13 October 2019
SAP and Oracle are two companies that deal with Enterprise Resource Planning systems. They can be termed as some of the top companies in the market for ERP systems, with SAP leading the market (Snellman, 2017). This could be because SAP began as purely an ERP systems vendor while Oracle began their operations by offering Database Management Systems. So what is SAP? SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products. The software they offer are used to manage businesses and their processes. They also customize their products, systems and applications according to their client’s needs. SAP began with their first product, SAP R/1 which helped clients to obtain an understanding of their business with real-time data processing. Then there was SAP R/2 which assisted customers to manage big worldwide enterprises. Next was SAP R/3 and SAP ECC which helped the clients to benefit from the servers internet and the development of functional components, which would help improve business processes. The last and the latest invention is SAP S/4HANA which is common for cloud computing (SAP, 2016).
Oracle is also a software that manages enterprise processes. The software available are finance and accounting software, supply and procurement, project and risk management. It helps in the automation of office functions that were initially hard to manage. Oracle cloud system is known as oracle Fusion Application (Troesch and Schikora, 2011). The oracle cloud solution helps manage the processes of a business and, therefore, enhances productivity and work efficiency. Oracle vendors offer consulting, customization, implementation, upgrade, support and special offering such as testing. Oracle has evolved over the years from inventory control packages, to material requirements planning (MRP), MRP II, ERP 1.0, ERP 1.0+ and finally ERP 2.0 which includes cloud, mobile and analytics (Oracle, 2017).
There are several major differences between SAP and Oracle. One of them is there area of operations. SAPs main area of operation is Enterprise Resource planning, while Oracle is mainly a Database management system sector. In terms of functionality, SAP manages business processes on real time, while Oracle manages data in enterprises. SAP runs on ABAP language, while Oracle runs on SQL. SAP implementation costs are higher than Oracle implementation costs. SAP ERP incorporates business applications while Oracle is applied in enterprise backgrounds for data-level functionality. SAP offers the business a broad solution for all your enterprise level requirements, while Oracle functions on several platforms, would offer a solution for all data associated requirements (Panorama Consulting Group, 2012). Selection of the appropriate vendor depends on the budget and needs of the company/client.
References
- Oracle, 2017. Your Complete Guide to Modern ERP; A Handbook for Today’s Innovative Business Leaders. Handbooks for the Modern Enterprise, second edition, vol. 1. Accessed on 10, Oct. 2019 at: <https://www.oracle.com/webfolder/assets/ebook/complete-guide-to-modern-erp/pdf/modern-erp.pdf>
- Panorama Consulting Group, 2012. Clash of the Titans; an Independent Comparison of SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics. Available at: < http://panorama-consulting.com/resource-center/clashof-the-titans-sap-vs-oracle-vs-microsoft-dynamics/. >
- SAP, 2016. An Introduction to SAP, SAP-Leading the Digital Transformation. Commerzbank Sector Conference. Accessed on 10 Oct, 2019 at: <https://www.sap.com/docs/download/investors/2016/sap-sept2016-investor-presentation-commerzbank-frankfurt.pdf>
- Snellman, D., 2017. Difference in Cloud ERP Systems: A comparison.
- Troesch, E.M. and Schikora, P.F., 2010. Co-Opetition between SAP and Oracle: The Effects of the Partnership and Competition on the Companies Success. Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 6(4).