Unsurprisingly, Oracle Fusion Cloud and SAP S/4HANA are two of the hottest ERP solutions in the market. They both offer robust features and have high customer review scores. But who wins in the debate of SAP vs. Oracle?
Our extensive research showcases that Oracle Fusion Cloud outshines SAP S/4HANA in this neck-and-neck comparison. We’ll review each product’s top features, SAP and Oracle’s history, and ways to find the best ERP for your business.
Compare SAP, and Oracle Aganist Your Needs
Table of Contents
Features Comparison
Let’s compare the features of each solution in this Oracle vs. SAP debate.
Analytics and Reporting
Oracle Fusion Cloud enables business performance monitoring with pre-set KPIs and decks that align with your data. Review dashboards to assess problems and perform corrective action.
Monitor cash expenses, average days late, expense filing cycle time, credit card expenses and other vital KPIs.
A preview of Oracle’s analytical tools. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s analytics technology and process performance monitoring zeros in on company-wide performance. Find and rectify bottlenecks for optimized workflows.
You can establish thresholds for performance KPIs, cipher operational performance for single runtime instances and integrate data from business intelligence (BI) tools. Merge stories and vital information from SAP Fiori.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Fusion Cloud tie for analytical and reporting workflows.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Oracle’s sales module provides a consolidated view of sales, commerce, service, marketing and financial client data across approved third-party sources. Manage company goals and initiatives for better decision-making and enhance target outreach.
An example of Oracle’s CRM capabilities. Source
Merge SAP S/4HANA with SAP CRM to streamline the customer experience. Sales automation tools offer account and opportunity management to fuse data in one hub.
You can also gain configure, price, quote (CPQ), sales performance management, lead and account-based marketing, and other features.
Winner: Oracle Fusion Cloud has the upper hand with its robust CRM tools.
Finance and Accounting
Oracle Fusion Cloud’s financial management tools streamline accounting needs by gathering information from disparate accounting systems for improved centralization.
You can also perform touchless invoicing to reduce paper and human mistakes.
Use this system to supervise vital financial areas and exceptions for better economic management. Track profits by product lines for thorough real-time visibility. The embedded collaboration tools allow for speedy follow-ups on profit insufficiencies.
A preview of Oracle’s financial tools. Source
Use SAP S/4HANA’s finance tools to enter overhead cost accounting journal entries. Input statistical critical figures as the groundwork for period close allocations. Merge predictive data, actuals and more in a centralized general ledger.
Manage cost center budgets and check forecasts against actual expenses to determine if you’ve reached defined limits. Craft reports for cost centers, profit and loss statements, functional areas, internal orders and more.
Winner: Oracle Fusion Cloud beats out SAP S/4HANA by a hair because it offers complete expense management features.
HR Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM allows you to estimate, administer and optimize global employee workflows. You can personalize employee experiences and make data-informed choices for your hiring and recruiting protocols.
Conduct shift and absence management, time and labor, and more to ensure worker accountability. Utilize KPIs and dashboards to monitor team operations, compliance adherence, and hiring statuses.
A preview of Oracle HCM’s interface and capabilities. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s HR modules offer organizational structure management to construct, upkeep and arrange workforce operations. Timesheet management allows you to log time spent on project and non-project-related duties.
The timesheet management capability also allows managers to confirm, evaluate or deny employee time entries as necessary. Log time for specific personnel assignments for concurrent workers.
Winner: In this SAP vs. Oracle round, Oracle Fusion Cloud shines because of its fully supported content builder and employee engagement survey tools.
Inventory Management
Implement Oracle Inventory Management Cloud to govern every stock item aspect, from receipts to point of consumption in storage, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and more, with a sleek user interface and in-depth KPIs analytical reporting.
Review high-priority tasks in a specific worksite and across several facilities. Manage KPIs, stock issues, receipts, material transfers and more in one click.
Reinforce policies and agreements with configurable tools and remain flexible for receiving one, two or three-step receipts.
