The ten biggest differences between Oracle Fusion Cloud Application Suite and SAP S/4HANA

1. AI

Oracle delivers AI built for business, helping you make better decisions faster and empowering your workforce to work more effectively. By embedding classic and generative AI into its applications, Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications customers can instantly access AI outcomes wherever they are needed—without leaving the software environment they use every day to power their business. With Oracle, custom models trained on a customer's data can only be used by that customer. SAP states that it learns from its customer’s data and shares that learning with its customers².

Why it matters: Oracle does not send customer data to model providers. AI remains within the four walls of Oracle; it won’t leave the Oracle environment. Many companies don’t like the idea that somehow their data ends up with other providers . That is what SAP does³. They share data with hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. In addition, SAP charges extra for AI in existing applications, whilst Oracle does not⁴.

Customer example: Bosch selected Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) because of its versatility in generating and understanding not only responses in different languages, but also its ability to generate speech in multiple languages. Oracle Digital Assistant also stood out for its Large Language Models (LLM) capability. This generative AI delivers pertinent information, even on topics not explicitly covered in its repository. Bosch leaders recognized that Oracle Digital Assistant could make coherent responses that aligned with the Bosch universe, even without pre-existing content on the subject. In addition, because Bosch was already an Oracle customer, integrating ODA with the company’s existing Oracle Service applications would be seamless⁵.

2. AI and how it affects your company

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the economy and consumer-company interactions is fundamentally transforming business models and the predictability of business outcomes. In contrast, AI-driven businesses face continuous change, as the company learns from AI and adapts accordingly.

Why it matters: Ai provides the ability for companies to be more dynamic. This can be in areas like deep customer personalization, predictive and dynamic demand forecasting, dynamic pricing models, automating customer service and engagement, operational efficiency – for example in the ability to speed up the quarterly financial closing⁶, enhanced decision-making with ultra-large data sets, changing employment and skills requirements. But the ability to quickly pivot strategies, enter new markets and innovate only makes sense if a company can monetize these disruptions.

Customer example: Xerox, a company continually redefining the workplace experience, selected Oracle Cloud to support the launch of new businesses aiming to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems at massive scale. With Oracle Cloud solutions, Xerox is bringing new technologies to market focused on 3D printing for manufacturing, structural health monitoring for critical infrastructure, and augmented reality to improve customer support. Xerox has worked with Deloitte and Infosys to implement a wide range of Oracle Cloud services to fast-track the launch of its innovation businesses and enable them to quickly monetize services. This includes Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) for budgeting and financial planning, Oracle Commerce for an online storefront, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) for a complete cloud infrastructure platform. In addition to enabling integration in every direction via Oracle Integration, OCI provides Xerox and new businesses with access to a set of data management services built on self-driving Oracle Autonomous Database technology, delivering advanced analytics and automated patching, upgrades, and tuning. Xerox can also tap the power of OCI High Performance Computing when researching potential new businesses, and under OCI’s Universal Credits purchasing option, Xerox can mix-and-match any OCI services⁷.

3. View change as an opportunity

Traditional business thinking views change as a risk, while composable thinking - which ensures creative thinking is never lost⁸- switches up that idea to understand changes and protect your business by innovating. CIOs leading high-composability enterprises recognize that business conditions, from customer demands to financial models, often change. So they empower the teams closest to the action to act accordingly⁹.

Why it matters: Business composability is an antidote to volatility. Sixty-three percent of CIOs at organizations with high composability reported superior business performance compared with peers or competitors in the past year¹⁰. Companies that can take advantage of tremendous amounts of data are proving to be more agile and resilient and more capable of innovating, especially considering other disruptive market challenges. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a digital business platform with integrated, next-generation capabilities that help make it easier to orchestrate from end to end, so you can drive value. Such digital business platforms help companies innovate with technology catalysts, such as artificial intelligence(AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, new user experiences, and the ability to extend cloud applications and build your own cloud applications, without affecting updates.

