Kevin JohnsonSAP is a leading multinational software corporation based in Walldorf, Germany. Founded in 1972, the company expanded its product portfolio to include database solutions, cloud-engineered systems, and enterprise software.
Organizations use SAP to manage business operations and customer relations. The company had around 110,000 employees and made €27.84 billion in revenue. [1]
SAP offers a CX suite with CRM, supply chain management (SCM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and human capital management (HCM). Users can connect their operations and departments using data and AI-driven intelligence.
The company also offers SAP SuccessFactors and Human Experience Management (HXM) Suite. In 2022, Gartner recognized SAP as a Leader in its Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce and Data Integration Tools. However, the company faces stiff competition from Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Salesforce, and SAS. [2]
Here is an in-depth analysis of SAP’s competitors and alternatives:
1. Microsoft
Year founded: 1975
Headquarter: Redmond, Washington
Microsoft is an iconic tech company specializing in hardware, software, and services. The company offers Microsoft Dynamics, which combines ERP and CRM.
In fiscal 2022, Microsoft reported an 18% increase in revenue to $198.27 billion. It employs over 221,000 people as of 2022. [3]
Microsoft Dynamics competes against SAP in the ERP and CRM software market. The main competitive advantage for Dynamics is Microsoft’s end-to-end business productivity tools.
First, Microsoft Dynamics users can develop database-powered apps and automated data processes with workflows. They can also visualize data with user-friendly dashboards and create Excel templates and Word files for quick reporting. These tools simplify data entry and reduce errors. Microsoft Dynamics is the top alternative to SAP for ERP and CRM.
2. Oracle Corporation
Year founded: 1977
Headquarter: Austin, Texas
Oracle is a software company that offers enterprise solutions, including HCM, CRM, SCM, and Project Management, similar to SAP’s offerings. In fiscal 2022, Oracle reported a record $42.44 billion in revenue. [4]
Oracle HCM Cloud is a module of Oracle Fusion Applications. This cloud-based platform helps businesses manage customer relationships, human capital, supply chains, and projects.
Like SAP, Oracle offers these solutions in one platform. Moreover, organizations can use Oracle E-Business Suite to automate their CRM, ERP, and SCM processes.
The company also owns NetSuite, a top SAP alternative for running mission-critical back-office operations. Oracle is one of the most comprehensive SAP competitors.
3. IBM
Year founded: 1911
Headquarter: Armonk, New York
IBM is a computer and technology company that offers IT solutions and consulting services. In 2021, IBM had around 282,100 employees and generated $57.35 billion in revenues. The company expects more than mid-single-digit growth in annual sales in 2022. [5]
IBM and SAP provide IT services and solutions. Both have comprehensive product lines, but most organizations rely on IBM to optimize apps, support mobile development functions, and streamline cloud integration and API management. IBM is the top SAP competitor in the IT services sector.
4. Salesforce, Inc.
Year founded: 1999
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
Salesforce is an American cloud-based software company. It provides Customer 360, an integrated CRM platform, which helps organizations improve customer relations and business processes.
In fiscal 2022, Salesforce had 73,542 employees and generated $26.49 billion in revenue, with a net income of $1.44 billion.
SAP and Salesforce offer the top two CRM solutions on the market. Both platforms provide robust features and capabilities, allowing users to extract actionable insights from their data.
The main advantage of using Salesforce’s CRM is that it unites service, sales, marketing, IT, commerce, and analytics in a single platform. Moreover, Salesforce integrated Tableau and recently acquired Slack with its CRM Analytics to provide AI-driven insights. Salesforce is the best SAP alternative for CRM. [6]
5. SAS Institute
Year founded: 1976
Headquarter: Cary, North Carolina
SAS is an American multinational company that offers a suite of analytics software. Users rely on its products to access, manage, analyze, and report on data to improve their decision-making processes. In 2021, SAS made around $3 billion in revenue.
SAS develops and sells data quality, management, and governance products. These solutions leverage the SAS Quality Knowledge Base to perform customized or out-of-the-box data quality operations. Organizations can also use SAS Viya for data preparation, information governance, and event stream processing.
In Nov 2022, Gartner recognized SAS as a Leader under its Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Solutions. SAS is a worthy competitor for SAP. [7]
6. MicroStrategy
Year founded: 1989
Headquarter: Tysons, Virginia
MicroStrategy provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services. Its enterprise BI application software offers several features to help businesses make data-driven decisions and optimize processes. In 2021, MicroStrategy had around 2,100 employees and made $510.8 million in revenue.
