The comparison of costs and benefits constitutes a deciding factor for companies looking for an appropriate ERP supplier. For Companies, the economic and flexible use of software is particularly important in order to free funds for additional investments, not least in further IT products. Providing for this is also the explicit goal of most ERP suppliers, like Oracle and SAP, for instance. Nevertheless, RAAD studies conducted in 2008 show that many SAP customers consider the costs for implementing, customising, and operating SAP software as very high. From this perspective, the objections against the planned increase of SAP’s maintenance fees is quite understandable. The general feeling that SAP products are too expensive to purchase and operate has also spread among the non-SAP customers of Germany’s small and medium-sized businesses. Here, the predominant opinion is, that SAP is too expensive and too complex. However, RAAD Studies show that SAP’s products and price models are largely unknown to the decision makers. These opinions are therefore based on preconceptions. To date, no comparable studies are available regarding Oracle customers in the German-speaking countries. But Oracle also had to suffer criticism concerning maintenance costs and customer support in the past. (http://www.computerwoche.de/heftarchiv/2006/47/1216914/) Despite the criticism directed at both software suppliers, a structured analysis comparing cost types and cost influencing factors of Oracle and SAP systems in respect to…