Customer example: Scottish Water is the sole provider of water services to the more than 2.5 million households in Scotland. The company is committed to the well-being of its customers, diversity and inclusion for its employees, and environmental sustainability for the health of the planet. Scottish Water’s long-term strategic plan, “A Sustainable Future Together,” includes three ambitions covering service excellence, going beyond net-zero emissions and delivering great value and financial sustainability. As the water company’s leaders considered upgrading existing PeopleSoft on-premises financial systems, the first step was to examine Oracle’s cloud strategy. The conclusion was that Oracle was the market leader in terms of product maturity, as well as having the requisite breadth and depth of cloud solutions. Since adopting Oracle Cloud with the help of Oracle Consulting, Scottish Water has experienced 40% faster book closings and 21% higher customer satisfaction levels. Oracle Cloud ERP has helped the company realize 12% more accurate project tracking and a 22% lower cost of IT ownership.

With Oracle Cloud continuous updates, our mantra has been to ‘adopt and adapt’—adopt the updates and adapt our processes to meet new challenges. The solution is very strong.

Peter Haddow Capital Investment Finance Manager, Scottish Water ¹¹

4. Unified data model

Oracle has a unified data model, meaning all data is in one place and defined in one—and only one—way¹². With Oracle Fusion Applications, we only define master data, such as customer, employee, product, and supplier, once. No matter which pillar or module uses this master data, it always has the same definition. That is not the case with SAP S/4HANA¹³.

Why it matters: A single data model is not just an IT feature; it actually helps end users. When users want to create a report or analysis, they will know that “customer,” “employee,” “product,” and “supplier” are defined once. So when they pick one of these for a report or analysis, they will always have the right one. That seems logical, but you can only achieve this level of consistency with SaaS designed and built from scratch. SAP hasn’t done that. SAP solutions, such as SuccessFactors, Ariba, Concur, and Fieldglass, are separate products, each with its own data model and not part of SAP S/4HANA.

Customer example: For more than 80 years, Securitas has been a leading provider of physical security services, offering on-site, remote and mobile guarding; electronic security, and risk management to over 150,000 organizational clients around the world. As Securitas expanded over the years via acquisitions, the company amassed a complex IT portfolio with poorly integrated systems, outdated technology—some nearly 30 years old—and manual processes. The Oracle Cloud apps are pre-integrated and share a common data model, allowing the company to create a single system of record across sales, finance, and HR. The integration between business intelligence and reporting has also enabled Securitas to adapt its business more quickly. Previously, key monthly reports would take three weeks to complete; now, it takes about two minutes.

We brought finance, payroll, and HR together, and Oracle was clearly above the rest of the competitors in our minds as we looked at the solutions out there. In that total scope of HR to finance, it was critical to have a single, integrated system for our clients. And that proved to be a great decision for us.

Rod Musser Executive Vice President of HR, Securitas North America¹⁴

5. Continuous innovation

With Oracle Fusion Applications, you can rely on quarterly updates that improve our software and provide innovations, functions, and technologies, such as AI, ML, chatbots, digital assistants, and more. That’s not just true for the cloud applications—we also update the underlying platform every quarter. Since Oracle Fusion Applications run on OCI, every quarterly applications update comes with a synchronized update of the OCI platform.

But new innovations and updates become difficult when a company uses two IT vendors, one for enterprise applications and one for IT infrastructure, as is the case with SAP on Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. That’s because the combined system depends on two technology stacks. Keeping those two technology stacks updated—and in sync—is always going to be more complex with two different technology stacks than when you use one vendor for both enterprise applications and infrastructure.

Why it matters: Research from Boston Consulting Group found that over the last 14 years, the most innovative companies outperformed the broader market on shareholder return by 5.6 percent. Innovation, perhaps more than anything else, is the real engine of business success, and it pays big dividends. Cloud technology is a great accelerator to help companies discover new markets, products, and ways of doing business.

Customer example: After analyzing customer feedback, Johnson Controls targeted two main areas for building a better service experience. First, it wanted to improve access to data and knowledge for service employees, and second, to simplify jobs and best practices to better serve customers. To accomplish these goals, Johnson Controls needed the best platform to deliver these services, so the company selected Oracle Enterprise Service Management, which includes Oracle Service and Oracle Field Service. The company selected these applications for a low total cost of ownership and improved efficiency, effectiveness, and reduced risk.

The industry is changing based on desires to help our own customers, and Oracle is a strong partner on our journey to accomplish that.