A preview of SAP S/4HANA’s inventory management tools. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s inventory analytics and control tools allow you to evaluate and showcase files and stock information. Physical inventory modules will enable you to make note of actual material quantities.
Make stock adjustments after physical counts for more material availability, enhanced inventory modification productivity and counting device integrations. Perform regular fiscal year counting durations with cycle counting.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA has the upper hand because its tools capture more inventory details.
Manufacturing
Oracle Cloud Fusion’s manufacturing cloud tools offer mixed-mode production cycles with the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI technology for more production in virtually any location.
Closely monitor plant performance with role-based infolet data dashboards. Gain more production floor insights for better decision-making. Use the dispatch list to finish, deny or delete operations in just two clicks.
An example of Oracle’s manufacturing capabilities. Source
SAP S/4HANA offers Just-In-Time (JIT) processing tools to refill manufacturing and assembly materials from internal locations or external vendors for required amounts and timeframes.
Transfer warehouse inventory for JIT calls by posting stock transfers and filtering them by specific criteria. Evaluate real-time mistakes for quicker resolutions. Establish correlations between destinations, demand and supply sources.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Fusion Cloud tie with their streamlined manufacturing workflows.
Order Management
Use Oracle Fusion Cloud Order Management tools to boost customer satisfaction by gathering and confirming online orders for swifter execution. Conduct drop-ship, back-to-back, configure-to-order and order fulfillment techniques.
Consolidate orders from numerous channels in a centralized system to apply the appropriate user-defined validations, company rules and fulfillment protocols. Work with pricing flexibility to automate order expenses and make corrections to garner revenue.
A preview of SAP S/4HANA’s order management tools. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s sales order management and processing capabilities enable you to perform business payments according to sales documents, i.e., inquiries, quotes and sales orders.
The credit management tools can verify credit limits for developed or altered sales files. Total all receivables, open items and credit value of the sales order for all sales document orders. Gather information about block causes.
Use product allocation to distribute material amounts across designated timeframes. Sales order processing with consignment stock capabilities allows you to deliver products from external suppliers’ consignment inventory.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA outperforms Oracle Fusion Cloud because it offers fully supported sales order history capabilities.
Project Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Project Management allows you to track and manage all aspects from one comprehensive dashboard. Supervise project progress and health, catch and resolve bottlenecks and other issues, confirm invoices, and more.
Delegate tasks to the right people for ideal projects with thorough resource management capabilities. Draft, edit and allocate invoices for approval. Examine invoice accuracy before validation.
A preview of Oracle’s project management interface and tools. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s project management tools allow you to standardize and strengthen protocols while diminishing administrative and system expenses. You can integrate this module with your accounting and HR tools to improve workflows.
Generate templates for new projects, checklists and documents. Add phases, duties and agendas as needed for any project type. Map out cross-project relationships and merge existing scenarios for subprojects, mirrored tasks, and programs.
Winner: Oracle Fusion Cloud wins because it fully supports project estimating and scheduling.
Supply Chain Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud’s supply chain planning system offers a modern, user-friendly interface to streamline operations and handle numerous obstacles. Access several KPIs, screen layouts and more to pinpoint problems and find opportunities.
Perform consistent monitoring to detect root causes and obtain actionable solutions for multiple problems. Use demand management capabilities to filter data by baselines, trends, seasons and event-based qualities for better insights.
An example of SAP S/4HANA’s supply chain tools. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s supply chain modules offer stock transfers from one storage facility to another. You can also alter storage locations, inventory types and material categories as needed.
Develop and govern plant, storage facilities and batch level reservations to confirm raw material availability. Establish contracts with the agreement management tool like payment terms, validity dates, involved parties and more.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA fully supports control tower dashboards and AI-based mitigation recommendations.
Warehouse Management
Oracle’s warehouse management module provides pre-receiving, receiving, value-added services and other inbound operations management for streamlined services. Access dashboards to summarize outstanding tasks and real-time order statuses.
Label packing material for cases or pallets with license plate numbers for better security and accuracy. Diminish material handling and fulfillment fees with the ability to putaway material in stock locations and create rules to determine qualified putaway locations.
