Spotlight vs. SQL Server Business Intelligence Manager

Spotlight’s ability to consolidate data from various entities and provide insightful reports is highly beneficial. It streamlines financial reporting, allowing professionals to focus on advisory services and strategic decision-making.Small businesses, nonprofits, and organizations that need regular board packs or executive summaries find Spotlight useful. Less Appropriate: Certain industries (e.g., specialized manufacturing, healthcare, or research) have unique reporting needs. Spotlight’s generic templates may not cover all industry-specific metrics or compliance requirements.

Incentivized

SQL Server [Business Intelligence] Manager is useful for tracking performance across SSIS, SSRS and SSA and have the data represented in dashboards. It helps improve performance and helps end users. However, several features are redundant for smaller organization that can use the tools that comes with existing Microsoft products. These features also takes time to learn and use.

Incentivized

• Great SQL server monitoring
• Rewind and playback of previous times

Incentivized

• Types of alerts
• Dashboard view
• Configurable Alerts

Incentivized

• My only complaint was the cost.

Incentivized

• Lacks versioning control.
• Lacks support/native driver for alternative database.
• Only plays well with other Microsoft products.

Incentivized

I've never had to contact support, as of yet I have had no issues or problems with the tool. This is after 5 years of use.

Incentivized

Spotlight is more usable, better at meeting requirements. Integration with Xero is one of the strengths (as others integrate too but Spotlight seems better connection). We also like the way group consolidation work in Spotlight.

Incentivized

SQL Server Business Intelligence Manager does what SQL Server Management Studio should already do natively. So it actually fills up important gaps Microsoft left in its product.

Incentivized

• Spotlight is reasonably inexpensive, and any one of the multiple things we use it for more than justifies the cost.

Incentivized

• More efficiencies throughout the BI stack
• Less employees needed for monitoring all the BI processing
• Proactive error handling

Incentivized