Mike Ellis Chief Digital Officer, Johnson Controls¹⁵

6. User experience (UX) combined with data insight

Designing enterprise applications like ERP, to support a diversity of users is crucial in recognizing and valuing the fact that no two people are alike. Such design should be inclusive, catering to various experiences, backgrounds, physical circumstances in the workplace, and working styles. That diversity leads to innovation, but it needs to be supported in applications. Besides the great performance of Fusion Applications in suboptimal environments, Oracle also supports users with impairments like low vision, color blindness, dyslexia, autism , and dexterity limitations. It makes Fusion Applications far more inclusive than competitor solutions.

We allow companies to tailor the applications with the product Oracle Journeys through personalized guidance to support employees through enterprise and personal processes across modules. You can start a journey from any device. A journey can be specific for one employee or persona, or a group of employees. AI can help guide the user. A journey can start with the aid of Oracle Digital Assistant or from a collaboration tool like Slack or Teams. It can guide users seamlessly from a Fusion Application to a 3rd party application and back. It can also guide with the aid of tutorials and best practices. That makes it the ultimate way to personalize an enterprise solution and create a natural flow of tasks, and a unique offering.

Why it matters: Thriving in the experience economy requires a partner that has data at the core of its business. For more than 40 years, Oracle has helped our global customers manage, secure, and act on the world’s most important data. Homogeneous and consistent SaaS offerings from Oracle help support your business and improve end-user productivity. At Oracle, an enterprise-grade customer intelligence platform isn’t about point solutions; it’s about expertise in managing data at scale.

Customer example: Picture aid workers operating in developing nations, faltering economies, and subpar infrastructure. Their mission is to ease the suffering of displaced individuals. However, these aid workers are also tasked with documenting the projects they work on, tracking progress, recording expenses, procuring materials and equipment, and overseeing performance. They are responsible for recruiting, training, certifying, managing, and compensating local personnel. This situation places significant demands on enterprise applications. That’s why the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)¹⁷, active in 35 countries with 15,000 employees and a multitude of local workers, in countries with extreme environments, has chosen Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM.

7. Integration

SAP has taken a strategy where, initially, cloud growth was acquired with Concur, Ariba, and SuccessFactors. Yet industry experts say that the most business-critical core – ERP, manufacturing, supply chain, and industries – solutions were not redesigned for SaaS. For SAP customers, these challenges could result in architectural complexity and integration issues, making the associated costs of a cloud journey with SAP much higher than expected.

Why it matters: Connected enterprise planning gives leaders the decision support to act quickly on real-time information and stay ahead of the competition by pulling together data from across lines of business. True integration requires an end-to-end, planning-to-execution, closed-loop system. Oracle’s ability to integrate the execution details from the supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, and order management systems helps planners adjust to change and continuously improve long-range planning. The ultimate goal is to know sooner, act faster, and adapt to change.

Customer example: Hearst is one of the nation’s largest global, diversified information, services, and media companies. Hearst has been innovating for more than a century, leading with purpose, integrity, and a culture of care, with a mission to inform audiences and improve lives. Oracle Data Platform and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Integration services helped Hearst accelerate its project delivery for continued modernization. Now, Hearst can easily ingest and utilize more data while accepting quarterly SaaS upgrades.

The simplicity of using Oracle Data Platform with Autonomous Data Warehouse and OCI Integration has helped us reduce operational costs 80% and accelerate our project delivery times.

Kim Kohlman Vice President of HCM Operations, Hearst¹⁸

8. Complete cloud suite of applications

Companies need to move toward a portfolio that is more adaptable to business change, with composable applications that can be assembled, reassembled, and extended. Oracle provides an entire suite of composable public cloud applications: ERP, EPM, CRM, HCM, and SCM. Another IT company might be able to offer one or two cloud applications, such as HCM and financials, but they can’t provide a complete suite of integrated business capabilities that Oracle can with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications.

Oracle offers SaaS-based, business-centric applications in a hybrid environment to complement multiple on-premises footprints. Oracle’s solutions can have an immediate impact, and we can seamlessly extend your system over time.

Why it matters: Many companies are moving from on-premises systems to the cloud, but you cannot expect them to do this overnight. It doesn’t have to be a rip-and-replace scenario. You can deploy Oracle SaaS while your on-premises backbone solutions are still up and running. For example, you can start with Oracle Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) for planning, budgeting, and tax reporting connected to your on-premises ERP. Add more cloud applications when you’re ready.