An example of SAP S/4HANA’s warehouse management capabilities. Source
SAP S/4HANA’s extended warehouse management tools allow you to consolidate bins into warhousing zones to maximize sorting procedures for warehouse ordering protocols. Track, assess and persuade material flow system protocols.
Material flow control offers automatic scanned handling unit identification. Document control malfunctions and track goods-to-man picking principles.
Winner: SAP S/4HANA fully supports multi-warehouse operations management, non-PO receiving, packing lists, batch and partial picking, and more.
A Brief Look at SAP and Oracle
SAP and Oracle are two well-known ERPs that endured humble beginnings to become household names. By 1975, SAP rolled out solutions for financial accounting and invoice verification.
SAP
Five former IBM employees launched SAP in 1972 to merge all business operations and process data in real time. In 2011, SAP pushed to the cloud with SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA in 2015.
Oracle
Three engineers created Software Development Laboratories in 1977 and changed the name to Oracle in 1982. Oracle released its first fully integrated enterprise apps suite in 2000, called E-Business Suite 11i, and created a condensed cloud database in 2013.
The Lean Selection Methodology
Whether you’re in the middle of your Oracle vs. SAP debate or other ERP solutions, you can refer to our nine-step Lean Selection Methodology for assistance.
Here’s a brief overview of each step.
- Establish: Ask why you need a new system. Potential reasons include low productivity, lack of real-time data and outdated legacy software.
- Collaborate: Create an internal software selection team of department leaders, stakeholders, colleagues and more for requirement input.
- Define: Form a thorough functionality list with your selection committee.
- Distribute: Gauge vendors against your requirements list and develop a software supplier shortlist.
- Justify: Ask these three questions: Do you want to get a brand-new system? Do you want to purchase add-on modules for your existing software? Do you want to stop the process and end your quest?
- Prove: Ask vendors for demos, use cases and proofs-of-concept (POCs) to exhibit a solution’s performance.
- Rank: Chronicle and rank solutions according to their demo scores and TCOs. You should have at least two to three potential vendors you’re confident about picking.
- Negotiate: Discuss and compromise agreements with your number-one vendor. Seek professional legal counsel if necessary. If you can’t agree with this provider, repeat this step with the next vendor on your list.
- Sign: Review and sign the contract with your software provider. Take time to develop and execute your implementation strategy.
FAQs
Why should I invest in ERP software?
An ERP system can automate tasks and save money, which leads to increased efficiency, more profits and happier customers. There are several advantages and disadvantages to owning an ERP system.
What are the main objectives of ERP?
The main objectives of ERP are to streamline repetitive tasks and reduce expenses on human errors, IT staff and more.
What are the most common ERP modules?
These modules depend on the client’s and company’s needs. However, the most essential ERP modules include:
- CRN
- HR Management
- Accounting
- Inventory Management
- Marketing Automation (MA)
What are the different ERP types?
Most ERPs have a one-size-fits-all suite of numerous modules for different processes and company departments. Nevertheless, there are ERP solutions for diverse operations and industries. This list includes:
- Cloud
- On-premise
- Hybrid of cloud and on-premise
- Small business
- Food and beverage
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- And more!
How much does an ERP cost?
An ERP system costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $100,000 or more. Other factors can affect a solution’s TCO, such as company size, deployment options and industry.
Some software providers offer additional support fees and packages, while others offer subscriptions.
Next Steps
In this head-to-head SAP vs. Oracle comparison, Oracle Fusion Cloud stands victorious. Oracle Fusion Cloud offers more capabilities and streamlines more workflows.
However, just because Oracle Fusion Cloud is the winner doesn’t mean this system fits your business. You need a solution that aligns with your organization’s goals.
Want to see how SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Fusion Cloud compare across more features or other products? Check out our free comparison report for simple apples-to-apples matchups.
Which product stands out more to you in our SAP vs. Oracle comparison? Let us know in the comments!
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