MicroStrategy offers hyper and embedded intelligence, cloud, BI, and analytics tools. Users can access these user-friendly and intuitive solutions via the web, Windows, Mac, and mobile devices.
They can also leverage APIs and gateways to integrate MicroStrategy functionality with third-party tools, including Tableau, Power BI, and Microsoft Office. MicroStrategy is one of the best alternatives to SAP for business intelligence. [8]
7. Qlik Technologies, Inc.
Year founded: 1993
Headquarter: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Qlik is a business analytics software company founded in Lund, Sweden. Its products include Qlik Replicate and Qlik Sense. In 2022, Qlik had over 38,000 active customers from more than 100 countries.
Qlik Sense is a BI and visual analytics platform that offers an alternative to SAP Analytics Cloud. Organizations can also use Qlik Cloud Data Integration instead of SAP to configure agile data ingestion frameworks and connect on-premises apps and systems.
In Oct 2022, Gartner recognized Qlik as a Customers’ Choice in its Peer Insights Voice of the Customer: Analytics and BI Platforms report. Qlik is one of the best alternatives to SAP. [9]
8. TIBCO Software Inc.
Year founded: 1997
Headquarter: Palo Alto, California
TIBCO is an American business intelligence software company. It offers app and hybrid cloud integration, business activity monitoring, intuitive data visualization, reporting, and analytics solutions.
In 2022, TIBCO Software had around 4,200 employees and generated over $1 billion in revenue.
TIBCO competes against SAP across the board, with SAP BMP vs. TIBCO Nimbus Cloud, SAP Data Services vs. TIBCO BusinessWorks, and SAP BusinessObjects vs. Spotfire. Users can leverage TIBCO Data Virtualization to access their business data in a single and secure platform.
In Sep 2022, Vista and Evergreen acquired Citrix and integrated it with TIBCO to create a new global leader in enterprise software. TIBCO now threatens SAP’s market share. [10]
9. AWS
Year founded: 2006
Headquarter: Seattle, Washington
AWS is a cloud computing, storage, and infrastructure platform operated by Amazon Inc. It offers a cheaper alternative to the SAP Cloud Platform and generated $62.2 billion in revenue in 2021.
AWS and SAP Cloud platforms offer easy deployment and customer-friendly service and support, but AWS outperforms SAP Cloud Platform in terms of cost.
In Dec 2022, AWS unveiled Data Exchange for AWS Lake Formation during its annual re: Invent event. The company also announced new tools for data management, processor advances, serverless solutions, and enterprise services for AI and ML. AWS is an innovative SAP competitor. [11]
10. Google
Year founded: 1998
Headquarter: Mountain View, California
Google is an innovative global tech company. It offers end-to-end IT solutions and enterprise-grade products. In 2021, Google had around 119,000 employees and made $256.7 billion in revenue. [12]
Google and SAP help businesses manage their operations, with both offering robust cloud platforms and customizable sheets. Organizations can use SAP Analytics Cloud or Google Analytics 360 to analyze data, extract insights, and understand their customers.
Google also offers Firebase for app developers, but some of its features compete against SAP Extension Suite, a cloud migration tool. Google is one of the top SAP competitors.
11. Zoho
Year founded: 1996
Headquarter: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zoho is India’s leading software company. The tech giant employs around 12,000 people and serves more than 60 million users. In 2021, Zoho reported a 22.3% increase in revenue to $697 million. [13]
Zoho offers several enterprise solutions that compete with SAP’s products. Organizations can use Zoho People Plus to manage HR experiences and the entire employee lifecycle.
Over 80,000 businesses use Zoho to access Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Office Suite, Zoho Docs, Zoho Social, and other applications. Zoho is one of the best alternatives to SAP for startups and small enterprises.
12. Infor
Year founded: 2002
Headquarter: New York, NY
Infor is a software company that offers HCM, CRM, and ERP solutions. Over 60,000 users in 175 countries rely on Infor’s products to simplify human capital management and enhance customer engagement. In 2021, Infor had around 17,500 employees.