Customer example: GE Power is a leading global energy provider for more than a third of the world, serving customers in more than 150 countries. The company’s core mission is to deliver energy equipment, technology, and solutions while creating innovation for the future. GE Power had more than five ERP systems from different vendors as well as other legacy systems scattered across 100 locations. With all these disparate systems and no single source for data, all forecasting and demand management was running independently. This led to an increase in inventory turnover–a measure of units sold compared to units on hand. With this increased turnover, sales were decreasing, and the business was losing out on opportunities.

Oracle Supply Chain Planning gives us new layers of functionality to our business. By having this power and flexibility, we’ve built efficient end-to-end supply chain processes that give us more visibility and bring value to the business.

Ram Potturi Senior Enterprise Architect and DevOps Leader, GE Power¹⁹

9. Best practices versus common practices

On-premises solutions were designed in the 1990s; they are ERP-centric. Common practices – often under the misnomer ‘best practices’ – are delivered with these applications. But what was common in the 1990s won’t help you much in today's world. What you need are modern best practices. By embedding next-generation digital technologies—such as cloud, mobile, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT)—into our applications, Oracle Modern Best Practice²⁰ automates daily business activities, enabling organizations to achieve more, faster, and with less resources

Why it matters: Experts have lamented that monolithic enterprise applications, such as SAP S/4HANA are nearly impossible to change. That’s a huge problem for today’s businesses that need to be able to respond quickly as conditions change. Whether it’s merging two business units within a company, starting a new line of business, or divesting part of the business, your business applications can’t hold you back.

Customer example: In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, AMC Theatres—the largest movie theater chain in the world—went from generating more than $4 billion in revenue a year to less than $200 million in 2020. Economic pressures and the many distractions of COVID led management to start a journey to the cloud with a small, manageable, and high-impact project. With no real procurement system in place and a heavy reliance on third-party suppliers, AMC sought a fast, reliable way to solve its supply chain issues without implementing a complete ERP cloud solution. At a time when managing supplier relations was critical, the need to centralize procurement functions was paramount.

I've been doing Oracle projects for 20 years. It was the smoothest rollout of a major module with Oracle that I've ever been part of and a lot of that was because of the prebuilt components and integrations and tools from Oracle Consulting that allowed us to, one, speed up the integrations, but two, also speed up reporting the data,

Derrick Leggett Chief Information Officer, AMC Theatres²¹

10. Customers learn from Oracle

Oracle runs our own finances on Fusion Cloud ERP²², which means that our customers have the advantage of our insight, experience, and best practices. Our customers also benefit from the Oracle Cloud Customer Connect community. With more than 200,000 members, this network offers access to the collective knowledge of OCI customers and product experts. Members communicate with Oracle product development teams directly. In fact, the majority of our new features have been suggested by our customers.

Why it matters: We’re ready to help you transform finance. We can show you how we put Fusion Cloud ERP to work for us, and what it can do for you. For example, with Cloud ERP and EPM with built-in AI and ML, we close our books and report earnings in 10 days–twice as fast as SAP or Workday. And we help our customers get the same benefits with Oracle@Oracle, our proven business transformation framework.

Customer example: One of the largest manufacturers of industrial gears and material handling equipment in Asia, Elecon Engineering had grown significantly through acquisitions, including the addition of two leading gear manufacturers, Benzlers and Radicon. Now part of a larger company, the two subsidiaries were struggling with a complex IT landscape, such as running the businesses on multiple ERP systems including applications from SAP and IBM. The ERP applications and data elements ran separately, making comprehensive reporting a challenge. Benzlers and Radicon lacked a single source of information that could provide real-time, accurate data to share with management and key decision-makers.

The high costs and distractions resulting from integrating custom applications and legacy ERP systems created an obstacle to efficient operations, and Benzlers and Radicon employees, customers, and suppliers were bogged down by disjointed financial processes. The applications lacked automatic synchronization and were complex, which made the process for sending and receiving information related to sales, shipping, and procurement prone to errors. Benzlers and Radicon selected Oracle Cloud ERP because it offered the broadest capabilities on one unified database. Also, the company selected Oracle Cloud CX to replace Salesforce because it gave the businesses better real-time information, which is crucial to the team.

The subsidiaries tapped the Oracle Cloud Customer Connect community for inspiration, to find out how various companies implemented their modules to address different scenarios and use cases, such as order management, shipping, fixed asset management, and more.²³