storage costs.
  • The lack of a user friendly interface requires more training and a bigger learning curve for staff.
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SAP
  • Cost Savings and Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
  • While the initial implementation costs might be significant, the centralized data management and automation features can lead to cost savings over time. This might be achieved through reduced manual labor, better inventory control, optimized procurement processes, and streamlined operations, resulting in a lower TCO.
  • Better Visibility and Compliance:
  • The system's ability to offer comprehensive data visibility can enhance compliance efforts, mitigating risks and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements. This can lead to reduced fines or penalties related to non-compliance issues.
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ScreenShots

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Screenshots

Screenshot of the Order to Cash Dashboard - For the management of the order-to-cash process more efficiently across revenue streams and business models - including sales of physical and digital goods, services, subscriptions, projects, and bundles.Screenshot of Sales Management Overview - Helps ensure sales reps meet their goals with an overview of orders and key sales performance metrics, with status tracking for each order in real time for the early detection of potential issues.Screenshot of Purchasing Spend Dashboard - For weighing various aspects of purchasing spend through quick access to clear, complete, and real-time data, with less risk, and without opening different reports and transactions.Screenshot of Operational Supplier Evaluation - Provides a transparent overview of suppliers. Users can approve the most reliable vendors and get the right mix to serve business needs while reducing risk.Screenshot of Inventory Management - Provides visibility to manage supply chains, to mitigate risk, avoid unnecessary costs, maximize efficiency, and fulfill customer orders on time.Screenshot of Inventory Processing - Enables real-time supply chain visibility and provides meaningful metrics, with customizable dashboards and reports that display real-time inventory that track the status of inbound and outbound deliveries.