The main competitive advantage for Infor over SAP is its market positioning. SAP focuses on the Fortune 1000, while Infor develops solutions for companies of all sizes. SMBs to global giants can use Infor CloudSuite HCM to streamline talent management or Infor CloudSuite CRM to improve customer relationships. Infor’s market position makes it a worthy competitor for SAP. [14]
13. Atlassian Chartio
Year founded: 2001
Headquarter: Sydney, Australia
Atlassian is an Australian software company that offers solutions to manage mission-critical business processes. In Feb 2022, Atlassian acquired Chartio for an undisclosed amount to expand data visualization capabilities.
Before the acquisition, Chartio had raised $8.03 million and helped 280,000 users create 10.5 million charts for 540,000 dashboards.
Atlassian was best known for providing Jira and Trello. Both solutions are geared toward project managers. After acquiring Chartio, the company plans to incorporate it with Jira and across its platform. Atlassian Chartio is the latest competitor for SAP in data analytics and visualization. [15]
14. Accenture
Year founded: 1989
Headquarter: Dublin, Ireland
Accenture is a professional services company specializing in IT services and consulting. Over three-quarters of Fortune 500 firms rely on Accenture to accelerate digital transformation.
In 2022, Accenture had around 721,000 employees and generated $61.6 billion in revenue.
Accenture’s solutions compete against SAP’s offerings. In Apr 2022, Accenture was named in the Top 10 Great Place to Work list in six countries.
The company acquired five startups between 2021 and 2022, including Imaginea, Cygni, Trivadis, Avieco, and Akzente. These acquisitions increase Accenture’s competitive advantage over SAP. [16]
15. Workday, Inc.
Year founded: 2005
Headquarter: Pleasanton, California
Workday is a software company that offers cloud based HCM, payroll, and cloud computing that compete with SAP SuccessFactors. In 2021, Workday had about 12,500 employees and reported a 19% increase in revenue to $5.14 billion. [17]
Workday’s HCM and SAP SuccessFactors streamline financial management, recruiting, and planning, while Workday’s HCM provides advanced features, including global compliance, workforce scorecards, benefits, and LMS.
In 2021, Workday’s subscription revenue increased by 22.2% to $1.23 billion. Workday is a formidable SAP competitor in the HCM market.
References & more information
- McKenna, B. (2022, Jan 27). SAP full-year 2021: Revenue nudges up 2%, cloud growth up 17%. Computer Weekly
- SAP SE (2022, Oct 25). SAP Announces Q3 2022 Results. PRNewswire
- Vailshery, L. S. (2022, Jul 28). Microsoft’s global revenue: 2002-2022. Statista
- Vailshery, L. S. (2022, Jun 24). Revenue of Oracle: 2005-2022. Statista
- Mehta, C. (2022, Oct 20). IBM expects to exceed its annual revenue target on resilient cloud momentum. Reuters
- Clarke, M. (2022, Jun 11). SAP vs. Salesforce: Which is the Better CRM? CIO Insight
- SAS (2022, Nov 9). SAS is recognized as a Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Solutions. PRNewswire
- Zola, A. (2022, May 1). What is MicroStrategy? Tech Target
- Qlik Technologies, Inc. (2022, Oct 17). Qlik Recognized as a Customers’ Choice in 2022 Gartner Peer Insights’ Voice of the Customer. Globe Newswire
- Citrix Systems (2022, Sep 30). Vista and Evergreen Complete Citrix Systems Acquisition and Combine it with TIBCO. Cloud.com
- Albertson, M. (2022, Dec 8). Three insights you might have missed from AWS re: Invent 2022. Silicon Angle
- Statista Research Department (2022, Dec 2). Google: Global annual revenue 2002-2021. Statista
- Tyagi, G. (2022, Feb 15). Zoho’s profit soars to Rs 1,918 Cr in FY21; revenue crosses Rs 5,200 Cr. Entrackr
- Shannon, J. (2022, Nov 6). Infor vs. SAP: Why Choose Infor? Visual South
- Miller, R. (2021, Feb 26). Atlassian is acquiring Chartio to bring data visualization to the platform. TechCrunch
- Accenture (2022, Apr 11). Accenture is recognized as a Top 10 Great Place to Work in Six Countries. Business Wire
- Greig, J. (2022, Feb 28). Workday reports $5.14 billion in revenue for 2021 and $1.38 billion for Q4. ZDNet
- Featured Image by Austin Distel
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