In brief
- SAP Signavio and Celonis are both among the Leaders of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for process mining in 2025 and 2026.
- SAP Signavio is a complete business process management suite, integrated with SAP and with RISE with SAP offerings.
- Celonis focuses on a platform that is independent of source systems and on object-centric process mining.
- The right choice depends on the share of SAP in your application landscape and on how you will use the results.
Process mining has become a must before an S/4HANA migration or a continuous improvement programme. Two vendors dominate the market: SAP Signavio, owned by SAP since 2021, and Celonis, a pioneer of the discipline. Here is how to tell them apart, in full transparency: InTenz is an SAP Signavio integrator.
Two recognised leaders
In April 2025, SAP Signavio and Celonis were both positioned as Leaders in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for process mining platforms, for the third year in a row. In May 2026, Gartner again named ARIS, Celonis, Pegasystems and SAP Signavio as Leaders in this category.
Two philosophies
SAP Signavio covers the whole process management cycle: BPMN 2.0 modelling with Process Modeler, analysis of actual processes with Process Intelligence, governance with Process Governance and sharing with business teams in the Collaboration Hub. Its strength is native integration with the SAP ecosystem and with the transformation approach offered by SAP.
Celonis presents itself as a Process Intelligence platform that is independent of source systems. The vendor highlights its Process Intelligence Graph, object-centric process mining, ready-to-use applications and AI agents to act directly on processes.
The comparison at a glance
| Criterion | SAP Signavio | Celonis |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | SAP, since the acquisition of Signavio in 2021 | Celonis, an independent process mining specialist |
| Scope | Complete suite: modelling, process mining, governance, collaboration | Process mining and execution: analysis, applications, AI agents |
| Data sources | Native connectors to SAP, non-SAP sources possible | System-agnostic approach, broad catalogue of connectors |
| Analysis approach | Analysis linked to BPMN models and performance indicators | Process Intelligence Graph and object-centric process mining |
| SAP integration | Native, with components included in RISE with SAP offerings | Through SAP data extraction, subject to contractual terms |
| Gartner recognition | Leader in 2025 and 2026 | Leader in 2025 and 2026 |
A point to watch: access to SAP data
On 13 March 2025, Celonis sued SAP in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming that SAP makes it harder and more expensive to extract SAP customer data to third-party tools. Whatever the outcome of these proceedings, check the data access terms in your SAP contracts before selecting a third-party tool.
Which one to choose for your context
- Mostly SAP landscape, S/4HANA project or RISE with SAP contract: SAP Signavio, for its native integration and the continuity between modelling and analysis.
- Need for process governance and BPMN documentation shared with business teams: SAP Signavio, thanks to Process Modeler and the Collaboration Hub.
- Highly heterogeneous landscape, with many non-SAP systems at the heart of processes: Celonis deserves a careful evaluation.
- Priority on automating actions from the analyses: compare each vendor’s applications and agents on a real use case.
In any case, a pilot of a few weeks on a priority process, such as Procure-to-Pay, is worth more than a comparison on paper.
Running a pilot in four steps
- Choose a priority process and its indicators: payment lead time, rework rate, contract compliance.
- Extract a few months of ERP data and check its quality: case identifiers, activities, timestamps.
- Build the dashboards and analyse the variants with business owners.
- Quantify the potential gains and decide on scaling up, using the same dataset for every tool compared.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need S/4HANA to use SAP Signavio?
No. SAP Signavio Process Intelligence also analyses SAP ECC data and accepts non-SAP sources. The tool is often used before a migration, to measure existing processes and scope S/4HANA.
Does Celonis work with SAP?
Yes. Celonis connects to SAP as it does to many other systems, by extracting the data needed for analysis. Simply check the extraction terms set out in your SAP contracts, the point at the heart of the dispute opened between the two vendors in 2025.
Why does InTenz recommend SAP Signavio?
Our consultants are SAP Signavio certified and most of our clients run SAP. For them, the continuity between BPMN modelling, analysis of actual processes and the S/4HANA project carries a lot of weight. For a highly heterogeneous landscape, we say so openly and look at the alternatives.
Go further
- Process Mining and SAP Signavio with InTenz
- SAP Process Mining: Turning Your Data into Concrete Gains
- Discuss your processes with a consultant