Infor Cloudsuites vs. SAP S/4HANA – Which is Better?

This post is a head-to-head comparison of two of the best ERP systems in the market: Infor Cloudsuites and SAP S/4HANA Cloud. It builds upon an independent review of the Infor Cloudsuites and SAP S/4HANA by renowned ERP and digital transformation experts Eric Kimberling and Kyler Cheatham of Third Stage Consulting Group. Because it’s an independent comparison, Third Stage Consulting can’t risk indicating a preference…but fortunately, I can.

Here is the Third Stage video:

My head-to-head comparison of the two ERP software packages started as a riff on Eric and Kyler’s points about the strengths and weaknesses of both solutions, which I expanded by doing my own analysis and research. In my mind, even though the two products compete on virtually the same enterprise ERP level, they almost couldn’t be more different. Here’s my analysis.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Infor CloudSuite

Strengths

• Vertical industry solutions for manufacturing (e.g., automotive, aerospace & defense)
• Flexibility – Very flexible compared to SAP, Oracle ERP Cloud, etc., because Infor has grown the solution through acquisitions like Lawson and Baan.
• Infor CloudSuite has business process models that are easy to modify, and you don’t have to fit your business into the system.
• Broad and diverse capabilities rival SAP and Oracle.
• Innovative features like predictive analytics and planning for the supply chain
• Configure Price Quote (CPQ) capability is great for complex make-to-order on sales, providing pricing and order information to feed into manufacturing processes. Many other vendors don’t have this.
• Retail, apparel, and fashion – The ability to handle colors, sizes, etc., is a strength.
• Food and beverage – dealing with units of measure is a strength
• Product innovation – Koch Industries acquired Infor and is putting a lot of money into R&D and resources

Weaknesses

• More “old school” User Experience (UX) compared to NetSuite, although Koch Industries is investing to make it modern.
• Less professional services resources (although consultancies can help with that).
• Relatively confusing roadmap – make sure you understand what you’re buying

SAP

Strengths

• Business models enforce standardization in big companies
• The high breadth of capability, although not everything moved from legacy to S/4HANA
• Heavy R&D has resulted in some cutting-edge technology
• HANA’s database was built to phase out Oracle from legacy. It has high performance, real-time transactions, predictive analytics, and advanced architecture.
• On-premise or cloud deployment

Weaknesses

• Lack of flexibility – standardization works against an organization compared to Microsoft Dynamics and other more flexible ERPs like Infor CloudSuite
• The rigidity of business models
• Complexity – because it’s so robust, any changes in one place can affect something somewhere else
• Acquisitions – Ariba, Success Factors (HR), Concur means SAP is becoming “best of breed” rather than one integrated system.
• High Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The cost is more because the product is complex and bigger. As a result, the typical customer is also bigger and more complex.
• S/4HANA is missing some functionality from ECC, like advanced planning
• The high failure rate of implementations

Research

I also did some research on the Infor and SAP websites (and YouTube), where I found some information on both products as well as some videos and product tours that can help you make up your mind. Here is some of what I found.

Infor Cloud suites

The Infor LN CloudSuite homepage represents the Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial Enterprise vertical solutions.

One of the CloudSuite advantages is predictive analytics. Here’s a screenshot of a “role-based home page” for the Quality Manager, incorporating some predictive analytics.

Infor LN Cloudsuite Role-based Home Page – Quality Manager

I’ve gathered a few more Infor CloudSuite links for you to review.

• Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise (LN) Projects Demo: Excellent demo video on YouTube entitled Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise: Projects demo. (Hint: grab a cup of coffee as it’s an hour)

• The CloudSuite Aerospace and Defense Solutions Page
• The CloudSuite Industrial Manufacturing Solutions Page
• The CloudSuite Automotive Solutions Page

SAP

Here is the SAP ERP S/4HANA Cloud product page. There’s an animated promotional video that you can request on this page which doesn’t show the product if you follow the following link to the SAP S/4HANA Public Edition page.

This is a screenshot tour you can access from the product page broken down by module. Here’s an example screenshot from the Finance module for closed finance tasks.

SAP S4/HANA – Finance Closing Task Completion

I’ve gathered a few more SAP S/4HANA links for you:

• YouTube video “What is SAP S/4HANA Cloud? Overview Demo” that is a quick 2-minute introduction showing some screenshots from the application:

• From the SAP Community Blog, a video series, “The Power of SAP S/4 HANA.”

Conclusion

So, which is better – Infor CloudSuite or SAP S/4HANA? The answer is—spoken like the true consultant that I am—it depends. One thing is for sure. Neither product is a good fit for small businesses, typically defined as below $50 million in revenue.

Infor CloudSuites are usually an excellent fit for medium to large-sized manufacturers, typically defined as $50 million on up to 10s of Billions in revenue, particularly in the vertical industries of Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Industrial Machinery, and Electronics/High Tech. The CloudSuites are strong in what I call “big project” industries such as train or shipbuilding. For example, Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company, a division of Caterpillar Inc., is implementing Infor CloudSuite in 50+ plants.

Infor CloudSuites may be better if you are:

• A medium to large discrete manufacturer in the verticals mentioned above or just general industrial manufacturing
• Medium to high-growth business
• Needing a more flexible solution
• Needing a more flexible set of industry business models
• Looking for business process workflow automation
• Looking for “best of breed” solutions built in an OS around the core ERP system
• Looking for a lower complexity cloud solution that can be implemented as largely standard

SAP S/4HANA is well suited for the upper half of the medium-sized range, say $500 million on up to over a billion. Still, they are traditionally focused only on super large organizations that can handle the high complexity, cost, and implementation durations of SAP S/4HANA. Strong industries are Process Manufacturing, Construction, and Government.

SAP S/4HANA may be better if you are:

• A large to a very large manufacturer in verticals like Process Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, and some other verticals mentioned above
• Low growth, mature business without significant plans for growth
• Needing a more standardized solution and can tolerate a relatively inflexible implementation methodology
• Willing to implement and adapt to using ASAP and SAP’s standard business models without change
• Looking for an “all in one” ERP solution with add-on products like Ariba
• Needing a higher complexity cloud solution that can only be implemented as customized

I hope you liked this comparison and my editorializing on the Infor CloudSuites vs. SAP S/4HANA. For more information, Eric Kimberling and the good folks at Third Stage Consulting Group have prepared more independent reviews of the Infor CloudSuites and SAP S/4HANA.

In a later installment of this new series, I will be doing my take on another comparison of ERP Vendors called the “Clash of the ERP Titans,” which is done every year by Panorama Consulting Group. In addition to Infor and SAP, the “Clash” includes Oracle and Microsoft.

If you want to delve deeper into Infor, try this article: “What are the Infor CloudSuites?” – also by yours truly.